What is interesting is that, although it is framed as a war between the elites and Main Street, the Tea Party is actually really good for the elites.
Chrystia FreelandRead
All of us can agree that we want government to work as well as possible, and we should all applaud efforts to improve it. But there is no escaping the divisive and essential questions: What is the purpose of the state, and whom does it serve?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the fundamental purpose of government and the need for improvement in its functioning.
Chrystia Freeland's quote highlights a common desire for effective governance while simultaneously stressing the importance of addressing core questions about the role of the state and its obligations to its citizens. It suggests that despite agreement on the need for a well-functioning government, discussions about its fundamental purpose are necessary to ensure that it serves the people adequately.
Themes
GovernmentPurposeServiceImprovementSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a debate about government reform.
More from Chrystia Freeland
All quotes βThe irony of the political rise of the plutocrats is that, like Venice's oligarchs, they threaten the system that created them.
Chrystia FreelandRead
In a globalized economy, jobs no longer need a passport, but workers do.
Chrystia FreelandRead
This is the 21st-century paradox: Even as political democracy has become the intellectual default mode for much of the world, the private sector usually trumps the public one when it comes to accommodating consumer choice.
Chrystia FreelandRead
Living as we do in the age of Facebook, we shouldn't be surprised that some countries are starting to imagine themselves more as social networks than as a physical place.
Chrystia FreelandRead
One of the most important political and economic facts of this young century is that capital has been slipping the traces of the nation-state. Business is global; government is national.
Chrystia FreelandRead
Similar quotes
The politics of partisanship and the resulting inaction and excuses have paralyzed decision-making, primarily at the federal level, and the big issues of the day are not being addressed, leaving our future in jeopardy.
Michael BloombergRead
The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling - their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.
Arundhati RoyRead
Politics is the art of the next best.
Otto Von BismarckRead
We are not making this demand for the sake of a principle, but in the interests of the proletarian class.
Clara ZetkinRead
No sooner does an American president take his oath of office than the speculation begins: Will he be reelected in four years' time? If not, who will succeed him? A member of his own party? The other party?
Gore VidalRead
The main aim of conservative politicians is to get through to the next election without being noticed. Nothing is more embarrassing to them than a person who claims not only to share their beliefs but also to be inclined to put them into practice.
Roger ScrutonRead