“It's shameful that the elites basically have one-and-a-half political parties. Working class men and women have zero parties - or they have half a party. That's exactly what progressives are upset about.” MenPoliticalPartyHalfClassMen And WomenUpsetZeroElitesWorking ClassPolitical PartiesShameful Author:Nina Turner
“There are lots of grounds for hope in Israeli society. We are seeing Israelis getting fed up with war, looking for solutions. The youngest soldiers are refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. Some are volunteering for army combat units but are refusing to serve in the Occupied Territories. We have the elite of the Israeli army, the air force pilots, some of them refusing orders which they consider illegal.” WarOrderForceSeeingAirSolutionsArmySoldierIllegalFedsTerritoryCombatPilotsElitesUnitsVolunteerIsraeliAir ForceFed UpIsraeli Army Author:Uri Avnery
“Going to places like Honduras, Nicaragua, and various African countries you get to see very clearly what the cause and effect is. We finance the obnoxious elites in those countries and they exploit their people so we don't have to say that we're doing the exploiting but nevertheless we are benefiting from it.” PeopleCountryCausesEffectsVariousFinanceElitesNeverthelessExploitsCause And EffectObnoxiousNicaraguaHonduras Author:Bruce Cockburn
“Fanon calls his ideology a new humanism, not only in contrast to the elite humanism of the West, but also on the axiom that the wretched of the earth, understood socially, think and thus must be a basis of a new politics. This, of course, is not achieved immediately, but it must become an explicit element of the struggle for liberation.” ThinkingEarthCoursesStruggleElementsUnderstoodBasesWestHumanismIdeologyLiberationElitesContrastWretchedAxiomsExplicit Author:Nigel Gibson
“The Syrian people do not recognize themselves in the elite politics of the Muslim Brotherhood or the left, each of which is looking for an external power rather than the people's own self-activity.” PeopleSelfLeftActivityBrotherhoodElitesMuslim Brotherhood Author:Nigel Gibson
“When people stop some film from being shot or burn a book, it's not just that they are saying, this is against Indian culture. They are also saying, you Westernized, elite, English-speaking people are having too much of a good time. It's a very interesting phenomenon.” PeopleBookFilmCultureInterestingToo MuchShotsIndianGood TimesPhenomenonElitesVery InterestingIndian CultureEnglish Speaking Author:Arundhati Roy
“I think it is time for a new pride in the intellectual life, and a new impatience with people who take pride in ignorance, or somehow use "elite" to mean "person who has taken the time to know" and then are eager to dismiss, say, striving, or the notion that improving one's self out of difficult conditions is a noble thing.” PeopleThinkingKnowsMeanPersonsSelfUseDifficultTakenConditionsIgnorancePrideIntellectualStriveNotionNobleElitesNow And ThenImprovingImpatienceIntellectual LifeMean Person Author:George Saunders
“The idea that people should be allowed to decide something about their own fate is just anathema to European elites.” PeopleShouldIdeasFateElitesAnathema Author:Noam Chomsky
“Plainly elites in America don't want democracy. And why should they? Democracy is always harmful to elite interests. Almost by definition.” WantShouldAmericaInterestDemocracyDefinitionsElites Author:Noam Chomsky
“There was a free election in Palestine, but it came out the wrong way. So instantly, the United States and Israel with Europe tagging along, moved to punish the Palestinian people, and punish them harshly, because they voted the wrong way in a free election. That's accepted here in the West as perfectly normal. That illustrates the deep hatred and contempt for democracy among western elites, so deep-seated they can't even perceive it when it's in front of their eyes. You punish people severely if they vote the wrong way in a free election.” PeopleIfsWayStatesEyeUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyFrontsNormalEuropeHatredVoteElectionMovedWestWesternIsraelAcceptedPerceiveContemptElitesPalestinianPalestineWrong WayPerfectly NormalFree Elections Author:Noam Chomsky
“I feel engaged with young people in Pakistan. But that said, it's still a small minority that reads novels, literary fiction. But it isn't necessarily a small minority of the wealthy elite in the city of Lahore. It can often be and I often do meet at literary festivals students who've ridden a bus 12 hours from a very small town just to hear some of their favorite writers come and speak.” PeopleFeelsSaidStillsYoungSpeakHoursCitiesFictionNovelStudentsTownsEngagedMinoritiesWealthyBusElitesPakistanSmall TownFestivalsOften IsLahore Author:Mohsin Hamid
