I was the guy who was constantly speaking out against the Vietnam War. I have no regrets about that.
George McgovernRead
I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in.
Interpretation
The quote criticizes how older generations often instigate conflicts that disproportionately affect the youth.
In this quote, George McGovern expresses his frustration with the cyclical nature of war and the tendency of older leaders to instigate conflicts without facing the direct consequences. He highlights the moral responsibility of those in power to consider the impact of their decisions, particularly on the younger generation, who are sent to fight and often pay the highest price in such conflicts.
In practice
During a peace rally, this quote could be used to emphasize the need for youth activism against war.
I was the guy who was constantly speaking out against the Vietnam War. I have no regrets about that.
Pay attention to the hungry, both in this country and around the world. Pay attention to the poor. Pay attention to our responsibilities for world peace. We are our brother's keeper.
Every Senator in this Chamber is partly responsible for sending 50,000 young Americans to an early grave. This Chamber reeks of blood.
The nature of freedom of choice is that some people will misuse their responsibility and hurt themselves in the process. We should do our best to educate them, but without diminishing choice for everyone else.
When you start one of these programs, school lunch programs, in a country that heretofore had nothing of that kind, immediately school enrollment jumps dramatically. Girls and boys get to the classroom with the promise of a good meal once a day.
I hope I live long enough to see every hungry school child in the world being fed under the so-called McGovern-Dole program.
...Americans...automatically equate dissension with disloyalty. They view any criticism of our existing social, economic, and political forms, as sedition and subversion. ...(" The growing reluctance of Americans to criticize, and their increasing tendency to condemn those who, in ever dwindling numbers, will still voice dissent") is disturbing, deplorable, and truly dangerous.
The fact is, that what de Sade was trying to bring to the surface of the conscious mind was precisely the thing that revolted that mind . . . From the very first he set before the consciousness things which it could not tolerate.
How do you lose a word? Does it vanish into your memory, like an old toy in a cupboard, and lie hidden in the cobwebs and dust, waiting to be cleaned out or rediscovered?
Evil can be condoned only if in the beyond it is compensated by good and god himself needs immortality to vindicate his ways to man.
The IP standards advanced countries favour typically are designed not to maximise innovation and scientific progress, but to maximise the profits of big pharmaceutical companies and others able to sway trade negotiations.
And he could not tell why the struggle was worthwhile, why he had determined to use the utmost himself and his heritage from the personalities he had passed... He stretched out his arms to the crystalline, radiant sky. I know myself," he cried, "But that is all.
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