Public Debate Quotes

“The most pressing environmental problem we face today is not climate change. Rather it is pollution in the public square, where a smog of adversarial rhetoric, propaganda and polarization stifles discussion and debate, creating resistance to change and thwarting our ability to solve our collective problems.”
― James Hoggan, I'm Right and You're an Idiot - 2nd Edition: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up

“The upsides of migration have become easy to talk about: to simply nod to them is to express values of openness, tolerance and broad-mindedness. Yet to nod to, let alone express, the downsides of immigration is to invite accusations of closed-mindedness and intolerance, xenophobia and barely disguised racism. All of which leaves the attitude of the majority of the public almost impossible to express.”
― Douglas Murray, The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam

“There are two ways to dehumanize: the first is to strip people of all virtue, the second is to clear them of all sin.”
― Matthew Desmond, Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City

“Ci offendiamo facilmente, mortalmente. Siamo arrivati a pensare che offendersi sia uno dei diritti fondamentali. Pochissime cose apprezziamo più della nostra indignazione, che ci dà, a parer nostro, la giustificazione morale. Dall'alto di questa posizione possiamo sparare ai nostri nemici e infliggere loro gravi perdite. Siamo fieri della nostra suscettibilità.”
― Salman Rushdie, East, West

“Many hesitate to even start an open discussion that could awaken the people, knowing they must be prepared to face online trolls who constantly post counterarguments against what is right. They must also confront the mediocrity of public discourse, where individuals who have been conditioned to justify what is not right argue blindly for their political idols.”
― E. Ravago, Bansang Pinipilas