All the United States, it is a society that is split like to the bottom, that had very poor people in the country that is one of the wealthiest countries.
Interpretation
Desmond Tutu highlights the stark contrast between wealth and poverty in the United States, emphasizing societal division.
In this quote, Desmond Tutu draws attention to the significant economic disparity that exists within the United States, a nation often perceived as prosperous and affluent. He underscores the irony of a society that houses both extreme wealth and profound poverty, urging reflection on the implications of such a divide on social cohesion and justice. This statement serves as a critique of systemic inequalities and a call to acknowledge and address the struggles faced by the less fortunate in a nation celebrated for its riches.
In practice
This quote could be used during a discussion on economic inequality in a community meeting.
The fossil reserves that have already been discovered exceed what can ever be safely used. Yet companies spend half a trillion dollars each year searching for more fuel. They should redirect this money toward developing clean energy solutions
As much as the world has an instinct for evil and is a breeding ground for genocide, holocaust, slavery, racism, war, oppression, and injustice, the world has an even greateer instinct for goodness, rebirth, mercy, beauty, truth, freedom and love.
When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.
Children are a wonderful gift. They have an extraordinary capacity to see into the heart of things and to expose sham and humbug for what they are.
Religion is like a knife: you can either use it to cut bread, or stick in someone's back.
Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.
We worship God through our questions.
The principle of democracy is a recognition of the sovereign, inalienable rights of man as a gift from God, the Source of law.
Like our attitude to love, truth and goodness, we seem to be confident about knowing what beauty is - certain, even dogmatic - until we think hard about the idea, whereupon all confidence flies away.
The possession of wealth leads almost inevitably to its abuse. It is the chief, if not the only, cause of evils which desolate this world below. The thirst for gold is responsible for the most regrettable lapses into sin.
Truth is weirder than any fiction I've seen.
Usually, if we hate, it is the shadow of the person that we hate, rather than the substance. We may hate a person because he reminds us of someone we feared and disliked when younger; or because we see in him some gross caricature of what we find repugnant in ourself; or because he symbolizes an attitude that seems to threaten us.
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