The progress of a society is reflected, among other things, in the way it embraces its diversity- of its people, their cultures and opinions. We, as self-actualized individuals of modern society, must try to acknowledge and respect the myriad of ideas and their expressions in all distinct forms.
To give undue importance to the personalities that disseminate them often neglects the very essence of the ideas they may wish to circulate. A pool of creative ideas floating in a particular stratum of society often fails to garner mass attention because they may not be voiced by individuals of high repute and status. This could imply a loss to our cultural capital, which must be constantly reshaped and remoulded by dynamic ideas and novel thought processes.
In the same light, I wish to quote an excerpt from Ayn Rand’s phenomenal book ‘The Fountainhead’ –
“When facing society, the man most concerned, the man who is to do the most and contribute the most, has the least to say. It’s taken for granted that he has no voice and his reasons he could offer are rejected in advance as prejudiced–since no speech is ever considered, but only the speaker. It’s so much easier to pass judgment on a man than an idea.”
Let a thousand flowers bloom.