A commercial civilization is money-oriented, profit-oriented. Commercial values always tend to wrench a society free of tradition.Economics from education to public service is being reorganized on the self-destructive basis of self-interest. John Ralston Saul More Quotes by John Ralston Saul More Quotes From John Ralston Saul Moral crusade: Public activity undertaken by middle-aged men who are cheating on their wives or diddling little boys. Moral crusades are particularly popular among those seeking power for their own personal pleasure, politicians who can't think of anything useful to do with their mandates, and religious professionals suffering from a personal inability to communicate with their god. John Ralston Saul religious boys cheating Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery. John Ralston Saul pessimism protection valuable There is no need to search for global solutions, apart from an absolute necessity to destroy the idea that such things exist. John Ralston Saul absolutes ideas needs Capitalism was reasonably content under Hitler, happy under Mussolini, very happy under Franco and delirious under General Pinochet. John Ralston Saul pinochet franco very-happy If the technocratic class often invokes technology, it is because these inanimate objects can take on a trajectory of their own and so cover for the manager's inability to give leadership. John Ralston Saul technology class giving After all, in both languages we were dealing in large measure not with English and French, but with Scots and Irish, Bretons and Normans ... There could be no more eloquent illustration of the colonial mind-set than a bunch of Celts and Vikings in a distant northern territory insulting each other as les Anglais and the French as if they were the descendants of the people who had subjected and ruined them. John Ralston Saul illustration insulting people Content is an obstacle to the exercise of power. John Ralston Saul obstacles exercise We all need a bit of self-delusion. It gets us over the difficult spots. John Ralston Saul spots self needs Elites quite naturally define as the most important and admired qualities for a citizen those on which they themselves have concentrated. John Ralston Saul quality citizens important In a society of ideological believers, nothing is more ridiculous than the individual who doubts and does not conform. John Ralston Saul ridiculous doubt doe Simplicity is no longer presented as a virtue. The value of complex and difficult language has been preached with such insistence that the public has begun to believe the lack of clarity must be a sign of artistic talent. John Ralston Saul artistic simplicity believe I have a theory of statistics: if you can double them or halve them and they still work, they are really good statistics. John Ralston Saul statistics stills theory The Age of Reason has turned out to be the Age of Structure; a time when, in the absence of purpose, the drive for power as a value in itself has become the principal indicator of social approval. And the winning of power has become the measure of social merit. John Ralston Saul power age winning The Unconscious Civilisation There is a certain terrifying dignity to the big ideologies. With the stroke of an intellectual argument the planet is put in its place. Only the bravest or the most foolish of individuals would not become passive before such awe inspiring destinies. John Ralston Saul destiny political intellectual An individual who stands out, or disagrees or takes risks is a danger to such systems and is effortlessly and, unconsciously sidelined. John Ralston Saul learning risk teaching If allowed to run free of the social system, capitalism will attempt to corrupt and undermine democracy, which is after all not a natural state. John Ralston Saul democracy natural running The neo-conservatives, who are closely linked to the neo-corporatists, are rather different. They claim to be conservatives, when everything they stand for is a rejection of conservatism. They claim to present an alternate social model, when they are little more than the courtiers of the corporatist movement. Their agitation is filled with the bitterness and cynicism typical of courtiers who scramble for crumbs at the banquet tables of real power, but are always denied a proper chair. John Ralston Saul bitterness rejection real A Big Mac - the communion wafer of consumption. John Ralston Saul macs bigs culture Marx was fortunate to have been born eighty years before Walt Disney. Disney also promised a child's paradise and unlike Marx, delivered on his promise. John Ralston Saul children promise years Nothing is absolute, with the debatable exceptions of this statement and death. John Ralston Saul statements absolutes exception
