When dictators feel their support slipping among adults, it is not unusual for them to alter school textbooks in the hope of enlisting impressionable youths in their cause.
Interpretation
Dictators often change educational content to manipulate young minds and secure their power.
This quote by Samantha Power emphasizes how authoritarian leaders may resort to altering educational materials in an attempt to sway the beliefs and values of the younger generation when they sense a loss of approval from adults. By targeting impressionable youths, dictators aim to instill loyalty and reshape societal norms, thus securing their political agenda and influence for the future.
In practice
This quote can be used in discussions about the importance of accurate educational content.
Sanctions did indeed help to bring Iran to the negotiating table. But sanctions did not stop the advance of Iran's nuclear program. Negotiations have done that, and it is in our interest not to deny ourselves the chance to achieve a long-term, comprehensive solution that would deny Iran a nuclear weapon.
Zimbabweans are severely malnourished, and deaths from starvation occur even in the cities. The country has not yet suffered nationwide famine only because international donors have stepped in.
Western governments have generally tried to contain genocide by appeasing its architects. But the sad record of the last century shows that the walls the United States tries to build around genocidal societies almost inevitably shatter.
No more than a surgeon can operate while tweeting can you reach your potential with one ear in, one ear out. You actually have to reacquaint yourself with concentration. We all do.
Throughout history, when societies face tough economic times, we have seen democratic reforms deferred, decreased trust in government, persecution of minority groups, and a general shrinking of the democratic space.
All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy.
Universities should be safe havens where ruthless examination of realities will not be distorted by the aim to please or inhibited by the risk of displeasure.
Our schools and colleges are turning out people who cannot feel fulfilled unless they are telling other people what to do.
Our attitude towards ourselves should be 'to be satiable in learning' and towards others 'to be tireless in teaching.
Study history, study history. In history lie all the secrets of statecraft.
I was never born to write. I was taught to write. And I am still being taught to write.
Reading should not be presented to children as a chore, a duty. It should be offered as a gift.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.