I think that if the political and social movement groups and organizations that operate in this country today had the same kind of energetic commitment that the medical marijuana people have, many things could change in this country.
One of the signs that things are going reasonably well for democracy is that we have the states where they're closer to the people. Federalism is a strength. We have all of these civil society institutions - civil society is a very important hallmark of democracy.
NGOs are dangerous. They do what the missionaries used to do in Colonial times. They are Trojan Horses. The worse the situation, the more the NGOs.
I'm a big fan of the vigor of civil society, political engagement, and public life in many parts of Latin America.
The future depends more upon our choice of institutions which support a life of action than on our developing new ideologies and technologies.
Governments do have the duty to protect national interest. But we should not be afraid of foreign funding of Indian CSOs, unless malintent can be proved.
It is true that non-governmental organisations working within strong human rights frameworks are now confounded by securitarian forms of logic and power that extend the paternalistic bias of their work in new ways.
