Ultimately, the question before Oxford University students right now is whether they will demand that their university's press hold to the same standards that are required of them.
Democracy depends on honest, fair, accurate debate. Without it, we can't possibly meet today's challenges. And if academic presses don't hold the line -- when fair discourse in the wider culture is in collapse -- who will?
How did Moby end up editing a book with a contribution by a sustainable hog farmer? We are at an interesting moment, I think, one in which the vegans are trying a new tact.
Frances Moore Lappé is a humorous, energetic dynamo. She's a democracy advocate, as well as a world food and hunger expert. Her Grand Junction speech was titled, "Getting a Grip on Democracy."
No culture can expect to look to another for answers, wholesale. But wouldn't it be tragic if we let mindless labels and manipulated stereotypes block us from inspiration and practical ideas just because they arise elsewhere?
But now that it's clear to virtually everyone that -- barring some catastrophic event -- Clinton will not be the nominee in 2008, her actions seem to make sense only as a 2012 strategy.