Communism needs democracy like the human body needs oxygen.
Leon TrotskyRead
In a country where the sole employer is the State, opposition means death by slow starvation. The old principle: who does not work shall not eat, has been replaced by a new one: who does not obey shall not eat.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques a system where the state controls employment, suggesting that dissent leads to suffering and starvation.
Leon Trotsky's quote highlights the dire consequences of living in a state-run economy where the government is the only employer. In such a system, those who oppose the government face severe repercussions, including the threat of hunger and poverty, as compliance becomes necessary for survival. The shift from a principle based on labor to one dependent on obedience illustrates the oppressive nature of totalitarian regimes, where dissent is not tolerated and those who resist may find themselves marginalized or worse.
Themes
State ControlOppositionEmploymentHungerObedience
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a political debate about government control vs. individual rights.
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History has different yardsticks for the cruelty of the Northerners and the cruelty of the Southerners in the Civil War. A slave-owner who through cunning and violence shackles a slave in chains, and a slave who through cunning or violence breaks the chains β let not the contemptible eunuchs tell us that they are equals before a court of morality!
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The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end.
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