There are a lot of very brilliant people who believe that the nation-state is fast becoming a relic of the past.
Interpretation
The nation-state may soon be irrelevant as globalism rises and interconnectedness increases.
In this quote, William J. Clinton reflects on the perception that traditional nation-states are losing their significance in an increasingly interconnected world. As global challenges arise and people collaborate across borders, the idea of sovereignty tied to defined nation-states may become outdated, indicating a shift towards global governance and cooperation.
In practice
Discussing the implications of globalization at a political gathering.
You know, there was a recent poll which said that young people in the generation of the students here felt it was far more likely that they would see a UFO than that they would draw Social Security... It's very important you understand this. Once you understand this, you realize this is not an episode from the X Files, and you're not more likely to see a UFO if you do certain specific things.
When we got organized as a country, [and] wrote a fairly radical Constitution, with a radical Bill of Rights, giving radical amounts of freedom to Americans, it was assumed that Americans who had that freedom would use it responsibly...When personal freedom is being abused, you have to move to limit it.
For too long we've been told about 'us' and 'them.' Each and every election we see a new slate of arguments and ads telling us that 'they' are the problem, not 'us.' But there can be no 'them' in America. There's only us.
There is a huge body of business evidence now showing that energy savings give better service at lower cost with higher profit. We have to tear down barriers to successful markets and we have to create incentives to enter them.
Demand that your government pays more attention. It's immoral that people in Africa die like flies of diseases that no one dies of in the United States. And the more disease there is, the more political unrest there will be, leading to more Darfurs, which the U.S. will have to pay to fix.
I was not elected to produce a pile of vetoes.
If you begin by saying, 'Thou shalt not lie,' there is no longer any possibility of political action.
Though leaves are many, the root is one; Through all the lying days of my youth I swayed my leaves and flowers in the sun Now I may wither into the truth.
The tree of life knows that, whatever happens, the warm music spinning around it will never stop. However much death may come, however much blood may flow, the music will dance men and women as long as the air breaths them and the land plows and loves them.
If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
The dominant propaganda systems have appropriated the term "globalization" to refer to the specific version of international economic integration that they favor, which privileges the rights of investors and lenders, those of people being incidental. In accord with this usage, those who favor a different form of international integration, which privileges the rights of human beings, become "anti-globalist."
There's a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.