Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which Booker T. Washington had preached.
C. L. R. JamesRead
Today, in American imperialism, the commodity has reached its most grandiose historical manifestation.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the excessive influence of consumerism and commodification in American society.
C. L. R. James observes that in contemporary American life, the concept of a commodity has evolved into a dominant force that shapes social relations, values, and culture. This grandiose manifestation signifies not just the prevalence of goods but also the power dynamics and ideological implications that accompany the commodification of everyday life, hinting at a critique of capitalist structures and their impact on human experience.
In practice
During a lecture on consumer culture, one might reference this quote to highlight the implications of American imperialism.
Du Bois marked a great stage in the history of Negro struggles when he said that Negroes could no longer accept the subordination which Booker T. Washington had preached.
Technological discoveries are the spermatozoa of social change.
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I was a Labour Party man but I found myself to the left of the Labour party in Nelson, militant as that was. I came to London and in a few months I was a Trotskyist.
Property-owners are the most energetic flag-waggers and patriots in every country, but only so long as they enjoy their possessions: to safeguard those they desert God, King and Country in a twinkling.
Do not follow after the past; do not go forward to meet the future. Instead, just rest the mind naturally in the present awareness.
Those are weaklings who know the truth and uphold it as long as it suits their purpose, and then abandon it.
It's not crime that makes us more punitive in the United States. It's the way we respond to crime and how we view those people who have been labeled criminals.
History is how we have learnt to think about ourselves. It's not as though the Greeks and Romans are static entities out there to be discovered and translated. We make them speak, we talk to them, and they inform what we say.
The Spirit is the first power we practically experience, but the last power we come to understand.
Cooking is a philosophy; it's not a recipe.
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