People have power but can exercise it most effectively when it is organized and collective. It's relatively easy for the state and big business to pick off and neutralize freelancers and lone operatives. It's when a movement forms that the state and the corporations can be challenged. Citizens in privileged societies like the U.S. often complain that they feel helpless and can't do anything to shake the power structure. It's an odd complaint given the advantages most Americans have and poses a sharp contrast with other countries. With few resources, citizens in impoverished East Timor, Nicaragua, Haiti and India have risen and resisted oppression and overthrown tyrannies. But in the land of the free? "Well, I'm kind of busy. Any beer in the fridge? What's on TV tonight?" Arundhati Roy's tonic for apathy? Get involved. Get active. Seize the time!

Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is an author, lecturer and activist. Her book, "The God of Small Things" won the prestigious Booker Prize. The New York Times calls her, "India's most impassioned critic of globalization and American influence." She is the winner of the Lannan Award for Cultural Freedom. Her latest books are "An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire" and "The Checkbook & the Cruise Missile," with David Barsamian.