The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.
Upton SinclairRead
One of the necessary accompaniments of capitalism in a democracy is political corruption.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Capitalism in a democratic society often leads to corruption in politics.
Upton Sinclair's quote suggests that in a capitalist democracy, the drive for profit can lead to unethical influences in politics, where business interests may override the common good. This commentary reflects the inherent tension between economic systems and governance, highlighting how financial power can affect political integrity and decision-making.
Themes
CapitalismDemocracyCorruptionPoliticsPower
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a political debate to illustrate the risks of corporate influence.
More from Upton Sinclair
All quotes βHuman beings suffer agonies, and their sad fates become legends; poets write verses about them and playwrights compose dramas, and the remembrance of past grief becomes a source of present pleasure - such is the strange alchemy of the spirit.
Upton SinclairRead
I aimed at the public's heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.
Upton SinclairRead
And as for other men, who worked in tank-rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,-sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out into the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard! This contributed to the passing of the Pure Food Act of 1906.
Upton SinclairRead
Fascism is capitalism plus murder.
Upton SinclairRead
The old wanderlust had gotten into his blood, the joy of the unbound life, the joy of seeking, of hoping without limit.
Upton SinclairRead
Similar quotes
If you want to preserve - I'm very serious now - if you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, I am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. That's how dictators get started.
John MccainRead
The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.
Alexander HamiltonRead
Vote: the instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country.
Ambrose BierceRead
The vote controls everything that you do.
John LewisRead
In this relation, then, the proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several states, a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects.
James MadisonRead
The Government of the absolute majority instead of the Government of the people is but the Government of the strongest interests; and when not efficiently checked, it is the most tyrannical and oppressive that can be devised.
John C. CalhounRead