“I think there are different kinds of elites. I think there are venal elites, and self-interested elites, and selfish elites, and I think there are visionary elites.” ThinkingKindDifferentSelfSelfishDifferent KindsElitesVisionaries Author:Thomas Friedman
“There are elites that are real leaders and role models. There are elites that are really selfish and want to pull up the ladder once they've reached the roof.” WantRealLeaderRolesModelsSelfishRole ModelsElitesRoofLaddersPull Ups Author:Thomas Friedman
“It's easy to kind of say it's the elite that's putting you down. Well, it wasn't really the elite, technology will do that.” WellsKindEasyTechnologyElites Author:Thomas Friedman
“The Arab world had a big problem of frankly venal elites. That is why these revolutions happen, because people didn't think the opportunities were being shared fairly.” PeopleThinkingWorldProblemBigsHappensOpportunityRevolutionElitesBig ProblemsArab World Author:Thomas Friedman
“I just think we all distrust people and institutions much more than we once did. And we tend to think elites run everything and are looking out for themselves at our expense. Add it up and you get LOTS more conspiracy theorists.” PeopleThinkingRunningInstitutionsAddExpensesConspiracyElitesDistrustTheorists Author:Christopher Michael Cillizza
“The American people, I think, are tired of being told. They're tired of being told this is as good as it gets. They're tired of being told, like Ronald Reagan used to say, that little intellectual elite in a far distant capital can plan our lives better for us than we can plan them for ourselves.” PeopleThinkingLittlesUsedOur LivesPlansIntellectualTiredElitesGood As It Gets Author:Mike Pence
“The Bank and the media continue to propagate the story that the global elite wishes to be told: that the number of poor has declined by 24 percent in those 15 years [1990-2005].” YearsStoriesWishPoorNumbersMediaPercentElites Author:Thomas Pogge
“I think Syriza and Podemos are very, very different from Sinn Féin in many ways, and so I wouldn't put all three together. I would say that Syriza and Podemos are movements which have come out of mass struggles. In the case of Podemos, directly out of tariqaliextremehuge mass movements in Spain, which started with the occupation of the square. In Greece, as a response to what the EU was doing there, punishing it endlessly, for the sins of its ruling elite.” ThinkingWayDifferentTogetherThreeSinCasesStruggleMovementMassResponseOccupationSquaresElitesSpainRulingGreece Author:Tariq Ali
“The European Union is effectively a union dominated by the German political and economic elite. Its main function is to serve as a nucleus for financial capitalism and to ease the road for that capitalism. The other functions just irritate everyone: it's undemocratic; decisions are not made by parliament; the European Parliament is not sovereign.” MadePoliticalDecisionEconomicCapitalismFunctionUnionsFinancialEaseElitesSovereignParliamentEuropean UnionNucleus Author:Tariq Ali
“Effectively, the EU is a very powerful bureaucracy, dominated now by the German elite, which is backed by the rest of the European Union members.” PowerfulMembersUnionsElitesBureaucracyVery PowerfulEuropean Union Author:Tariq Ali
“If there is a Greek exit from the Eurozone, I think the German elite will be quite pleased that they can then use that to restructure the Eurozone and make it a zone where only strong countries are allowed in. There would then be two tiers within the European Union, which is in fact already happening. But you cannot simply get rid of German control by raising the specter of the Third Reich. That's ahistorical.” IfsThinkingTwoCountryFactsUseStrongHappeningsThirdsUnionsGreekZoneElitesExitEuropean UnionRestructureEurozone Author:Tariq Ali
“The great financial capital is not in one country, it is transnational, that is why it answers to power elites and that is why when I talk about the imperial power of United States I am in no way referring to the American people, who are a noble people that have always been moved by humane concerns.” PeopleWayCountryStatesAnswersUnitedUnited StatesConcernMovedFinancialNobleElitesHumaneReferringGreat Financial Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“When the nuclear weapons were sent to the racist South African government, where a few million white people subjugated more than 13 million black people, it was so they could use them against the Cuban forces that were defending Angola. These things have not been written down but they need to be told as part of the reality of history which should not be distorted the way the historians connected to the power elite tend to do.” PeopleWayNeedsShouldUseRealityGovernmentForceBlackWhiteMillionsWrittenWeaponsSouthConnectedNuclearRacistHistorianBlack