You will have no sensation of a leash around your neck if you sit by the peg. It is only when you stray that you feel the restraining tug. Michael Parenti More Quotes by Michael Parenti More Quotes From Michael Parenti The first atrocity, the first war crime committed in any war of aggression by the aggressors is against the truth. Michael Parenti atrocities war firsts If the test of patriotism comes only by reflexively falling into lockstep behind the leader whenever the flag is waved, then what we have is a formula for dictatorship, not democracy... But the American way is to criticize and debate openly, not to accept unthinkingly the doings of government officials of this or any other country. Michael Parenti government country fall Archbishop Romero of El Salvador was a member of the Salvadoran aristocracy. He could not have risen to the top of the church hierarchy otherwise. But after he began voicing critical remarks about the war and concerned comments about the poor, he was assassinated. Michael Parenti political church war The two party electoral system performs the essential function of helping to legitimate the existing social order. Michael Parenti party two order Maintaining silence about a dirty truth is another way of lying, a common practice in high places. Michael Parenti practice lying dirty The peculiar danger of executive power is that it executes. Michael Parenti executive-power political peculiar Apathy's a problem but who cares? Michael Parenti who-cares apathy care The crucial role communists played in organizing industrial unions in the 1930s and struggling for social reforms, peace, and civil rights strengthened rather then undermined democratic forces. Michael Parenti political struggle rights It is ironic that people of modest means sometimes become conservative out of a scarcity fear bred by the very capitalist system they support. Michael Parenti political mean people If Big Brother (of Orwell's 1984) comes to America, he will not be a fearsome, foreboding figure with a heart-chilling, omnipresent glare as in 1984. He will come with a smile on his face, a quip on his lips, a wave to the crowd, and a press that (a) dutifully reports the suppressive measures he is taking to save the nation from internal chaos and foreign threat; and (b) gingerly questions whether he will be able to succeed. Michael Parenti brother heart america To oppose the policies of a government does not mean you are against the country or the people that the government supposedly represents. Such opposition should be called what it really is: democracy, or democratic dissent, or having a critical perspective about what your leaders are doing. Either we have the right to democratic dissent and criticism of these policies or we all lie down and let the leader, the Fuhrer, do what is best, while we follow uncritically, and obey whatever he commands. That's just what the Germans did with Hitler, and look where it got them. Michael Parenti mean country lying Far from being reluctantly propelled into hostilities by popular war fever, leaders incite that fever in order to gather support for their war policies. Thereby do they attempt to distract the public from pressing domestic matters, serve the overseas interests of U.S. investors, justify gargantuan military budgets, and present themselves as great leaders. Michael Parenti military war order People may like what third-party candidates say, because often they are the only ones saying anything, but they usually won't vote for someone who doesn't have a chance. Since third-party candidates are not in the news, they are considered to be not really in the race; and since they are not in the race, this justifies treating them as if they are not news. Michael Parenti party race people A huge national security state has developed in the United States since World War II. Its function is to buttress anticommunist, procapitalist governments and undermine and destroy popular movements whenever possible. Michael Parenti united-states government war Democrats—lily-livered, weasel-assed collaborators. Michael Parenti weasels lilies democrat If one looks into the genealogies of many 'old families,' one discovers episodes of slave trafficking, bootlegging, gun running, opium trading, falsified land claims, violent acquisition of water and mineral rights, the extermination of indigenous peoples, sales of shoddy and unsafe goods, public funds used for private speculations, crooked deals in government bonds and vouchers, and payoffs for political favors. Michael Parenti government gun running No system in history capitalism has been more relentless in battering down ancient and fragile cultures, devouring the resources of whole regions, pulverizing centuries-old practices in a matter of years, and standardizing the varieties of human experience. Michael Parenti practice culture years Generosity toward the lower classes historically has never been an important part of upper-class awareness. Michael Parenti generosity important class The nation, like the church, has its visible symbols and insignia, its parchments engrossed with the revealed word, its dogmas, hymns, liturgy, holy day celebrations, its early Fathers, prophets and martyrs, its priesthood and its lay sodality, its myths of sacred genesis and apocalyptic crises, its world-saving mission and its missionaries. Michael Parenti holy-days hymns father Even though the crime rate has dropped in recent years, the United States has more police per capita then any other nation in the world. Michael Parenti police political years
