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
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.
In practice
This quote can be used in a debate about government reform.
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.
The irony of the political rise of the plutocrats is that, like Venice's oligarchs, they threaten the system that created them.
In a globalized economy, jobs no longer need a passport, but workers do.
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.
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.
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.
To the people who are upset about their hard-earned tax money going to things they don’t like: welcome to the f*cking club. Reimburse me for the Iraq war and oil subsidies, and diaphragms are on me!
I will defend Europe; it is our civilisation which is at stake... I will work to rebuild ties between Europe and its citizens.
If you don't have a record to run on, you paint your opponent as someone to run from.
Want to depose the government of a poor country with resources? Want to bash Muslims? Want to build support for American military interventions around the world? Want to undermine governments that are raising their people up from poverty because they don't conform to the tastes of Upper West Side intellectuals? Use human rights as your excuse!
Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon now presides over the UN Security Council. This means, in effect, that a terror organization presides over the body entrusted with guaranteeing the world's security. You couldn't make this thing up.
There is no right government except good government.
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