Politics hates a vacuum. If it isn't filled with hope, someone will fill it with fear.
Naomi KleinRead
If this really is true, then greed really isn't good, after all. It really isn't the way to maximize the best possible outcome. We really do need to come together and act collectively. Government isn't always the problem. It's sometimes the solution. And, so their whole intellectual scaffolding collapses. So, they'd rather deny the science.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques greed and advocates for collective action as a solution.
Naomi Klein highlights the flaws in the belief that greed leads to optimal outcomes, arguing instead that working together as a society can bring about better results. She suggests that dismissing the role of government ignores its potential as a force for good and that a reliance on individualism undermines the pursuit of effective solutions to societal issues.
Themes
GreedCollective ActionGovernmentSocietySolution
In practice
Example use cases
During a community meeting about resource management, this quote can be cited to highlight the need for cooperative solutions.
More from Naomi Klein
All quotes →Because it is such a huge crisis, because it puts us on a firm science-based deadline, it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to build a better society and address raging inequality, create huge numbers of jobs, rebuild our public infrastructure. But, we can't do it unless we break every single rule in the free-market playbook. Which is why the worst people in the world all deny climate change.
Naomi KleinRead
Terrorism doesn't just blow up buildings; it blasts every other issue off the political map. The spectre of terrorism - real and exaggerated - has become a shield of impunity, protecting governments around the world from scrutiny for their human rights abuses.
Naomi KleinRead
Everybody that's trying to get anything progressive done in this country knows that the biggest barrier is getting money out of politics.
Naomi KleinRead
I think I would say that there is absolutely no way to reconcile an austerity agenda with climate action. Our political class needs to understand that the fight against austerity and the fight for climate action are the same fight.
Naomi KleinRead
I think the fossil fuel industry is genuinely freaked out by the combination of the price collapse, the divestment movement, and that fact that renewable energy is getting so cheap so fast.
Naomi KleinRead
Similar quotes
It is odd that neither the Church nor modern public opinion condemns petting, provided it stops short at a certain point. At what point sin begins is a matter as to which casuists differ. One eminently orthodox Catholic divine laid it down that a confessor may fondle a nun's breasts, provided he does it without evil intent. But I doubt whether modern authorities would agree with him on this point.
Bertrand RussellRead
Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?
Haruki MurakamiRead
The satisfaction derived from the fleeting things of life is not lasting; and our wants remain unfulfilled. There is thus a general sense of dissatisfaction accompanied by all kinds of worries.
Meher BabaRead
As long as you seek for something, you will get the shadow of reality and not reality itself.
Shunryu SuzukiRead
My whole strength lies in prayer and sacrifice, these are my invincible arms; they can move hearts far better than words, I know it by experience.
Therese Of LisieuxRead
By strengthening the three pillars of the United Nations - security, development and human rights - we can build a more peaceful, more prosperous and more just world for our succeeding generations.
Ban Ki-MoonRead