Ted Lieu Quotes

There's a great book by my friend Nate Garvis called Naked Civics that was very important in my development as someone with a social conscious and that has become, I guess, something of an activist.

Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.

I want Americans to realize that we are the owners of this country, and that one person can make a difference.

If in a democratic country nothing can be permanently achieved save through the masses of the people, it will be impossible to establish a higher political life than the people themselves crave.

This is essential that we have a resurgence in democratic participation. And I don't mean big-D Democrat, I mean small-D democrat. I mean getting involved in your neighborhood, your community. This is no time to say, "I'm not into politics." This is a time to go headlong into the welfare of this nation.

I hate to create cynicism about politicians. We just need to invade. Regular people need to run for office and keep their balls and ovaries intact.

Silence is not an effective political strategy, and what we do if we silence the public interest, which is so hard to hear anyway, is that we silence ourselves and then we do not have a democracy.

Democracy depends on people speaking out, and in times of great crisis, on people creating a commotion.

What, after all, is the public under present conditions? What are the reasons for its eclipse? What hinders it from finding and identifying itself? By what means shall its inchoate and amorphous estate be organized into effective political action relevant to present social needs and opportunities? What has happened to the public in the century and a half since the theory of political democracy was urged with such assurance and hope?

I just want people to know that if they want to change the direction of the country, they can do it, but only if they're active, informed, and engaged.

We need to find a way to empower citizens to make governments take notice.

I do feel, in a sense, the rules of engagement for citizenship has changed, and we must encourage other people to speak up and to take action.

The power to shape Oregon's future remains where it has always been - in our collective hands.

Influence elected government officials, don't just elect them. Your right is to govern yourselves, not just to choose your governors.

Politics is not a spectator sport. You can't just sit on the sidelines.

In a democracy, in a functioning democracy, what would be happening is that popular organizations, unions, political groupings, others would be developing their programs, putting them forth, insisting that their representatives implement those programs.

Obviously, local elections are where you can make the most difference, but it's great when everyone starts talking about what they believe in.

Even though I grew up and I didn't always like getting dragged to the meetings or the rallies or the speeches, I developed a very strong respect for participating in a democratic process.

The rise of civic society is not a negation of politics, but marks an opportunity for the involvement of the people.

I'm a big fan of the vigor of civil society, political engagement, and public life in many parts of Latin America.

I'm a citizen in a democracy. To call me an activist would be redundant. It's not a spectator sport. If we all become non-participants, it no longer works.

I think it's very important for everyone in America to realize right now the state of our country, not just on this issue but on a lot of issues, that it is time to get active again. People have just sat back and just sort of said, oh, let somebody else do it for a long time, and we're seeing what's happening to the country, even freedom of speech. It's not going well. So I think this is a real opportunity for people to see, yes, if you do get out and you do get active, there are other people there. You just have to seek them out.

There are enough people who are starting to be actively involved that we can turn things around. And we need to encourage others to become involved.

In countries where democracy is either non-existent or in development, on the other hand, citizens crave those freedoms. Maybe that is one lesson Western citizens can learn from those countries: treasure what you have. Use your rights and freedoms to effect the change you want.

Being politically active is "more about doing things, not just standing for some platform or being involved in some political party."