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Quote by Eric Hobsbawm

“The test of a progressive policy is not private but public, not just rising income and consumption for individuals, but widening the opportunities and what Amartya Sen calls the 'capabilities' of all through collective action. But that means, it must mean, public non-profit initiative, even if only in redistributing private accumulation. Public decisions aimed at collective social improvement from which all human lives should gain. That is the basis of progressive policy—not maximising economic growth and personal incomes. Nowhere will this be more important than in tackling the greatest problem facing us this century, the environmental crisis. Whatever ideological logo we choose for it, it will mean a major shift away from the free market and towards public action, a bigger shift than the British government has yet envisaged. And, given the acuteness of the economic crisis, probably a fairly rapid shift. Time is not on our side.”

Quote by Eric Hobsbawm

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Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm

Eric Hobsbawm was a renowned British historian known for his research on the Industrial Revolution and the social changes in 19th-century Europe. His works have had a profound impact on the field of history, particularly in the areas of social history and comparative history. more

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