Quotes About Politics

People think that this political revolution or that social reform will make them happy, but their biochemistry tricks them time and again.

Just as human politicians on election campaigns go around shaking hands and kissing babies, so aspirants to the top position in a chimpanzee group spend much time hugging, back-slapping and kissing baby chimps. The alpha male usually wins his position not because he is physically stronger, but because he leads a large and stable coalition.

White supremacy remained a mainstream ideology in American politics at least until the 1960s. The White Australia policy which restricted immigration of non-white people to Australia remained in force until 1973. Aboriginal Australians did not receive equal political rights until the 1960s, and most were prevented from voting in elections because they were deemed unfit to function as citizens.

This reliance on the heart might prove to be the Achilles' heel of liberal democracy. For once somebody (whether in Beijing or in San Francisco) gains the technological ability to hack and manipulate the human heart, democratic politics will mutate into an emotional puppet show.

The revolutions in biotech and infotech are currently being started by engineers, entrepreneurs, and scientists who are hardly aware of the political implications of their decisions, and who certainly don't represent anyone.

At the close of the twentieth century it appeared that the great ideological battles between fascism, communism and liberalism resulted in the overwhelming victory of liberalism. Democratic politics, human rights and free-market capitalism seemed destined to conquer the entire world. But as usual, history took an unexpected turn, and after fascism and communism collapsed, now liberalism is in a jam. So where are we heading?

The first universal order to appear was economic: the monetary order. The second universal order was political: the imperial order. The third universal order was religious: the order of universal religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam.

In the late 1830s the Chinese government issued a ban on drug trafficking, but British drug merchants simply ignored the law. Chinese authorities began to confiscate and destroy drug cargos. The drug cartels had close connections in Westminster and Downing Street – many MPs and Cabinet ministers in fact held stock in the drug companies – so they pressured the government to take action. In 1840 Britain duly declared war on China in the name of 'free trade'.

Paradoxically, the more sacrifices we make for an imaginary story, the stronger the story becomes, because we desperately want to give meaning to these sacrifices and to the suffering we have caused. In politics this is known as the 'Our Boys Didn't Die in Vain' syndrome.

Even Russia nowadays pretends to be a democracy. Victory

the internet revolution was directed by engineers more than by political parties.

So good nationalists should now be globalists. This isn't a call for establishing a "global government"—a doubtful and unrealistic vision. Rather, to globalize politics implies that political dynamics within countries and even cities should give far more weight to global problems and interests.

More and more people believe that all of humankind is the legitimate source of political authority, rather than the members of a particular nationality, and that safeguarding human rights and protecting the interests of the entire human species should be the guiding light of politics.

ask these politicians four questions: If you are elected, what actions will you take to lessen the risks of nuclear war? What actions will you take to lessen the risks of climate change? What actions will you take to regulate disruptive technologies such as AI and bioengineering? And finally, how do you see the world of 2040? What is your worst-case scenario, and what is your vision for the best-case scenario?

He never warned voters that algorithms would take their jobs, nor did he suggest building a firewall on the border with California.

I respect Americans. They seek democracy in everywhere.

Without literacy," Lenin declared, "there can be no politics – there can only be rumors, gossip, and prejudice."3

We talked about politics constantly in my family growing up in North Carolina. There were always debates. Being of Greek background, it's in our blood to drink coffee and talk politics.

I understand Tea Partyers' anger with the system, but they are in way over their heads and often racially motivated, and I can't be part of that.

Whether you are on the Right or the Left, everyone can agree that there are a lot of outside influences in American politics that are not good for the system. There's just too much money.

Wars not only make nations; they make bankers.

I believe in incentivizing people. If you can incentivize people in anything, whether it's in politics in life in spirituality in business just take care of folks. Incentivize them and all of a sudden it's amazing the difference that you'll see.

It starts with campaign finance reform.

But a universal politics must not make false promises either: after capitalism comes plenitude, the absence of alienation, and communal harmony: postpolitical 2.0. No. Antagonism is a constitutive element of our being. We are strangers, neighbors, and even enemies to ourselves. Post-capitalism will not be envy-free, ressentiment-free. A more just society predicated on the disavowal of symbolic castration (lack), envy, or ressentiment is a recipe for failure of the worse kind.