Our only political party has two right wings, one called Republican, the other Democratic. But Henry Adams figured all that out back in the 1890s. "We have a single system," he wrote, and "in that system the only question is the price at which the proletariat is to be bought and sold, the bread and circuses."
Interpretation
This quote criticizes the American political system as being a single entity with two similar factions, emphasizing the manipulation of the working class.
Gore Vidal suggests that the American political landscape is dominated by two parties, the Republican and Democratic, that serve the same underlying system. Drawing on Henry Adams' insights, he argues that both parties ultimately exist to manage the proletariat, using distractions like 'bread and circuses' to keep the masses content while their real interests are commodified.
In practice
During a lecture on political systems, one could quote this to illustrate systemic issues in democracy.
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The important thing is not the object of love, but the emotion itself.
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I hereby accuse the North American empire of being the biggest menace to our planet.
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A politician normally prospers under democracy in proportion ... as he excels in the invention of imaginary perils and imaginary defenses against them.
There's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America.
The organized workers of America, free in their industrial life, conscious partners in production, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of government.
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