There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
There is massive propaganda for everyone to consume. Consumption is good for profits and consumption is good for the political establishment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the pervasive promotion of consumption in society as beneficial for both economic growth and political power.
Noam Chomsky highlights the idea that society is inundated with propaganda that encourages consumption, which in turn serves the interests of profit-driven businesses and the political establishment. This reveals a complex relationship between consumer behavior and the structures of power, suggesting that the push for constant consumption is not just an economic phenomenon, but also a means of political control.
Themes
PropagandaConsumptionPoliticsProfitsSociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote could be used in a discussion about consumer culture at a university seminar.
More from Noam Chomsky
All quotes βThe 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
Noam ChomskyRead
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
Noam ChomskyRead
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
Noam ChomskyRead
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
Noam ChomskyRead
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
Noam ChomskyRead
Similar quotes
There's man all over for you, blaming on his boots the fault of his feet.
Samuel BeckettRead
The whole world might know you and acclaim you, but someone in the past, forever unreachable, forever unknowing, spoils it all.
Isaac AsimovRead
Let no man be called happy before his death. Till then, he is not happy, only lucky.
SolonRead
We must remember that nothing in this world really belongs to us. At best, we are merely borrowers.
Christopher IsherwoodRead
The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.
H. L. MenckenRead
History is the long struggle of man, by exercise of his reason, to understand his environment and to act upon it. But the modern period has broadened the struggle in a revolutionary way. Man now seeks to understand, and act on, not only his environment, but himself; and this has added, so to speak, a new dimension to reason and a new dimension to history.
Edward Hallett CarrRead