Politics hates a vacuum. If it isn't filled with hope, someone will fill it with fear.
Naomi KleinRead
Those looking for ideology in the White House should consider this: For the men who rule our world, rules are for other people.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the hypocrisy of leaders who impose rules on others while not adhering to them themselves.
Naomi Klein's quote critiques the disconnect between those in power and the general populace. It suggests that while leaders may advocate for various ideologies or rules, they often do not follow these rules personally, indicating a significant moral and ethical divide in governance versus the lived experience of ordinary people. This exposes a troubling reality where the powerful operate under a different set of standards than those they expect from the citizens they govern.
Themes
IdeologyPowerHypocrisyGovernanceLeadership
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate, one might reference this quote to discuss the ethics of leadership.
More from Naomi Klein
All quotes βBecause it is such a huge crisis, because it puts us on a firm science-based deadline, it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to build a better society and address raging inequality, create huge numbers of jobs, rebuild our public infrastructure. But, we can't do it unless we break every single rule in the free-market playbook. Which is why the worst people in the world all deny climate change.
Naomi KleinRead
Terrorism doesn't just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism - real and exaggerated - has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.
Naomi KleinRead
Everybody that's trying to get anything progressive done in this country knows that the biggest barrier is getting money out of politics.
Naomi KleinRead
I think I would say that there is absolutely no way to reconcile an austerity agenda with climate action. Our political class needs to understand that the fight against austerity and the fight for climate action are the same fight.
Naomi KleinRead
I think the fossil fuel industry is genuinely freaked out by the combination of the price collapse, the divestment movement, and that fact that renewable energy is getting so cheap so fast.
Naomi KleinRead
Similar quotes
Theodore Roosevelt's policy to build a two-ocean navy confirmed that the old-style isolationism of the founders had not survived the modern, increasingly globalized world.
Margaret MacmillanRead
The danger in our system is that the general government, which represents the interests of the whole, may encroach on the states, which represent the peculiar and local interests, or that the latter may encroach on the former.
John C. CalhounRead
Communism didn't fall. It was pushed.
George H. W. BushRead
Inequality also distorts our democracy. It gives an outsized voice to the few who can afford high-priced lobbyists and unlimited campaign contributions, and runs the risk of selling out our democracy to the highest bidder. And it leaves everyone else rightly suspicious that the system in Washington is rigged against them - that our elected representatives aren't looking out for the interests of most Americans.
Barack ObamaRead
Corruption has reached an unacceptable level. It devours resources that could be devoted to the citizens. It impedes the proper carrying out of market rules and penalizes the honest and capable.
Sergio MattarellaRead
Only votes talk, everything else walks.
Dan RatherRead