More and more we are into communications; and less and less into communication.
Studs TerkelRead
Having been blacklisted from working in television during the McCarthy era, I know the harm of government using private corporations to intrude into the lives of innocent Americans. When government uses the telephone companies to create massive databases of all our phone calls it has gone too far.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the dangers of government overreach through collaboration with private companies, particularly in monitoring citizens.
Studs Terkel reflects on the chilling effects of government surveillance and the historical context of the McCarthy era, where individuals were persecuted and privacy was compromised. He warns against the alarming trend of using corporate resources for state surveillance, suggesting that such actions infringe on personal freedoms and threaten the integrity of democracy.
Themes
SurveillanceGovernmentPrivacyCorruptionFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about privacy rights, this quote can emphasize the risks of government surveillance.
More from Studs Terkel
All quotes →When it comes to the news, the corporate view is `objective,' all else is propaganda.
Studs TerkelRead
Think of what's stored in an 80- or a 90-year-old mind. Just marvel at it. You've got to get out this information, this knowledge, because you've got something to pass on. There'll be nobody like you ever again. Make the most of every molecule you've got as long as you've got a second to go.
Studs TerkelRead
Heroes are not giant statues framed against a red sky. They are people who say: This is my community, and it is my responsibility to make it better. Interweave all these communities and you really have an America that is back on its feet again. I really think we are gonna have to reassess what constitutes a 'hero'.
Studs TerkelRead
We are the most powerful nation in the world, but we're not the only nation in the world. We are not the only people in the world. We are an important people, the wealthiest, the most powerful and, to a great extent, generous. But we are part of the world.
Studs TerkelRead
I read somewhere that when a person takes part in community action, his health improves. Something happens to him or to her biologically. It's like a tonic.
Studs TerkelRead
Similar quotes
The danger to the country, to Europe, to her vast Empire, which is involved in having all these great interests entrusted to the shaking hand of an old, wild, and incomprehensible man of 82, is very great!
Queen VictoriaRead
I would like Israel to be a Jewish state, and therefore not to annex over 2 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to Israel, which will make Israel a bi-national state.
Yitzhak RabinRead
It doesn't matter where we begin the personal/political circle, but it matters desperately that we complete it.
Gloria SteinemRead
Now more than ever the people are responsible for the character of their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless, and corrupt, it is because the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness, and corruption.
James A. GarfieldRead
Socialism easily accepts despotism. It requires the strongest execution of power -- power sufficient to interfere with property.
Lord ActonRead
Genuine politics -- even politics worthy of the name -- the only politics I am willing to devote myself to -- is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole.
Vaclav HavelRead