A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling 'Stop!'
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the shifting justifications for collectivism based on economic conditions, revealing a paradox in political rhetoric.
William F. Buckley, Jr.'s quote highlights the irony in the political discourse surrounding collectivism, where the necessity for collective action is argued differently based on societal wealth. In the 1930s, the call for collectivization stemmed from economic hardship, but in contemporary times, it is suggested that such measures are needed due to the affluence of the people, suggesting that the motivations for collectivization are less about addressing poverty and more about exerting control regardless of the economic context.
Themes
CollectivismPoliticsEconomicsIronyControl
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about government intervention in the economy, this quote can illustrate the complexities and contradictions in policy rationale.
More from William F. Buckley, Jr.
All quotes →Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could.
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians.
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would affront your intelligence.
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters.
William F. Buckley, Jr.Read
Similar quotes
What terrified me will terrify others; and I need only describe the spectre which had haunted my midnight pillow.
Mary Wollstonecraft ShelleyRead
I am too much in love with my lies and hypocrisies not to confess them fervently.
Albert CamusRead
If a great country yields to a small country, it will conquer the small country. If a small country yields to a great country, it will be conquered by the great country.
LaoziRead
A slave is he who cannot speak his thoughts.
EuripidesRead
It struck me as I listened to those two men that a truer nomination (name) for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans, the storytelling person. What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats–and they in turn can listen to ours.
Henning MankellRead
Many a professing Christian is a stumbling-block because his worship is divided. On Sunday he worships God; on weekdays God has little or no place in his thoughts.
Dwight L. MoodyRead