I like her no matter what you say

Arundhati Roy:

"I think it’s vital to deprofessionalize the public debate on matters that vitally affect the lives of ordinary people. It’s time to snatch our futures back from the “experts.” Time to ask, in ordinary language, the public question and to demand, in ordinary language, the public answer.
…But in stead of an argument, or an explanation, or disputing of facts, one gets insults, invective, legal threats and the Expert’s Anthem: “You’re too emotional. You don’t understand and it’s too complicated to explain.” The subtext, of course, is “Don’t worry your little head about it. Go and play with your toys. Leave the real world to us.”
It’s the old Brahminical instinct. Colonize knowledge, build four walls around it, and use it to your advantage."
--Roy, at the Third Annual Eqbal Ahmad Lecture, Feb. 15, 2001, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, from “Power Politics”