Be yourself on stage. Nobody else can be you and you have the law of supply and demand covered.
Bill HicksRead
See we just had a misunderstanding. I thought we lived in the U.S. of A., the United States of America. But actually we live in the U.S. of A., the United States of Advertising. Freedom of expression is guaranteed? If you've got the money!
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote critiques the commercialization of freedom and expression in America.
Bill Hicks highlights a significant irony in American society, where the ideals of freedom of expression are subverted by the influence of advertising and capitalism. He suggests that true freedom is conditional, often dependent on one's economic status, casting doubt on the authenticity of liberties supposedly enjoyed by all citizens in the United States.
Themes
FreedomAdvertisingCapitalismExpressionSociety
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about media influence in a political debate.
More from Bill Hicks
All quotes →I'm not into those kind of rivalries. I remember standing out in front of Stratford, minding my own business. Carload of about eighty kids would pull up: 'STRATFORD SUCKS!' Am I supposed to run after these guys? I'd just stand there, you know. They'd back up. 'STRATFORD SUCKS! ...STRATFORD SUCKS!' I'd say, 'I know. I go there. You're wasting gas, man.
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I go to dance clubs...about once a year just to justify the other 364 days I spend in my apartment going 'God, what idiots!'
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Why is marijuana against the law? It grows naturally on our planet, serves a thousand different functions, all of them positive. To make marijuana against the law is like saying that God made a mistake.
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To make marijuana against the law is like saying God made a big mistake.
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What do you say we lighten things up and talk about abortion?
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