PeopleElitesNuclear WeaponsSouth AfricaCubanAngola Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“Communism is an aspiration, an aspiration is an ideal, a dream, a longing of something that would be perfect, but hard to build because it has to clash with human nature and against the egotism of humans and the egotism of the elites which usually try to guarantee their own interests above those of their nations and of their own people. But they are the ones that prevail because they have the economic power, the political power and the military power.” PeopleTryingHumansHardDreamWould BePoliticalNationsInterestPerfectEconomicMilitaryHuman NatureIdealsLongingCommunismAspirationGuaranteesElitesEgotismClashPolitical PowerEconomic PowerMilitary Power Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“Socialism is overcoming certain difficulties, it is working in order to try to achieve social advances, to really achieve a society where everybody improves, not where just the elite improve and the others get worse.” TryingCertainOrderSocialAchieveOvercomingDifficultySocialismElites Author:Alejandro Castro Espin
“After the Second World War, facilitating the establishment of the UN and aiding the reconstruction of Europe, the United States was widely viewed, at least in the West, as a benevolent hegemon. In the non-West, the US was often perceived as a supporter of the colonial powers in their struggle to maintain control over their colonial possessions, and was viewed far more critically, especially by emerging elites that were more inclined to socialist development paradigms than to the capitalist ethos favoured by Washington.” WorldWarStatesUnitedUnited StatesStruggleDevelopmentEuropeWestPossessionWar Of The WorldsEstablishmentCapitalistElitesSocialistSupporterEmergingParadigmSecond World WarBenevolentReconstructionEthos Author:Richard A. Falk
“In the current setting the situation of the poor is neglected despite the grotesque wealth of the capitalist elites, and the dangers to the well-being of humanity associated with climate change are ignored despite a strong scientific consensus warning of the adverse, and possibly irreversible, consequences of further delays in reducing the level of greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon.” WellsHumanityStrongWealthPoorLevelsSituationDangerConsequenceClimateClimate ChangeCurrentsSettingDespiteSettingsWell BeingGasWarningCapitalistElitesIgnoredCarbonDelayConsensusNeglectedReducingEmissionsGrotesqueAdverseGreenhousesGreenhouse GasesIrreversible Author:Richard A. Falk
“I really do. I don't see it as a kind of elite experience - it's our biggest organ. We need to see a dermatologist and have them really look at our skin and figure out what's going on.” NeedsLooksKindFiguresSkinsElitesOrgans Author:June Diane Raphael
“I had a period in my life, maybe a decade or so, in which I was involved in that kind of thing, associating with the elite of various segments of society. It always made me extremely uncomfortable. I couldn't wait to get out of there and change my clothes. The good part about that was getting home and changing into my regular clothes. Taking off the suit and the tie, taking off the tight shoes, and just relaxing. Being away from that stuff. It was stimulating, but I never liked it. I always felt it was a terrible, terrible burden.” KindMadeHomeFeltStuffWaitingInvolvedPeriodsTerribleClothesShoesVariousBurdenDecadesSuitsUncomfortableTiesElites Author:Mark Helprin
“It's hard to make a living in any of the arts. When most people think of artists, they think of the stars and the celebrities. But that's such a tiny minority of the elites who are able to make those millions of dollars. The reality is that it's very hard for the rest to make a living as an artist. So, you really have to persevere and understand that achieving the sort of success where you're making the big money is like winning the lottery.” PeopleThinkingArtHardBigsRealityAbleArtistWinningStarsMillionsAchieveDollarsTinyMinoritiesElitesPersevereLotteryWinning The Lottery Author:Isabella Rossellini
“I think that theater is the closest medium to music. It's very pure. It's for the elite of the society. It's not for everyone in the society.” ThinkingPureTheaterMediumsElitesClosest Author:Asghar Farhadi
“I think that Indian writing in English is a really peculiar beast. I can't think of any literature - perhaps Russian literature in the nineteenth century comes close - so exclusively produced by and closely identified with a tiny but powerful ruling elite, the upper-caste, Anglophone upper middle class, and dependent for so long on book buyers and readers elsewhere.” ThinkingWritingLongI CanBookLiteraturePowerfulClassMiddleCenturyReaderTinyIndianBeastDependentMiddle ClassPeculiarElitesElsewhereRulingNineteenth CenturyBuyersCastesRussian LiteratureUpper Middle Class Author:Pankaj Mishra
