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Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia

Book by Gore Vidal · 11 quotes · Politics, Action, American President

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Imperial America: Reflections on the United States of Amnesia Quotes

“Although the notion of one god may give comfort to those in need of a daddy, it reminds the rest of us that the totalitarian society is grounded upon the concept of God the father. One paternal god, one paternal leader. Authority is absolute.”

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“As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests.”

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“Our only political party has two right wings, one called Republican, the other Democratic. But Henry Adams figured all that out back in the 1890s. "We have a single system," he wrote, and "in that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses."”

TwoAmericaPoliticalPoliticsPartyRepublicanWingsDemocraticBreadPolitical PartiesCircusRight WingProletariatBread And Circuses
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“When Ronald Reagan's career in show business came to an end, he was hired to impersonate, first, a California governor and then an American president who would reduce taxes for his employers, the Southern and Western New Rich, much of whose money came from the defence industries. There is nothing unusual about this arrangement. All recent presidents have had their price-tags.”

FirstsEndsShowsPresidentCareersRichIndustryTaxesWesternCaliforniaSouthernUnusualGovernorsArrangementsShow BusinessEmployersDefenceTagAmerican PresidentPrice TagImpersonate
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“I complain about the United States not being Athens. I certainly say we are a very good Roman republic, and the lies are based upon the most advanced techniques of advertising, which is the only art form my country has ever created—the television commercial—and we sell soap and presidents in the same fashion. Once a country is habituated to liars, it takes generations to bring the truth back.”

LyingPoliticsLiesLiarsPolitical Chicanery
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