There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
The rise of capitalist practice and morality brought with it a radical revision of how the commons are treated, and also of how they are conceived.
Interpretation
This quote reflects on the transformation of societal values regarding common resources due to capitalism.
Noam Chomsky's quote highlights the significant impact of capitalist practices on the perception and management of commons, such as public resources. It suggests that capitalism has not only altered how these shared resources are utilized but also fundamentally changed society's understanding of their value and importance. This marks a shift in ethical considerations and moral frameworks surrounding ownership and communal responsibilities.
In practice
This quote can be used in academic discussions about economic systems.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
There are many examples of this mistaken idea of freedom, such as the elimination of human life by legalized or generally accepted abortion.
To talk of immaterial existences is to talk of nothings. To say that the human soul, angels, god, are immaterial, is to say they are nothings, or that there is no god, no angels, no soul. I cannot reason otherwise: but I believe I am supported in my creed of materialism by Locke, Tracy, and Stewart. At what age of the Christian church this heresy of immaterialism, this masked atheism, crept in, I do not know. But heresy it certainly is.
But if future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than with sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as God really made it, not just as it looked when we got through with it.
Let him that is without stone among you cast the first thing he can lay his hands on.
'Useful,' and 'necessity' was always 'the tyrant's plea'.
The Spiritual Disciplines are things that we do. We must never lose sight of this fact. It is one thing to talk piously about 'the solitude of the heart,' but if that does not somehow work its way into our experience, then we have missed the point of the Disciplines. We are dealing with actions, not merely states of mind.
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