“Men and women ... do you not realize that the State is the worst enemy you have? It is a machine that crushes you in order to sustain the ruling class, your masters. Like naïve children you put your trust in your political leaders. You make it possible for them to creep into your confidence, only to have them betray you to the first bidder. But even where there is no direct betrayal, the labour politicians make common cause with your enemies to keep you in leash, to prevent your direct action. The State is the pillar of capitalism, and it is ridiculous to expect any redress from it.” MenFirstsChildrenStatesActionPoliticalOrderCausesRealizingCommonLeaderEnemyClassWorstMastersPoliticianMen And WomenCapitalismDirectMachinesBetrayalRidiculousCrushLabourBetrayRulingCreepsPillarsWorst EnemyPolitical LeadersLeashesRedressDirect Action Author:Emma Goldman
“It has been obvious all along, to anyone paying attention, that the politicians shouting loudest about deficits are actually using deficit hysteria as a cover story for their real agenda, which is top-down class warfare. To put it in Romneyesque terms, it's all about finding an excuse to slash programs that help people who like to watch Nascar events, even while lavishing tax cuts on people who like to own Nascar teams.” PeopleHas BeensRealHelpingStoriesTermAttentionClassWatchesCuttingTeamEventsPoliticianTaxesFindingsProgramObviousExcusePay AttentionAgendasWarfareDeficitShoutingHysteriaTax CutsClass WarfareTop DownNascar Author:Paul Krugman
“Unpleasant questions are being raised about Mother's Day. Is this day necessary? . . . Isn't it bad public policy? . . . No politician with half his senses, which a majority of politicians have, is likely to vote for its abolition, however. As a class, mothers are tender and loving, but as a voting bloc they would not hesitate for an instant to pull the seat out from under any Congressman who suggests that Mother is not entitled to a box of chocolates each year in the middle of May.” YearsMayMotherHalfClassMiddlePolicyPoliticianVoteMajorityRaisedBoxesSensesInstantSeatsVotingChocolateThis DayEntitledMothers DayAbolitionCongressmanPublic PolicyBox Of Chocolates Author:Russell Baker
“We all accuse Vladimir Putin of Cold War nostalgia, but Washington's elites - politicians and intellectuals - miss the old days as well. They wish for the world in which the United States was utterly dominant over its friends, its foes were to be shunned entirely, and the challenges were stark, moral, and vital. Today's world is messy and complicated. China is one of our biggest trading partners and our looming geopolitical rival. Russia is a surly spoiler, but it has a globalized middle class and has created ties in Europe.” WorldWellsWarStatesRealityTodayPoliticsWishCommunityChallengesLeadershipUnitedMoneyMoralClassHistoryUnited StatesDemocracyGenerationsMiddleMissingPolicyColdPoliticianEthicsEuropeTradeStrategyHuman RightsChinaComplicatedNostalgiaPartnersRussiaIdeologyTiesMiddle ClassOver ItElitesForeign PolicyDominantCold WarTradingDiplomacyFoeFree MarketRivalsCivilityMessyPutinOld DaysStarksToday's WorldLoomingGeopoliticalSurlySpoilersTrading Partners Author:Fareed Zakaria
“Middle class America is acutely aware of how bad this economy is, and it is going to demand changes. I don't think politicians can afford to be complacent.” ThinkingAmericaClassEconomyMiddlePoliticianDemandMiddle ClassComplacent Author:Elizabeth Warren
“High tax rates in the upper income brackets allow politicians to win votes with class warfare rhetoric, painting their opponents as defenders of the rich. Meanwhile, the same politicians can win donations from the rich by creating tax loopholes that can keep the rich from actually paying those higher tax rates - or perhaps any taxes at all. What is worse than class warfare is phony class warfare. Slippery talk about 'fairness' is at the heart of this fraud by politicians seeking to squander more of the nation's resources.” HeartWinningNationsClassRichPaintingHigherPoliticianTaxesCreatingResourcesVoteRateSeekingIncomeOpponentsFraudFairnessWarfareRhetoricDefendersPhonySlipperyDonationClass WarfareLoopholesBracketsHigh Taxes Author:Thomas Sowell
“Police officers today are a protected class, one no politician wants to oppose. Law enforcement interests may occasionally come up short on budgetary issues, but legislatures rarely if ever pass new laws to hold police more accountable, to restrict their powers, or to make them more transparent. In short, police today embody all of the threats the Founders feared were posed by standing armies, plus a few additional ones they couldn't have anticipated.” IfsWantMayTodayLawInterestClassIssuesPoliticianStandingArmyPoliceThreatCome UpPlusOfficersProtectedFoundersLaw EnforcementEnforcementTransparentLegislaturePolice Officer Author:Radley Balko
“The fact that seasoned politicians can say such ridiculous things - and get away with it - illustrates the degree to which the new dogma... has swept through the left-of-centre governing classes.” FactsLeftClassEnvironmentPoliticianDegreesRidiculousGet AwayDogmaCentreGoverningRidiculous Things Author:Margaret Thatcher
“The American middle class, it seems to me, is looking to politicians now to satisfy a pretty basic - and urgent - level of need. Yet people in the upper middle class - with their excellent health benefits, schools, salaries, retirement plans, nannies and private afterschool programs - have journeyed so far from that level of need that, it often seems to me, they literally cannot hear what resonates with the middle class. That creates a problematic blind spot for those who write, edit or produce what comes to be known about our politicians and their policies.” PeopleNeedsWritingSeemsSchoolLevelsKnownClassPlansMiddlePolicyProducePoliticianBenefitsProgramBlindSpotsExcellentMiddle ClassRetirementUrgentSalaryEditsNanniesBlind SpotsHealth BenefitsUpper Middle Class Author:Judith Warner
“Both [Donald] Trump and Bernie [Sanders] got to this idea of the vanishing middle class sooner and with more passion than more mainstream politicians, and benefited from it. The difference, of course, is that Bernie understood this in a more compassionate framework, and talked about it in conjunction with a revitalization of another part of the American project, which is the notion that we are all created equal, and that our laws and culture and action ought to reflect that.” IdeasActionLawCulturePassionCoursesDifferencesClassMiddleOughtTrumpPoliticianEqualProjectsUnderstoodNotionMiddle ClassCompassionateMainstreamFrameworkVanishingConjunctionsRevitalization Author:George Saunders
“Once we realized that there were these 25 invariable types - the class politician, the frigid popular girl, the kid who tags along behind the jocks - once we came up with these key characters in a cloud of marijuana, the whole thing just came together. One of the things I'm really proud of is how much of a high-school yearbook it is in its look, so much so that Hunter Publishing had the art director, David Kaestle, and I come for years to their annual convention and do a little talk on how not to do a yearbook.” YearsLooksLittlesArtWholeCharacterKidsSchoolTogetherGirlBehindsClassKeysTypeProudPoliticianDirectorsHigh SchoolCloudsConventionsMarijuanaPublishingHuntersAnnualsTagJocksFrigidYearbookPopular GirlArt DirectorHigh School Yearbook Author:P. J. O'Rourke
“Politicians refuse to modernize schools, they cut out midnight basketball, but build all these new jails. First class jails, second class schools. This is zero tolerance.” FirstsSchoolClassCuttingPoliticianBasketballRefuseToleranceJailZeroMidnightFirst ClassZero Tolerance Author:Jesse Jackson