I certainly can't speak for all cultures or all societies but it's clear that in America poetry serves a very marginal purpose. It's not part of the cultural mainstream.
Millions of men have lived to fight build palaces and boundaries shape destinies and societies but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.
Why in almost all societies have married women specialized in bearing and rearing children and in certain agricultural activities whereas married men have done most of the fighting and market work?
The main thing that gives me hope is the media. We have radio TV magazines and books so we have the possibility of learning from societies that are remote from us like Somalia. We turn on the TV and see what blew up in Iraq or we see conditions in Afghanistan.
Our working hypothesis is that the status of knowledge is altered as societies enter what is known as the postindustrial age and cultures enter what is known as the postmodern age.
I have behind me not only the splendid traditions and the annals of more than a thousand years but the living strength and majesty of the Commonwealth and Empire of societies old and new of lands and races different in history and origins but all by God's Will united in spirit and in aim.
The history of the world shows that peoples and societies do not have to pass through a fixed series of stages in the course of development.
One of the enduring problems with certain societies in the world - and this is certainly true of a lot of places in the Middle East - is that the capacity for self-governance and self-organizing just isn't there. It has to do with history.
The history of all previous societies has been the history of class struggles.
Terrorism takes us back to ages we thought were long gone if we allow it a free hand to corrupt democratic societies and destroy the basic rules of international life.
We have one of the few societies the only one I can think of right offhand where your health care is so tied to your job so that when an American company has to hire they have to think about health care.
The dual scourge of hunger and malnutrition will be truly vanquished not only when granaries are full but also when people's basic health needs are met and women are given their rightful role in societies.
In societies where mature workers are respected and where their wisdom is respected everybody benefits. Workers are more engaged and productive. Their health is better. They live longer.
Law is stable the societies we are speaking of are progressive. The greater or less happiness of a people depends on the degree of promptitude with which the gulf is narrowed.
Happiness is a real objective phenomenon scientifically verifiable. That means people and whole societies can now be measured over time and compared accurately with one another. Causes and cures for unhappiness can be quantified.
We are all atheists about most of the gods that societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.
I think there's a lot of work to be done with our societies. My biggest passions are the environment and health. And when I say 'health' I mean the secrets behind health and our food system.