Right To Exist

 "Much of the unreality in U.S. attitudes toward Israel is the result of ahistorical arguments that Israel has "the right to exist". Clearly, no nation has the "right" to exist; Darwinian logic applies to nation states as well as to the other components of the animal kingdom. If there was such a right, the nations of the world would be working to resuscitate the Soviet Union, Sparta, Hannibal's Carthage, and the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Nations exist as long as they can defend themselves, contain internal societal rot at nonfatal levels, maintain economic viability, and do not gratuitously make a constellation of more powerful enemies. This truism applies equally to all: the United States has no more right to exist than does Israel, Palestine, Bolivia, Saudi Arabia,Belgium or Russia. You form your country and you take your chances..."

Michael Scheuer, "Marching Toward Hell" p. 27

Educating the Entitled

 "Blindly processing more people through schools may not promote economic development, and may well increase political instability. A society can be made ungovernable by the impossibility of satisfying those with a passionate sense of entitlement - and without the skills or diligence to create the national wealth from which to redeem these expectations."

 - Thomas Sowell, "Race and Culture" p. 184

Prejudice

 "The individual black workman is rated not by his own efficiency, but by the efficiency of a whole group of black fellow workmen, which may often be low. If white people were to lose their racial prejudices overnight, this would make very little immediate difference in the economic condition of most blacks. Some few would be promoted, some few would get new places, but the mass would remain as they are, until the younger generation began to try harder, and until the idle and discouraged were stimulated and the whole race lost the omnipresent excuse for failure: prejudice." 

 - W.E.B. DuBois as quoted by Thomas Sowell in "Race and Culture" p. 90

Freedom

 "The secret of freedom lies in educating people, whereas the secret of tyranny is in keeping them ignorant."

- Maximilian Robespierre

Tyranny

 Democracy is as much a tyranny as despotism is. It is just tyranny of the majority.

- MG

Patriotism

 "Naturally, the common people do not want war,neither in Russia nor in England nor in America nor, for that matter, in Germany. That is understood. But the people Can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger."

- Hermann Goering at Nurenberg trial

Exploitation

"We know that the system which privatizes its profits, and wholeheartedly socializes its losses, trying to convince us at the same time that that is philantropy, will live seven lives."

- Eduardo Galeano, Open Veins of Latin America

Political Correctness

"Political correctness is a more dangerous form of totalitarianism."

- Slavoj Zizek

Immigration

Illegal immigrants are not the new problem. Native Americans used to call them "white people".

Entitlements

- Kathy Newman: "Why should your right to free speech trump a trans persons right not to be offended?"
- Dr. Peterson: "Because in order to be able to think you have to risk being offensive. I mean, look at the conversation we are having right now. You know, like, you are certainly willing to risk offending me in the pursuit of truth. Why should you have the right to do that? It's been rather uncomfortable."

-  Dr. Jordan Peterson's interview on BBC Chanel 4 on free speech and being offensive

Enemy of Knowledge

"As priestcraft was always the enemy of knowledge, because priestcraft supports itself by keeping people in delusion and ignorance, it was consistent with its policy to make acquisition of knowledge a real sin."

- Thomas Paine: The Age of Reason, part 2, p 129

Homo Hostis

"In the heyday of the European Imperialism, conquistadors and merchants bought entire islands and countries in exchange for coloured beads. In the twenty first century our personal data is probably the most valuable resource most humans still have to offer, and we are giving it to the tech giants in exchange for email services and funny cat videos."

- Yuval Noah Harari: "Homo Deus" pg. 346

Credit

"Credit is the economic judgement on the morality of a man. In credit, man himself, instead of metal or paper, has become the mediator of exchange but not as a man, but as the existence of capital and interest. Human individuality, human morality, has itself become both an article of commerce and the form in which money exists. Instead of money, paper is my own personal being, my flesh and blood, my social value and status, the material body of the spirit of money."

- Karl Marx: Paris Manuscripts
as quoted by David McLellan in "Karl Marx, his life and thought" p.113

Rulers

"A ruling group is a ruling group so long as it can nominate its successors. The Party is not concerned with perpetuating its blood but with perpetuating itself. Who wields the power is not important, provided that the hierarchical structure remains always the same."

- George Orwell, 1984, pg 187

Democracy?

"In September last year, the UK Parliament rejected a bill to allow assisted dying for the terminally ill, with 330 MP's voting against it and 118 backing the measure, despite an opinion poll showing it was supported by 82% of the public. The same poll suggested that 44% of people would break the law to help a loved one to die, risking a jail sentence of up to 14 years."

What happened to democracy? Aren't those MP's suppose to represent the will of their constituents in the voting process?

Freedom of Speech

"If my offended feelings can justify a travel ban on Donald Trump, I have no moral grounds on which to argue that those offended by feminism, or the fight for transgender rights, or universal suffrage, should not oppress campaigners for those causes."
"If you seek the removal of freedoms from an opponent simply on the grounds that they have offended you, you have crossed a line to stand alongside tyrants who imprison, torture and kill on exactly the same justification."

 - J.K. Rowling on petition to ban Donald Trump from entering the UK.

Democracy

"Fuck society in which police creates the wall between those who voted and those they voted in"

- Sudo (my translation)
 

Television II

 "When television is good, nothing — not the theater, not the magazines or newspapers — nothing is better.

But when television is bad, nothing is worse. I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.

You will see a procession of game shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western bad men, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence, and cartoons. And endlessly commercials — many screaming, cajoling, and offending. And most of all, boredom. True, you'll see a few things you will enjoy. But they will be very, very few. And if you think I exaggerate, I only ask you to try it."

- FCC chairman Newton N. Minow in his speech at the convention of National Association of Broadcasters  05/09/1961

p.s.: I could not believe my eyes: only 3 weeks after I posted an article on American television I found out that even an FCC chairman agreed with me, some 54 years ago. If someone in such a position did not or could not do anything to improve it, I think it's safe to say the subject is doomed.

Television

I can't speak for the rest of the world but most of American television programing (excluding PBS and some sports channels) is nothing else but the Cheap entertainment for the simple minds.

- MG

Vanity

"...most people, when in prosperity, are so over-brimming with wisdom (however inexperienced they may be), that they take every offer of advice as a personal insult, whereas in adversity they know not where to turn, but beg and pray for counsel from every passer-by."

- Spinoza: Tractatus Theologico-Politicus