The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.
Upton SinclairRead
Fascism is capitalism plus murder.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that fascism arises when capitalism becomes violently oppressive.
Upton Sinclair's quote succinctly encapsulates the relationship between fascism and capitalism, indicating that when capitalism, characterized by profit motives and economic inequality, is coupled with ruthless, violent oppression, it culminates in fascism. It speaks to the dangers of allowing capitalism to operate without checks and balances, where human rights and dignity are sacrificed for profit and control.
In practice
In a debate on political systems, this quote can be used to illustrate the dangers of unrestrained capitalism.
The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.
Human beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past grief becomes a source of present pleasure - such is the strange alchemy of the spirit.
I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
And as for other men, who worked in tank-rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,-sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out into the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard! This contributed to the passing of the Pure Food Act of 1906.
The old wanderlust had gotten into his blood, the joy of the unbound life, the joy of seeking, of hoping without limit.
One of the necessary accompaniments of capitalism in a democracy is political corruption.
Arguments can always be found to turn desire into policy.
Despotism can only exist in darkness, and there are too many lights now in the political firmament to permit it to remain anywhere, as it has heretofore done, almost everywhere.
Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of government by pressure groups. Its methods range from mere social courtesies and cocktail-party or luncheon "friendships" to favors, threats, bribes, blackmail.
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?
As soon as politicians start climbing up the ladder, they suddenly become kings. I don't know how it works, but what I do know is that republics came to the world to make sure that no one is more than anyone else. The pomp of office is like something left over from a feudal past: "You need a palace, red carpet, a lot of people behind you saying, 'Yes, sir.' I think all of that is awful."
But let me perfectly clear, because I know you'll hear the same old claims that rolling back these tax breaks means a massive tax increase on the American people: if your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.