Proudhon: Laws: We know what they are, and what they are worth! They are spider webs for the rich and mighty, steel chains for the poor and weak, fishing nets in the hands of government. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Issac Asimov: He (Orwell) wasn’t much affected, apparently, by the Nazi brand of totalitarianism, for there was no room within him except for his private war with Stalinist communism. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Karl Marx: In the meantime, may I wish you in advance every happiness for the New Year. If it’s anything like the old one, I, for my part, would sooner consign it to the devil. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
John Pilger: Spartacus was the rebellious leader of Rome’s slaves in 71-73 BC. There is a thrilling moment in the Kirk Douglas movie Spartacus when the Romans call on Spartacus’s men to identify their leader and so be pardoned. Instead hundreds of his comrades stand and raise their fists in solidarity and shout, ‘I am Spartacus!’ The rebellion is under way. Julian and David are Spartacus. The Palestinians are Spartacus. People who fill the streets with flags and principle and solidarity are Spartacus. We are all Spartacus if we want to be. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
John Pilger: The United States dominates the Western world’s media. All but one of the top ten media companies are based in North America. The internet and social media - Google, Twitter, Facebook - are mostly American owned and controlled. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
John Pilger: In my lifetime, the United States has overthrown or attempted to overthrow more than 50 governments, mostly democracies ... It has interfered in democratic elections in 30 countries. It has dropped bombs on the people of 30 countries, most of them poor and defenceless. It has attempted to murder the leaders of 50 countries. It has fought to suppress liberation movements in 20 countries. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Albert Einstein: There will come a time when the rich own all the media and it will be impossible for the public to make an informed opinion. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Malcolm X: So you have two types of Negro. The old type and the new type. Most of you know the old type. When you read about him in history during slavery he was called "Uncle Tom." He was the house Negro. And during slavery you had two Negroes. You had the house Negro and the field Negro. The house Negro usually lived close to his master. He dressed like his master. He wore his master's second-hand clothes. He ate food that his master left on the table. And he lived in his master's house--probably in the basement or the attic--but he still lived in the master's house. So whenever that house Negro identified himself, he always identified himself in the same sense that his master identified himself. When his master said, "We have good food, " the house Negro would say, "Yes, we have plenty of good food." "We" have plenty of good food. When the master said that "we have a fine home here, " the house Negro said, "Yes, we have a fine home here." When the master would be sick, the house Negro identified himself so much with his master he'd say, "What's the matter boss, we sick?" His master's pain was his pain. And it hurt him more for his master to be sick than for him to be sick himself. When the house started burning down, that type of Negro would fight harder to put the master's house out than the master himself would. But then you had another Negro out in the field. The house Negro was in the minority. The masses--the field Negroes were the masses. They were in the majority. When the master got sick, they prayed that he'd die. (Laughter) If his house caught on fire, they'd pray for a wind to come along and fan the breeze. If someone came to the house Negro and said, "Let's go, let's separate, " naturally that Uncle Tom would say, "Go where? What could I do without boss? Where would I live? How would I dress? Who would look out for me?" That's the house Negro. But if you went to the field Negro and said, "Let's go, let's separate, " he wouldn't even ask you where or how. He'd say, "Yes, let's go." And that one ended right there. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Eugene V. Debs: You must use your heads as well as your hands, and get yourself out of your present condition; as it is now the capitalists use your heads and your hands. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Malcolm X: Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Stalin: Proletarian culture does not abolish national culture, it gives it content. On the other hand, national culture does not abolish proletarian culture, it gives it form. The slogan of national culture was a bourgeois slogan as long as the bourgeoisie was in power and the consolidation of nations proceeded under the aegis of the bourgeois order. The slogan of national culture became a proletarian slogan when the proletariat came to power, and when the consolidation of nations began to proceed under the aegis of Soviet power. Whoever fails to understand the fundamental difference between these two situations will never understand either Leninism or the essence of the national question. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Stokely Carmichael: Anytime you make an analysis of an oppressed people, in any aspect of their life, and you leave out the enemy, you will never come to a correct analysis. On the contrary, you will blame the oppressed for all of their problems. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Plato: There is no one who ever acts honestly in the administration of states, nor any helper who will save any one who maintains the cause of the just. wordsmith.social/protestation/…
Horatius Cocles: And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods? wordsmith.social/protestation/…
