I've always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world.
Alan GreenspanRead
Revolutions are something you see only in retrospect.
Interpretation
Revolutions are often only understood after they have occurred, reflecting on their implications.
Alan Greenspan's quote speaks to the nature of revolutions, suggesting that their significance and impact are often only clear when viewed through the lens of hindsight. It implies that change can be confusing and complex in the moment, yet the outcomes and lessons learned become more apparent as time passes.
In practice
During a discussion on historical events, someone might quote Greenspan to emphasize how we only appreciate certain revolutions after they've shaped our present.
I've always argued that this country has benefited immensely from the fact that we draw people from all over the world.
There's no other job in public life that is like chairman of the Fed.
Since 1948 I have spent every single day thinking how the economic and political worlds have changed.
Most high-income people in our country do not realize that their incomes are being subsidized by their protection from competition from highly skilled people who are prevented from immigrating to the United States. But we need such skills in order to staff our productive economy, so that the standard of living for Americans as a whole can grow.
I don't know where the stock market is going, but I will say this, that if it continues higher, this will do more to stimulate the economy than anything we've been talking about today or anything anybody else was talking about.
Every economy exists, no matter what the level of democracy, has elements of crony capitalism. It's - given human nature and given the democratic structures, which we all, I assume, adhere to, that is an inevitable consequence.
If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and make a change.
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away, to the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.
Keep recognizing that reality is changing and that your ideas have to change. Donβt get stuck in old ideas.
In old days there were angels who came and took men by the hand and led them away from the city of destruction. We see no white-winged angels now. But yet men are led away from threatening destruction: a hand is put into theirs, which leads them forth gently towards a calm and bright land, so that they look no more backward; and the hand may be a little child's.
We're not short of movements proclaiming that a different world is possible, but unless we can coordinate them into an international movement, capitalism just laughs at all these little organisations.
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.
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