Of what does politics consist except the making of imperfect decisions, many of them unjust and quite a few of them deadly?
Lewis H. LaphamRead
A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it.
Interpretation
The quote suggests that a society that normalizes violence and aggression ultimately empowers those who perpetuate destruction.
Lapham's quote critiques a societal norm that glorifies violence and aggression in various aspects of life, from public transportation to sports and business. He warns that such a culture not only makes these aggressive behaviors acceptable but also elevates those who embody and promote violence to a position of celebrity, undermining the fabric of society itself.
In practice
In a discussion on media influence, one might reference this quote to illustrate the dangers of normalizing violence.
Of what does politics consist except the making of imperfect decisions, many of them unjust and quite a few of them deadly?
Under the rules of a society that cannot distinguish between profit and profiteering, between money defined as necessity and money defined as luxury, murder is occasionally obligatory and always permissible.
The most refined skills of color printing, the intricate techniques of wide-angle photography, provide us pictures of trivia bigger and more real than life. We forget that we see trivia and notice only that the reproduction is so good. Man fulfils his dream and by photographic magic produces a precise image of the Grand Canyon. The result is not that he adores nature or beauty the more. Instead he adores his camera - and himself.
Every visible thing in this world is put in the charge of an angel.
We want no revolution; we want the brotherhood of men. We want men to love one another. We want all men to have what is sufficient for their needs. And now - strange thought - the devil has so maneuvered that the people turn from Him because those who profess Him are clothed in soft raiment and sit at well-spread tables and deny the poor.
Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person's path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning.
Truth is one forever absolute, but opinion is truth filtered through the moods, the blood, the disposition of the spectator.
Where a reputation for intolerance is more feared than a reputation for vice itself, all manner of evil may be expected to flourish.
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