Thomas Ricks: My point of departure is we no longer live in a democracy in America right now. I believe we live in an oligarchy. When you live in an oligarchy, you are going to have the means of information, as well as the means of production, in the hands of the rich and powerful, who will tell you not to believe your own perceptions. To trust them. So I go back to Orwell saying, "You need to begin by trusting your own perceptions." But they can't just be uninformed perceptions. Both Churchill and Orwell say you need to go and find the facts.
What I try to do in that afterword, which is kind of my journalistic last will and testament, and kind of a pep talk to people like you who are still slaving away in the salt mines of journalism. What I'm trying to do there is say, "Hang in there. The foundation of Western civilization is what you are doing. Seeking the facts, and observing accurately what is going on." This is why, to me, I decided... Let me back up. This is why I ended the book by talking about Martin Luther King, and his letter from the Birmingham City Jail, written in I believe 1962 or '63. It's an odd place to in the book about two English men from the 1930s and '40s, but I see Martin Luther King as solidly in their tradition of Churchill and Orwell.
When I looked around the American scene, thinking about is there anybody like them today, I thought, no. I really don't see anybody quite like them today. But Martin Luther King, in retrospect, walked in the footsteps of both Churchill and Orwell. He begins, and his letter from Birmingham Jail, writing very much as Orwell would have. What are the facts of the matter? He answers his question. The fact of the matter is that Birmingham is the most segregated city in America. "Why is that?" He explores. He says, "The civil rights, that the federal government tells the Negro he has, are not allowed to the Negro citizens of Birmingham. In fact, the apparatus of the state is used to prevent them from exercising those rights."
This is why it's so brilliant of King to insist on being jailed. He said, "All I'm trying to do is exercise the rights my government tells me I have. So when my government puts me in jail for doing that, there is a problem. The problem is not with me. The problem is with the government that is saying out of its mouth, I have these rights. But is saying with his arms, no you don't." I think He does a beautiful job of saying, "Here are the principles. Here are the facts, and how do I apply my principles to those facts?" I think it's something that we all can emulate today, but especially journalists. I would take away, also the warning, it's not going to make you popular. It's not something that a lot of people want to hear right now. Nonetheless, it's the right thing to do in the long run. It is an act of great patriotism to your country, and to your fellow citizens, to write and observe accurately.
Steven Rosenfeld: Thank you. This is splendid. I really appreciate what you have accomplished in this book and presented here.
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