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Barbara Ehrenreich

Barbara Ehrenreich Quotes

American Political figure

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Famous Barbara Ehrenreich Quotes

“the seeker who embraces positive theology finds ... that you can have all that stuff in the mall, as well as the beautiful house and car, if only you believe that you can. But ... if you don't have all that you want, if you feel sick, discouraged, or defeated, you have only yourself to blame. Positive theology ratifies and completes a world without beauty, transcendence, or mercy.”

IfsWorldWantFeelsBelieveWellsBeautifulHouseStuffCarMercySickBlameEmbraceTheologyDefeatedDiscouragedTranscendenceSeekersMallsDefeated You
Author:Barbara Ehrenreich
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“As a general rule, when something gets elevated to apple-pie status in the hierarchy of American values, you have to suspect that its actual monetary value is skidding toward zero. Take motherhood: nobody ever thought of putting it on a moral pedestal until some brash feminists pointed out, about a century ago, that the pay is lousy and the career ladder nonexistent. Same thing with work: would we be so reverent about the 'work ethic' if it wasn't for the fact that the average working stiff's hourly pay is shrinking, year by year.”

IfsYearsFactsValuesWorkPayMoralCareersCenturyEthicsAverageFeministMotherhoodApplesSuspectsZeroPieWork EthicLaddersHierarchyMonetaryPedestalShrinkingAmerican ValuesApple PieBrashMonetary Value
Author:Barbara Ehrenreich
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“But the economic meltdown should have undone, once and for all, the idea of poverty as a personal shortcoming or dysfunctional state of mind. The lines at unemployment offices and churches offering free food includes strivers as well as slackers, habitual optimists as well as the chronically depressed. When and if the economy recovers we can never allow ourselves to forget how widespread our vulnerability is, how easy it is to spiral down toward destitution.”

IfsShouldMindWellsIdeasStatesEasyChurchLinesForgetPovertyEconomyEconomicOfficeShould HaveVulnerabilityState Of MindOfferingUnemploymentOptimistShortcomingsUndoneHabitualSpiralsSlackerMeltdownsFree FoodStrivers
Book:Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America
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“If that's how it all started, then we might as well face the fact that what's left out there is a great deal of shrapnel and a whole bunch of cinders (one of which is, fortunately, still hot enough and close enough to be good for tanning). Trying to find some sense and order in this mess may be as futile as trying to ... reconstruct the economy of Iowa from a bowl of popcorn. [On searching for evidence of the Big Bang.]”

IfsTryingWellsMayStillsEnoughWholeFactsBigsMightFacesScienceOrderUniverseLeftDealsEconomyEvidenceHotBe GoodBunchMessBowlsBangsLeft OutIowaPopcornTanning
Book:WORST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
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“If men were equally at risk from this condition - if they knew their bellies might swell as if they were suffering from end-stage cirrhosis, that they would have to go nearly a year without a stiff drink, a cigarette, or even an aspirin, that they would be subject to fainting spells and unable to fight their way onto commuter trains - then I am sure that pregnancy would be classified as a sexually transmitted disease and abortions would be no more controversial than emergency appendectomies.”

IfsMenWayYearsEndsMightWould BeSufferingFightingRiskConditionsSubjectsStageDrinkDiseaseTrainAbortionPregnancySpellsCigaretteBellyEmergenciesControversialSexuallyAspirinFaintingSexually Transmitted DiseasesCirrhosis
Author:Barbara Ehrenreich
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“Some of us still get all weepy when we think about the Gaia Hypothesis, the idea that earth is a big furry goddess-creature who resembles everybody's mom in that she knows what's best for us. But if you look at the historical record - Krakatoa, Mt. Vesuvius, Hurricane Charley, poison ivy, and so forth down the ages - you have to ask yourself: Whose side is she on, anyway?”

IfsThinkingKnowsLooksStillsIdeasGodBigsAgeEarthAsksSidesRecordsAtheismMomCreaturesHistoricalPoisonGoddessHypothesisHurricanesIvyFurryGaiaPoison Ivy
Book:WORST YEARS OF OUR LIVES
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“Thus will the fondest dream of Phallic science be realized: a pristine new planet populated entirely by little boy clones of great scientific entrepreneurs free to smash atoms, accelerate particles, or, if they are so moved, build pyramids -- without any social relevance or human responsibility at all.”

IfsHumansLittlesDreamScienceSocialResponsibilityBoysPlanetsScientistMovedEntrepreneurAtomsParticlesRelevanceLittle BoysPyramidsAcceleratePristine
Author:Barbara Ehrenreich
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