All the United States, it is a society that is split like to the bottom, that had very poor people in the country that is one of the wealthiest countries.
Interpretation
Desmond Tutu highlights the stark contrast between wealth and poverty in the United States, emphasizing societal division.
In this quote, Desmond Tutu draws attention to the significant economic disparity that exists within the United States, a nation often perceived as prosperous and affluent. He underscores the irony of a society that houses both extreme wealth and profound poverty, urging reflection on the implications of such a divide on social cohesion and justice. This statement serves as a critique of systemic inequalities and a call to acknowledge and address the struggles faced by the less fortunate in a nation celebrated for its riches.
In practice
This quote could be used during a discussion on economic inequality in a community meeting.
The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions
As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.
Even the blind and meek and voiceless have gods.
What religion a man shall have is a historical accident, quite as much as what language he shall speak.
A force as of madness in the hands of reason has done all that was ever done in the world.
If all the suns but ours collapsed tonight, how many lifetimes would it take us to realize that we were alone?
You could grow up in Germany in the postwar years without ever meeting a Jewish person. There were small communities in Frankfurt or Berlin, but in a provincial town in south Germany, Jewish people didn't exist.
That's the trouble with the world. We all despise ourselves.
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