“In Burma, economic engagement enriches the regime, as the economy is controlled by the regime. Economic engagement benefits this elite, not ordinary people. The money is spent on the military, stolen by the elite.” PeopleEconomyEconomicMilitaryBenefitsOrdinaryControlledEngagementRegimesElitesStolenOrdinary PeopleBurma Author:Zoya Phan
“When you are dealing with a mass movement, as opposed to a quote-unquote "elite," you are talking to people who don't have time to read long research papers. You have to communicate with them in sound bites, around every other thing they are doing. So it takes a long time to shift people from one message to the next, especially if your foundational narrative was, "The only one thing in the entire world you should be paying attention to is Darfur."” PeopleIfsWorldShouldLongNextSoundAttentionTalkingOne ThingMovementPaperMessagesMassLong TimeResearchCommunicatePay AttentionNarrativeBitesElitesPapersSound BitesDarfur Author:Rebecca Hamilton
“The Kennedy lifestyle is something that is looked upon favorably by the elites throughout our culture, both political and social.” PoliticalCultureSocialLifestyleElites Author:Rush Limbaugh
“America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own and they're privatizing democracy. All the benefits - the tax cuts, policies and rewards flow in one direction: up.” AmericaFormPoliticalDemocracyCuttingPolicyTaxesBenefitsFlowRewardsCorporateRegimesElitesTax CutsOne Direction Author:Bill Moyers
“Everyone should have the same opportunity, and in many areas that's not the case because programs are built around the elite.” ShouldOpportunityCasesBuiltAreasProgramShould HaveElites Author:Bobby Orr
“Minor sports in the community is fun and recreation for everyone, not just the elite. I think back to my days in minor hockey and those are my fondest memories, having fun.” ThinkingFunSportsCommunityMemoriesHaving FunHockeyElitesMinorsRecreation Author:Bobby Orr
“Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?” PastConditionsLateGloryHopelessRomeElitesGreedyPowerlessComplacentInfatuated Author:Camille Paglia
“Why has the Democratic Party become so arrogantly detached from ordinary Americans? Though they claim to speak for the poor and dispossessed, Democrats have increasingly become the party of an upper-middle-class professional elite, top-heavy with journalists, academics and lawyers.” SpeakPoorPartyClassMiddleOrdinaryClaimsDemocraticDemocratHeavyLawyerJournalistMiddle ClassAcademicElitesDemocratic PartyDetachedUpper Middle Class Author:Camille Paglia
“Well, I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment, and I've learned quickly these last few days that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.” IfsWellsReasonLastsPoliticalMediaMembersStandingPermanentI've LearnedCandidatesEstablishmentElitesStanding AloneUnqualified Author:Sarah Palin
“Why should be elite, music? Excuse me. Music must be for everybody.” ShouldExcuseElitesExcuse Me Author:Luciano Pavarotti
“There's a very small group of elite actresses who are my age, who people want to work with. It's not easy to get a good job with good actors.” PeopleWantAgeJobsActorsEasyGroupsActressesElitesGood JobEasy To GetGood ActorsSmall Groups Author:Amanda Peet
“I think this confusion leads intellectuals and artists themselves to believe that the elite arts and humanities are a kind of higher, exalted form of human endeavor.” ThinkingBelieveHumansKindArtFormArtistHumanityHigherConfusionEndeavorElitesExaltedArts And Humanities Author:Steven Pinker
“People who bowl vote. Bowlers are not the cultural elite.” PeoplePoliticsVoteElitesBowlsBowlers Author:Dan Quayle
“Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I'd rather not belong to.” CancerClubsElitesMembership Author:Gilda Radner
“South Africa is labouring to find its revolutionary path; the colours of the Rainbow Nation have difficulty blending together; the wealthy elites (white, black or Indian) profit from de facto segregation.” TogetherNationsBlackWhitePathDifficultySouthProfitIndianRevolutionaryColourWealthyElitesSouth AfricaRainbowSegregation Author:Tariq Ramadan
“Tunisia's responsibility, and especially that of its political and intellectual elites, is enormous. All the protagonists of the nation's social, cultural, economic and political life must work to overcome useless and counterproductive polarisation, and to find solutions to domestic, regional and international problems.” ProblemPoliticalNationsSocialResponsibilityEconomicIntellectualSolutionsOvercomingInternationalEnormousUselessElitesProtagonistsPolitical LifeCounterproductiveTunisia Author:Tariq Ramadan