A workplace culture where fathers are encouraged to take paternity leave would result in stronger families, a more equal labour market and a better economy.
David LammyRead
People 'demand' the opportunity to gamble away money they do not have, just like people 'demand' money from loan sharks at extortionate interest rates. This is a warped, empty type of freedom, in which the powerful are free to exploit the vulnerable.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights how the concept of freedom can be skewed to allow exploitation of the vulnerable by those in power.
David Lammy's quote critiques a distorted notion of freedom where individuals feel compelled to take risks, like gambling or borrowing from loan sharks, despite lacking the means to afford such actions. This freedom is deemed 'warped' because it enables those with power to exploit those who are already vulnerable, illustrating the darker side of choices that may seem liberating but are ultimately detrimental.
Themes
FreedomExploitationGamblingVulnerabilityPower
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing economic policies that affect the impoverished during a community meeting.
More from David Lammy
All quotes →People don't contest that I'm British as a black man, but they do contest that I'm English. Too many people are going back to an ethnocentric idea of what being English means.
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We cannot afford to lose talented young black people, who make it to university, overseas, or worse, to let other talented black people be put off by the notion that university is somehow not for them.
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The idea of a family sitting round the kitchen table and carefully planning their future family size based on the certainty of years to come is a complete fantasy. Back in the real world, jobs are lost, livelihoods taken away, families break apart, partners leave or pass away.
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Many black youths are defying stereotypes, achieving good academic results, finding employment and contributing to their communities. But helping those who fall behind is not an exercise in political correctness, it is a precisely what a compassionate - and sensible - state should concern itself with.
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Like many black men growing up in London, I have been stopped and searched by several policemen. I was 12 years old when I was first groped and frisked by police for walking down the road. It terrified me so much I wet myself.
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