Political Quotes - Page 38

• Man is a means and not an end, and he is a means to economic or political ends which are not really ends in themselves but means to other ends which in their turn are means and so ad infinitum

  Christopher Dawson

  Mean, Men, Economic

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• When governments become large, voters cannot exercise close oversight, otherwise known as political power.

  Maggie Gallagher

  Exercise, Government, Politics

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• The great political tragedy of our time is that conservative leaders in America have chosen to use their superior messaging and political skills to thwart serious action on global warming.

  Joseph J. Romm

  Skills, America, Leader

  Joseph J. Romm (2007). “Hell and high water: global warming - the solution and the politics - and what we should do”, William Morrow & Co

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• The crucial role communists played in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s and struggling for social reforms, peace, and civil rights strengthened rather then undermined democratic forces.

  Michael Parenti

  Struggle, Rights, Social Reform

  "Democracy for the Few". Book by Michael Parenti, 1974.

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• The American political system is like fast food - mushy, insipid, made out of disgusting parts of things and everybody wants some.

  P. J. O'Rourke

  Insulting, Want, Fast Food

  P. J. O'Rourke (2007). “Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government”, p.25, Grove/Atlantic, Inc.

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• Every collectivist assumes a different source for the collective will, according to his own political, religious and national convictions.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Religious, Different, Assuming

  Ludwig von Mises (2016). “Socialism - An Economic and Sociological Analysis: The Economist”, p.43, VM eBooks

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• It is true that some secluded intellectuals in their esoteric circles talk differently. They proclaim the priority of what they call eternal absolute values and feign in their declamations—not in their personal conduct—a disdain of things secular and transitory. But the public ignores such utterances. The main goal of present-day political action is to secure for the respective pressure group memberships the highest material well-being. The only way for a leader to succeed is to instill in people the conviction that his program best serves the attainment of this goal.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Pressure Groups, Circles, Goal

  Ludwig Von Mises (1963). “Human action: a treatise on economics”

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• The characteristic feature of militarism is not the fact that a nation has a powerful army or navy. It is the paramount role assigned to the army within the political structure. Even in peacetime the army is supreme; it is the predominant factor in political life. The subjects must obey the government as soldiers must obey their superiors. Within a militarist community there is no freedom; there are only obedience and discipline.

  Ludwig von Mises

  Powerful, Army, Government

  Ludwig Von Mises (1985). “Omnipotent Government: The Rise of the Total State and Total War”, Libertarian Press

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• It is possible that the distinction between moral relativism and moral absolutism has sometimes been blurred because an excessively consistent practice of either leads to the same practical result — ruthlessness in political life.

  Richard Hofstadter

  Moral Absolutism, Practice, Ruthlessness

  Richard Hofstadter (2011). “The Age of Reform”, p.16, Vintage

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• The American creationist movement has entirely bypassed the scientific forum and has concentrated instead on political lobbying and on taking its case to a fair-minded electorate... The reason for this strategy is overwhelmingly apparent: no scientific case can be made for the theories they advance.

  Kenneth R. Miller

  Lobbying, Movement, Strategy

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• As we discern a fine line between crank and genius, so also (and unfortunately) we must acknowledge an equally graded trajectory from crank to demagogue. When people learn no tools of judgment and merely follow their hopes, the seeds of political manipulation are sown.

  Stephen Jay Gould

  People, Tools, Genius

  "An Urchin in the Storm". Book by Stephen Jay Gould. "The Quack Detector", p. 245, 1987.

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• The modern dilemma is essentially a spiritual one, and every one of its main aspects, moral, political and scientific, brings us back to the need of a religious solution.

  Christopher Dawson

  Spiritual, Religious, Needs

  Christopher Dawson, Gerald J. Russello (1998). “Christianity and European Culture (Selections from the Work of Christopher Dawson)”, p.118, CUA Press

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• This freedom of political discussion on the highest level is something which Western civilization has in common with that of classical antiquity, but with no other

  Christopher Dawson

  Civilization, Levels, Common

  Christopher Dawson (2010). “The Crisis of Western Education (The Works of Christopher Dawson)”, p.95, CUA Press

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• The way in which we experience and interpret the world obviously depends very much indeed on the kind of ideas that fill our minds. If they are mainly small, weak, superficial, and incoherent, life will appear insipid , uninteresting, petty and chaotic.

  E. F. Schumacher

  Lying, Ideas, Giving

  "SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL".

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• We have to give ourselves a constitution which marks the birth of Europe as a political entity.

  Romano Prodi

  Europe, Giving, Constitution

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• The American military will never lose the war in Iraqif lost, it will be lost by a lack of political will.

  Joe Lieberman

  Military, War, Political Will

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• Politicians generally do the right thing only when all other options are exhausted.

  Daniel J. Mitchell

  Exhausted, Politician, Right Thing

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• If the layman cannot participate in decision making, he will have to turn himself over, essentially blind, to a hermetic elite. ... [The fundamental question becomes] are we still capable of self-government and therefore freedom? Margaret Mead wrote in a 1959 issue of Daedalus about scientists elevated to the status of priests. Now there is a name for this elevation, when you are in the hands of-one hopes-a benevolent elite, when you have no control over your political decisions. From the point of view of John Locke, the name for this is slavery.

  Gerald Holton

  Freedom, Self, Views

  "Where is Science Taking Us? Gerald Holton Maps the Possible Routes". The Chronicle of Higher Education, May 18, 1981.

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• All political action aims at either preservation or change. When desiring to preserve, we wish to prevent a change for the worse; when desiring to change, we wish to bring about something better. All political action is then guided by some thought of better or worse.

  Leo Strauss

  Wish, Action, Preservation

  Leo Strauss (1959). “What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies”, p.10, University of Chicago Press

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• The nation will continue to be a central pole of identification, even if more and more nations come to share common economic and political forms of organization.

  Francis Fukuyama

  Organization, Common, Economic

  Francis Fukuyama (2006). “The End of History and the Last Man”, p.244, Simon and Schuster

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• The American way is to criticize and debate openly, not to accept unthinkingly the doings of government officials of this or any other country.

  Michael Parenti

  Country, Government, Way

  Michael Parenti (2004). “Superpatriotism”, p.17, City Lights Books

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• My point is that it's incorrect to say that the Iraq policy isn't working. It is working. It is doing what they want. They have got control of the oil and they are exporting it, and they have stripped a government that was 90% state owned and they are privatizing it. ... They have taken a country that was self defining and self developing and is now an impoverished prostrate devastated country where people will line up to work for slave wages or become members of the police or army because it's the only job they can get and serve as adjuncts to U.S. imperialism.

  Michael Parenti

  Country, Jobs, Taken

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• Union busting has become a major industry with more than a thousand consulting firms teaching companies how to prevent workers from organizing and how to get rid of existing unions.

  Michael Parenti

  Teaching, Unions, Consulting

  Michael Parenti (1996). “Dirty Truths”, p.122, City Lights Books

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• To make the world safe for those who own it, politically active elements of the owning class have created a national security state that expends billions of dollars and enlists the efforts of vast numbers of people.

  Michael Parenti

  Class, Numbers, People

  Michael Parenti (1996). “Dirty Truths”, p.174, City Lights Books

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• It is ironic that people of modest means sometimes become conservative out of a scarcity fear bred by the very capitalist system they support.

  Michael Parenti

  Mean, People, Support

  "Democracy for the Few". Book by Michael Parenti, 1974.

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