#politics

The dead are not always so dumb as you think, it takes much more to die than you would believe. ↗

— E.J. Koh

#death #fantasy #love #red #science-fiction

All dreams of empire end because day breaks in the hearts of the slaves used to build it. ↗

— Luke Montgomery

#politics #dreams

He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career. ↗

— George Bernard Shaw

#ignorance #politicians #politics #career

I was astonished, bewildered. This was America, a country where, whatever its faults, people could speak, write, assemble, demonstrate without fear. It was in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. We were a democracy... But I knew it wasn't a dream; there was a painful lump on the side of my head... The state and its police were not neutral referees in a society of contending interests. They were on the side of the rich and powerful. Free speech? Try it and the police will be there with their horses, their clubs, their guns, to stop you. From that moment on, I was no longer a liberal, a believer in the self-correcting character of American democracy. I was a radical, believing that something fundamental was wrong in this country--not just the existence of poverty amidst great wealth, not just the horrible treatment of black people, but something rotten at the root. The situation required not just a new president or new laws, but an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society--cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian. ↗

— Howard Zinn

#authoritarianism #bill-of-rights #constitution #democracy #egalitarianism

One thing is clear: The Founding Fathers never intended a nation where citizens would pay nearly half of everything they earn to the government. ↗

— Ron Paul

#founding-fathers #illegal-taxes #income-tax #politics #ron-paul

Politics bores you?" Bronsen said. Julien smiled. "It does. Apologies, sir, and it is not that I haven't tried to be fascinated. But careful and meticulous research has suggested the hypothesis that all politicians are liars, fools, and tricksters, and I have as yet come across no evidence to the contrary. They can do great damage, and rarely any good. It is the job of the sensible man to try and protect civilization from their depradations. ↗

— Iain Pears

#damage #deceit #depradation #lies #politicians

At some fundamental level, religion does not allow for compromise. It insists on the impossible. If God has spoken, then followers are expected to live up to God's edicts, regardless of the consequences. To base one's life on such uncompromising commitments may be sublime; to base our policy making on such commitments would be a dangerous thing. ↗

— Barack Obama

#religion #dreams

Indeed, it's not a stretch to say that most voters no longer choose their representatives; instead, representatives choose their voters. ↗

— Barack Obama

#dreams

A rather vicious cycle has been at work for years. Reduced taxes on the rich leave them with more money to influence politicians and politics. Their influence wins them further tax reductions, which gives them still more money to put to political use. When the loss of tax revenue from the rich worsens already strained government budgets, the rich press politicians to cut public services and government jobs and not even debate a return to the higher taxes the rich used to pay. So it goes – from Washington, to Wisconsin, to New York City. ↗

— Richard Wolff How the rich soaked the rest of us Guardian March

#equality #inequality #inequity #politics #rich

It's not just about the money. It's about fairness, and equality, and how profoundly our political culture is infused with the imperatives to keep us divided on the most fundamental bases ↗

— Ellen Shaffer

#freedom #inspirational #life #politics #power