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The accords were fig leaves of democratic procedure to hide the nakedness of Stalinist dictatorship.
George F. Kennan
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Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote criticizes the false appearance of democracy in the face of authoritarianism.

George F. Kennan's quote suggests that the agreements made during a certain period were merely superficial efforts to present a democratic front, masking the underlying reality of a Stalinist dictatorship. It highlights the dissonance between the formalities of democratic processes and the actual repressive nature of the regime, emphasizing that the appearances were deceptive and served to obscure the truth of governance.

Themes

DemocracyAuthoritarianismDeceptionPoliticsStalinDictatorship

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about political transparency, this quote can illustrate how appearances can be misleading.

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It is an undeniable privilege of every man to prove himself right in the thesis that the world is his enemy; for if he reiterates it frequently enough and makes it the background of his conduct he is bound eventually to be right.
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Actually, the inability of any society to resist immigration, the inability to find other solutions to the problem of employment at the lower, more physical, and menial levels of the economic process, is a serious weakness, and possibly even a fatal one, in any national society. The fully healthy society would find ways to meet those needs out of its own resources.
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One sometimes feels a guest of one's time and not a member of its household.
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