“There was a transition going on - Baghdad being the intellectual capital of the world where major advances were made in agriculture and mathematics and engineering and medicine and astronomy, and then that all sort of collapsed. And I was trying to understand how such a intellectually fertile environment can lose its compass bearing. Because I think about the creative centers today - countries, or even regions. Will Silicon Valley always be as innovative? Will the United States be innovative, or will we become complacent?” ThinkingWorldTryingMadeCountryStatesTodayLosesUnitedUnited StatesCreativeEnvironmentMajorsIntellectualMathematicsMedicineAstronomyRegionsTransitionValleysEngineeringAgricultureCompassInnovativeFertileComplacentSiliconBaghdadSilicon ValleyIntellectual Capital Author:Neil deGrasse Tyson
“The truth is that political consciousness in this country is pretty low... To the degree that we can help educate and organize people around the most important issues facing their lives and show that there is support for fundamental changes in the way we do business in the United States of America in terms of income inequality, in terms of low wages, in terms of disastrous trade policies, in terms of being the only major country not to have a national healthcare program - that's success.” PeopleWayImportantCountryStatesHelpingShowsAmericaPoliticalTermUnitedConsciousnessUnited StatesSupportIssuesPolicyTruth IsDegreesMajorsLowsProgramFundamentalsTradeIncomeInequalityEducateHealthcareOrganizeUnited States Of AmericaWagesImportant IssuesIncome Inequality Author:Bernie Sanders
“The major organizing centers, like the labor movement, have been severely weakened in the United States by policy.” Has BeensStatesUnitedUnited StatesPolicyMovementMajorsLaborLabor Movement Author:Noam Chomsky
“Every book that comes out, every article that comes out, talks about how - while it may have been a "mistake" or an "unwise effort" - the United States was defending South Vietnam from North Vietnamese aggression. And they portray those who opposed the war as apologists for North Vietnam. That's standard to say. The purpose is obvious: to obscure the fact that the United States did attack South Vietnam and the major war was fought against South Vietnam.” MayHas BeensBookWarStatesFactsPurposeUnitedEffortMistakeUnited StatesMajorsStandardsSouthObviousArticlesVietnamAggressionObscureUnwiseVietnamese Author:Noam Chomsky
“I am always a little skeptical on the water thing because I have been hearing that for 30 years, but one year it's going to be true. With the rising populations, Yemen could be the first country in the world, or Sana'a the first major city in the world, to run out of water, that's from Yemeni hydrological engineers and the United Nations. Sooner or later, all of these people, from 7 to 9 billion, all of them want to live like America, will be consuming so much more water that some of the societies will hit a wall without more sustainable environmental practices.” PeopleWorldWantYearsFirstsLittlesHas BeensCountryRunningAmericaNationsWaterUnitedCitiesPracticeWallMajorsEnvironmentalPopulationHearingBillionsBeing TrueRisingEngineersSooner Or LaterUnited NationsSkepticalConsumingCities In The WorldYemenSana Author:Thomas Friedman
“We are lucky in the United States to have our liberal arts system. In most countries, if you go to university, you have to decide for all English literature or no literature, all philosophy or no philosophy. But we have a system that is one part general education and one part specialization. If your parents say you've got to major in computer science, you can do that. But you can also take general education courses in the humanities, and usually you have to.” IfsArtCountryStatesPhilosophyHumanityCoursesLiteratureParentCan DoUnitedUnited StatesLuckyComputerMajorsUniversityComputer ScienceEnglish LiteratureSpecializationLiberal ArtsGeneral Education Author:Martha C. Nussbaum
“Hard power makes sense under some circumstances. But there's not a universal solution to global problems. A major country like the United States has to have a broadly-conceived program for effective international action, influence and cooperation with others.” CountryHardStatesProblemActionUnitedUnited StatesInfluenceCircumstancesMajorsSolutionsProgramUniversalInternationalMake SenseCooperation Author:Zbigniew Brzezinski
“What democratic socialism is about is saying that it is immoral and wrong that the top one-tenth of 1 percent in this country own almost 90 percent - almost - own almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. That it is wrong, today, in a rigged economy, that 57 percent of all new income is going to the top 1 percent. That when you look around the world, you see every other major country providing health care to all people as a right, except the United States.” PeopleWorldLooksCountryStatesCareTodayWealthUnitedUnited StatesEconomyMajorsPercentDemocraticBottomIncomeSocialismAround The WorldHealth CareProvidingImmoralRiggedDemocratic Socialism Author:Bernie Sanders
“I don't think Israel can accept an Iranian terror base next to its major cities any more than the United States could accept an al Qaeda base next to New York City.” ThinkingStatesNextUnitedCitiesAcceptingUnited StatesNew YorkMajorsTerrorIsraelAlsNew York CityAl QaedaIranian Author:Benjamin Netanyahu
“At Oxford University, I studied languages so I could read the great novels as they were originally written. I took what in the United States would be a double major in Russian and French, but I have to admit that the pressure of getting through so many books spoiled reading for me.” BookStatesWould BeReadingLanguageUnitedUnited StatesNovelWrittenMajorsPressureUniversitySpoiledOxfordGreat NovelsOxford University Author:Kate Beckinsale
“Interest-rate swaps are a tool used by big cities, major corporations and sovereign governments to manage their debt, and the scale of their use is almost unimaginably massive. It's about a $379 trillion market, meaning that any manipulation would affect a pile of assets about 100 times the size of the United States federal budget.” StatesUseBigsGovernmentUsedInterestUnitedCitiesUnited StatesMajorsToolsRateSizeDebtScalesManageBudgetsCorporationsMassiveManipulationAssetsSovereignInterest RateBig Cities Author:Matt Taibbi
“I follow the teachings of Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, United States Marine Corps. He won two Congressional Medals of Honor, and he wrote the highly controversial antiwar book 'War is a Racket.'” TwoBookWarStatesUnitedUnited StatesTeachingHonorMajorsAntiwarMedalMarineControversialMarine CorpsRacketButlersUnited States MarineUnited States Marine CorpsMedal Of Honor Author:Jesse Ventura
“When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing. I told him I wanted to be a real Major League baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish.” SaidRealStatesWantedWishPresidentUnitedBoysUnited StatesPlayerMinesMajorsMy FriendsBaseballGenuineLeagueFishingBaseball PlayerKansasMajor LeagueWagnerBaseball LifeMajor League BaseballBaseball And Life Author:Dwight D. Eisenhower