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William Greider

William Greider Quotes

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Famous William Greider Quotes

“The brilliant creative core of capitalism ... is the story the entrepreneurs and capital investors tell themselves about the future. How they intend to alter it, what they expect to gain in return, where they will raise the capital to accomplish their vision. Many of their stories turn out to be flawed or mistaken, of course, but the capacity to envision a set of future events and then act to fulfill them is a central source of capitalism's strength and its dominance of society.”

StoriesTurnsCoursesVisionCreativeEventsSourceReturnCapitalismGainsCapacityRaisesEntrepreneurAccomplishBrilliantCoreInvestorsMistakenFlawedDominanceFuture Events
Book:The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
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“The trauma of 9/11 stimulated infinite possibilities for worry - some quite plausible, but most inspired by remote what-if fantasies. A society bingeing on fear makes itself vulnerable to far more profound forms of destruction than terror attacks. The "terrorism war", like a nostalgic echo of the cold war, is using these popular fears to advance a different agenda - the re-engineering of American life through permanent mobilization.”

IfsDifferentWarFormWorryFantasyPossibilityColdDestructionInfiniteProfoundInspiredTerrorTraumaTerrorismVulnerablePermanentAgendasWhat IfEngineeringEchoesCold WarNostalgicAmerican LifePlausibleInfinite PossibilitiesMobilizationTerror Attacks
Author:William Greider
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“The great multinationals are unwilling to face the moral and economic contradictions of their own behavior - producing in low-wage dictatorships and selling to high-wage democracies. Indeed, the striking quality about global enterprises is how easily free-market capitalism puts aside its supposed values in order to do business. The conditions of human freedom do not matter to them so long as the market demand is robust. The absence of freedom, if anything, lends order and efficiency to their operations.”

IfsHumansLongMatterFacesValuesOrderQualityMoralDemocracyEconomicConditionsDemandBehaviorLowsCapitalismAbsenceSellingOperationsEnterpriseContradictionDictatorshipEfficiencyFree MarketUnwillingRobustHuman FreedomMultinationalsFree Market Capitalism
Author:William Greider
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“Democracy begins in human conversation. A democratic conversation does not require elaborate rules of procedure or utopian notions of perfect consensus. What it does require is a spirit of mutual respect-people conversing critically with one another in an atmosphere of honesty and shared regard.”

PeopleHumansDoeSpiritPerfectDemocracyHonestyConversationRegardDemocraticNotionAtmosphereMutualConsensusProceduresUtopianMutual RespectRespect People
Book:Who will tell the people: the betrayal of American democracy
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“Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others. Everyone's sense of virtue is degraded by the present reality. A revolutionary principle is embedded in the global economic system, awaiting broader recognition: Human dignity is indivisible. Across the distances of culture and nations, across vast gulfs of wealth and poverty, even the least among us are entitled to dignity, and no justification exists or brutalizing them in the pursuit of commerce.”

HumansDoneRealityValuesCultureNationsWealthPrinciplesPovertyVirtueEconomicDignityDistancePursuitDefinedRecognitionRevolutionaryJustificationTolerateCommerceEntitledEmbeddedHuman DignityEconomic SystemsIndivisibleWealth And Poverty
Author:William Greider
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“If there is a mystical chord in democracy, it probably revolves around the notion that unexpected music can resonate from politics when people are pursuing questions larger than self... I have seen that ennobling effect in people many, many times- expressed by those who found themselves engaged in genuine acts of democratic expression, who claimed their right to define the larger destiny of their community, their nations.”

PeopleIfsSelfFoundNationsPeaceCommunityDestinyDemocracyEffectsExpressionDemocraticNotionGenuineEngagedUnexpectedMysticalChords
Author:William Greider
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“The scandalous question that hangs over modern government and excites perpetual outrage is about political money and what it buys. What exactly do these contributors get in return for the hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars they funnel to the politicians?”

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Book:Who will tell the people: the betrayal of American democracy
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“Fellow senators balked at punishing Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York though he was caught in a series of transactions that earned him the label "Senator Sleaze." D'Amato explained their reluctance as he defended his own behavior. "There but for the grace of God go most of my colleagues," he said.”

SaidGraceNew YorkBehaviorFellowsSeriesCaughtPunishmentLabelsSenatorsColleaguesGrace Of GodTransactionsReluctanceSleazes
Book:Who will tell the people: the betrayal of American democracy
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“If one benefits tangibly from the exploitation of others who are weak, is one morally implicated in their predicament? Or are basic rights of human existence confined to the civilized societies that are wealthy enough to afford them? Our values are defined by what we will tolerate when it is done to others.”

IfsHumansDoneEnoughValuesExistenceRightsBenefitsWeakDefinedWealthyCivilizedTolerateExploitationConfinedHuman ExistencePredicamentsCivilized SocietyBasic Rights
Author:William Greider
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