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I was recently in one of my favorite parliaments in the world: Scottish. I did an interview after my panel. Here is some of the stuff I said

“I think it’s important for the people in Scotland that, either way, those that lost during the last campaign don’t feel like losers, and, if you become independent, those that didn’t vote for that don’t feel like they’re losers. Because that’s a ticket for populists, in the most negative aspect of a populist, to feed into that divis...ion because they get votes for it. Scoundrels. These are the most despicable form of people, that feed on the flames of fear. As humanity, we need to be unified about the things we are about to endure. We cannot look the other way anymore about climate change, even if it doesn’t impact one nation more one day, we never know what is going to hit next. It’s like playing poker with the devil. And we need to practise first on our home turf. Even in families there are arguments about the stuff that divides them, but maybe they should sit down and have a discussion about the stuff they agree on. Because people, when they have access to information, when they have access to good tools to work with, they tend to be pretty smart. They often tend to be smarter than the people that think they are smart.”

She adds: “People often feel that democracy is about voting, but it’s not. It’s not democracy. Particularly not if you can’t hold the people that have been elected accountable. So they promise to do something and they don’t keep up to it and in any other job if you promise to deliver something and they don’t deliver it, you don’t have to wait four years until you can get rid of the person. Accountability is really lacking, but that doesn’t mean that people in their day-to-day lives, in their own communities, can’t put effort into democracy the way they want to have it.”

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I am down under performing at Adelaide writers week. And I didn't realize until I arrived, how much I missed Australia. I have met poets, writers and even a politician who have totally blown my mind. Will write about it more soon. Right now I am just processing.

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