A desire for social connection is fundamentally hardwired into our psychology, and so being deprived of it has devastating mental and physical consequences. Yet we live in a society which has become ever more fragmented and atomised.
Neoliberalism has left Britain's boss classes drunk on triumphalism, paying themselves record salaries and bonuses while their workers are imprisoned by poverty and insecurity. It was never going to last.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote critiques the excesses of the wealthy in a neoliberal system, highlighting the resulting inequality and its unsustainability.
Owen Jonesβ quote analyzes the consequences of neoliberalism, suggesting that the greed and triumphalism exhibited by the upper classes in Britain, symbolized by exorbitant salaries and bonuses, stands in stark contrast to the struggles faced by workers who endure poverty and insecurity. It underscores the notion that while this system may seem profitable for a select few, such extreme inequalities and imbalances in wealth distribution are ultimately untenable and destined to collapse.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about economic reform, one could use this quote to illustrate the pitfalls of unregulated capitalism.
More from Owen Jones
All quotes βHere in Britain, black people are disproportionately targeted, arrested and imprisoned for drug offences, while organised and violent crime are granted a massive source of revenue.
Socialism is the democratisation of every level of society, or it is nothing. It is based on an understanding that the concentration of wealth and power leaves democracy hollowed out, and that simply trooping to a polling station every few years is an insufficient counterweight to the behemoths of global capital.
Similar quotes
What's quote-unquote a 'good' lawyer, doctor, or whatever the profession is. And if you're a male who grew up professionally in a male-dominated profession then your image of what a good lawyer is is a male image.
Through one all are known, through one all are also seen
As you walk, you cut open and create that river bed into which the stream of your descendants shall enter and flow.
Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.' Say not, ' I have found the path of the soul.' Say rather, 'I have met the soul walking upon my path.' For the soul walks upon all paths. The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals.
Becoming a vegetarian is not merely a symbolic gesture. Nor is it an attempt to isolate oneself from the ugly realities of the world, to keep oneself pure and so without responsibility for the cruelty and carnage all around. Becoming a vegetarian is a highly practical and effective step one can take toward ending both the killing of nonhuman animals and the infliction of suffering on them.
It is a mistake to assume that if everybody does his job, it will be all right. The whole system may be in trouble.