Utopia is on the horizon. I move two steps closer; it moves two steps further away. I walk another ten steps and the horizon runs ten steps further away. As much as I may walk, I'll never reach it. So what's the point of utopia? The point is this: to keep walking.
The more freedom is extended to business, the more prisons have to be built for those who suffer from that business.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that increased freedom in business can lead to negative consequences for society, necessitating more control mechanisms like prisons.
Eduardo Galeano's quote underscores the paradox of business freedom, indicating that as businesses operate with fewer restrictions, the potential for exploitation and social unrest grows. This means that while businesses may thrive, the societal consequences of their actions—such as crime and inequality—might create a need for more imprisonment to manage the fallout. It illustrates the tension between free enterprise and social responsibility.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the implications of corporate regulations in a business ethics seminar.
More from Eduardo Galeano
All quotes →It is highly improbable that the bureaucrat will put his life on the line. It is absolutely impossible that he'll put his job on the line.
We live in a world that treats the dead better than the living. We, the living are askers of questions and givers of answers, and we have other grave defects unpardonable by a system that believes death, like money, improves people.
History never really says goodbye. History says, 'See you later.'
Utopia lies at the horizon. When I draw nearer by two steps, it retreats two steps. If I proceed ten steps forward, it swiftly slips ten steps ahead. No matter how far I go, I can never reach it. What, then, is the purpose of utopia? It is to cause us to advance.
In this world of ours, a world of powerful centers and subjugated outposts, there is no wealth that must not be held in some suspicion.
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