You happen to be talking to an agnostic. You know what an agnostic is? A cowardly atheist.- Studs Terkel
With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you are an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.
Why are we born? We're born eventually to die, of course. But what happens between the time we are born and we die? We're born to live. One is a realist if one hopes.
When you become part of something, in some way you count. It could be a march; it could be a rally, even a brief one. You're part of something, and you suddenly realize you count. To count is very important.
We use the word 'hope' perhaps more often than any other word in the vocabulary: 'I hope it's a nice day.' 'Hopefully, you are doing well.' 'So how are things going along? Pretty good. Going to be good tomorrow? Hope so.'
We are the most powerful nation in the world, but we are not the only nation in the world. We are not the only people in the world. We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and, to a great extent, generous. But we are part of the world.
That's why I wrote this book: to show how these people can imbue us with hope. I read somewhere that when a person takes part in community action, his health improves. Something happens to him or to her biologically. It's like a tonic.
That's what we are missing. We're missing argument. We're missing debate. We're missing colloquy. We're missing all sorts of things. Instead, we are accepting.
Someone who does an act. In a democratic society, you are supposed to be an activist; that is, you participate. It could be a letter written to an editor.
So people are ready. I feel hopeful in that sense.
Religion obviously played a role in this book and the previous book, too.
People are ready to say, 'Yes, we are ready for single-payer health insurance.' We are the only industrialized country in the world that does not have national health insurance. We are the richest in wealth and the poorest in health of all the industrial nations.
Nonetheless, do I have respect for people who believe in the hereafter? Of course I do. I might add, perhaps even a touch of envy too, because of the solace.
If solace is any sort of succor to someone, that is sufficient. I believe in the faith of people, whatever faith they may have.
I have always felt, in all my books, that there's a deep decency in the American people and a native intelligence - providing they have the facts, providing they have the information.
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