Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which Booker T. Washington had preached.
C. L. R. JamesRead
I was a Labour Party man but I found myself to the left of the Labour party in Nelson, militant as that was. I came to London and in a few months I was a Trotskyist.
Interpretation
The quote reflects the author's evolving political beliefs, indicating a shift from mainstream to more radical ideologies.
C. L. R. James illustrates his journey through political landscapes, starting as a member of the Labour Party and eventually aligning himself with Trotskyism. This evolution captures the dynamic nature of political identity, as he found his beliefs to be further left than the established party he initially supported, highlighting the search for more revolutionary ideologies in the context of the politics of his time.
In practice
During a political discussion about changing ideologies, this quote can illustrate the journey of one's beliefs.
Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which Booker T. Washington had preached.
Technological discoveries are the spermatozoa of social change.
One of the surest signs of the estimated changes in the consciousness of the American proletariat is to be found in the character of the demands now being put forward by the leadership.
Capitalism has socialized production. It has brought thousands of people together in the factory and involved them in new social relationships.
Today, in American imperialism, the commodity has reached its most grandiose historical manifestation.
Property-owners are the most energetic flag-waggers and patriots in every country, but only so long as they enjoy their possessions: to safeguard those they desert God, King and Country in a twinkling.
I want to say, and this is very important: at the end we lucked out. It was luck that prevented nuclear war. We came that close to nuclear war at the end. Rational individuals: Kennedy was rational; Khrushchev was rational; Castro was rational. Rational individuals came that close to total destruction of their societies. And that danger exists today.
The right to vote is the easiest of all rights to grant.
In handing over the Government of India to these so-called political classes, we are handing over to men of straw, of whom, in a few years, no trace will remain.
A statesman is an easy man, he tells his lies by rote._x000D_ _x000D_ A journalist invents his lies, and rams them down your throat._x000D_ _x000D_ So stay at home and drink your beer and let the neighbors vote.
Always, since our birth, we've insisted on another way of doing politics. Now, we had the chance to do it without arms, but without stopping being Zapatistas; that's why we keep the masks on.
People constantly speak of 'the government' doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men. They may have some better man working for them, but they themselves are seldom worthy of any respect.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.