Deregulation is a transfer of power from the trodden to the treading. It is unsurprising that all conservative parties claim to hate big government.
Interpretation
Deregulation shifts power from the oppressed to the powerful, often benefiting the latter under the guise of reducing government size.
In this quote, George Monbiot highlights how deregulation, which is often advocated by conservative parties as a means to reduce government intervention, can actually lead to an increase in power for those who are already dominant in society. This transfer of power suggests that while the rhetoric may focus on curtailing governmental oversight, the reality may result in greater inequality and concentration of power among the elite, leaving those who are already marginalized further disadvantaged.
In practice
In a debate about government policies, this quote can serve to illustrate the potential dangers of deregulation.
The notions that nature exists to serve us; that its value consists of the instrumental benefits we can extract; that this value can be measured in cash terms; and that what can't be measured does not matter, have proved lethal to the rest of life on Earth.
I believe that anyone who wants to stand in a national election should receive a course of psychotherapy. Completing the course should be a qualification for office. This wouldn't change the behaviour of psychopaths, but it might prevent some people who exercise power from imposing their own deep wounds on others.
I became an environmentalist because I love the living world, but I spend much of my life thinking about electricity, industrial processes and civil engineering.
Places that have become agricultural deserts, trashed by giant corporations, could be reforested, drawing carbon dioxide from the air on a vast scale. The ecosystems of land and sea could recover, not just in pockets but across great tracts of the planet.
Never underestimate the power of intrinsic values. They inspire every struggle for a better world.
Why is it so easy to save the banks - but so hard to save the biosphere?
Politicians will talk strategy and tactics and policies and programs until they're blue in the face, or you strangle them and they turn blue.
I say further that for this great legislative body to ignore the Constitution and the fundamental concepts of our governmental system is to act in a manner which could ultimately destroy the freedom of all American citizens, including the freedoms of the very persons whose feelings and whose liberties are the major subject of this legislation.
[V]irtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.
Political ignorance helps explain Americans' perpetual disappointment with politicians generally, and presidents especially, to whom voters unrealistically attribute abilities to control events.
The American foreign policy trauma of the sixties and seventies was caused by applying valid principles to unsuitable conditions.
When politicians start talking about large groups of their fellow Americans as 'enemies,' it's time for a quiet stir of alertness. Polarizing people is a good way to win an election, and also a good way to wreck a country.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.