Today's Quote

Last Friday, my seven-and-a-half year old son asked me “Daddy, why do you have to go?” I said: “Because when I talk, I can change the world.” He replied “yeah, right.” Seven-and-a-half years old and he has already absorbed one of the central messages of our mass media: “you are powerless.” Even to suggest you can change the world is a joke.

“Aaron, I mean it. When I talk, I can change the world. I’m going to talk to other people who, when they talk, can change the world.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Aaron, I know a lot of people spend a lot of time trying to convince them that you can’t change the world and it’s dumb to try. But I mean it. You can change the world when you talk.”

So those are the stakes for our species. My seven-and-a-half year old son. Will he grow up to believe that he has power to change the world? Or will he believe what the media and the culture tell him: ‘You are helpless. To believe you can change the world is naïve and stupid. Being cynical is smart and sophisticated.’