“Watch well each separate citizen, Lest having in his heart of hearts A secret spear, one still may come Saluting you with cheerful face, And utter with a double tongue The feigned good wishes of his wary mind.” MindWellsHeartMayStillsFacesWishSecretWatchesCitizensTongueCheerfulSpearsGood Wishes Author:Solon
“The people = government doctrine is equivalent to political infantilism -- an agreement to pretend that the citizen's wishes animate each restriction or exaction inflicted upon him.” PeopleGovernmentPoliticalWishCitizensDoctrineAgreementRestriction Book:Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen Source: Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen
“All of the evidence highlights the implicit bargain that is offered to citizens: pose no challenge and you have nothing to worry about. Mind your own business, and support or at least tolerate what we do, and you'll be fine. Put differently, you must refrain from provoking the authority that wields surveillance powers if you wish to be deemed free of wrongdoing. This is a deal that invites passivity, obedience, and conformity. The safest course, the way to ensure being “left alone,” is to remain quiet, unthreatening, and compliant.” IfsWayMindCoursesLeftWishChallengesDealsWorrySupportFineCitizensQuietAuthorityEvidenceObedienceConformityInvitesTolerateProvokingSurveillanceBargainsRefrainOwn BusinessLeft AloneHighlightsPassivityImplicitWrongdoingMind Your Own BusinessMind Your Own Author:Glenn Greenwald
“... it is more than petty treason to the Republic, to call a free citizen a servant. The whole class of young women, whose bread depends upon their labour, are taught to believe that the most abject poverty is preferable to domestic service. Hundreds of half-naked girls work in the paper-mills, or in any other manufactory, for less than half the wages they would receive in service; but they think their equality is compromised by the latter, and nothing but the wish to obtain some particular article of finery will ever induce them to submit to it.” ThinkingBelieveWholeYoungGirlWishHalfClassPovertyTaughtParticularDependsCitizensPaperBreadNakedServantLatterLabourRepublicArticlesSubmitYoung WomenWagesPettyTreasonMills Author:Frances Trollope
“Government is best which is closest to the people. Yet that belief is betrayed by those State and local officials who engage in denying the right of citizens to vote. Their actions serve only to assure that their State governments and local governments shall be remote from the people, least representative of the people's will and least responsive to the people's wishes.” PeopleStatesGovernmentActionBeliefWishCitizensVoteLocalsOfficialsRepresentativesClosestBetrayedState GovernmentLocal Government Author:Lyndon B. Johnson
“I once said that it was unacceptable for Japan to remain "an isolated prosperous island." At one time, it might have been all right for Japan to avoid sending any citizens to dangerous areas [even as part of international efforts] and just wish for its own people's happiness. That time is gone.” PeopleHas BeensSaidMightWishEffortGoneDangerousCitizensAreasInternationalIslandsJapanOne TimeIsolatedMight Have BeenProsperous Author:Sadako Ogata