Quotes About Society

There's no conflict between the social-welfare state and open markets.

In every commercial state, notwithstanding any pretension to equal rights, the exaltation of a few must depress the many.

It appears fashionable these days, and almost politically correct, to blame hard-working immigrants, especially those from Mexico and Central America, for the social and economic ills of our state and nation.

Making art in America is sort of a political statement in and of itself. It's not the best environment for that sometimes.

Conformism is a potent statement, and as much as we do talk about individuality in fashion, there's a sense that people are fearful of not conforming and not being part of action.

Every time we get in drag and bat an eyelash, it is a political statement.

Baby Got Back' was already a reflection of what was going on. I didn't see it as this gigantic political statement.

God is being siphoned out of the public arena. People don't even say God bless you when you sneeze anymore. I want to be able to lay a Merry Christmas on someone without its feeling like a political statement.

Comparison of statements made at different periods frequently enable us to give maximal and minimal dates to the appearance of a cultural element or to assign the time limits to a movement of population.

Because Melissa McCarthy actually is a fat woman, she isn't allowed to make brash statements about body acceptance. She has to apologize for her body.

Instead of this absurd division into sexes they ought to class people as static and dynamic.

There is a sort of genre of optimistic science fiction that I like, and I don't think there is enough of. One of my favourites is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, 'The City and the Stars.' It's set in this far future on Earth in this somewhat static society and trying to break out.

Why do we need another station where everyone has a gun? We already have BET.

Socialism is the democratisation of every level of society, or it is nothing. It is based on an understanding that the concentration of wealth and power leaves democracy hollowed out, and that simply trooping to a polling station every few years is an insufficient counterweight to the behemoths of global capital.

If you operate a TV or radio station, you have to have a license. It has nothing to do with fundamental freedom. It has to do with protection of the average citizen against abuses.

I used to try and find inspirations everywhere - I would go to the airport or train station and just study people, the way they moved and interacted and their expressions. But I can't do that now, I'd be bombarded by people with their phones - selfie requests.

The only road to the highest stations in this country is that of the law.

We are just statistics, born to consume resources.

Boys have always known they could do anything; all they had to do was look around at their presidents, religious leaders, professional athletes, at the statues that stand erect in big cities and small. Girls have always known they were allowed to feel anything - except anger.

We've all been brought up with the view that religion has some kind of special privileged status. You're not allowed to criticise it.

Our working hypothesis is that the status of knowledge is altered as societies enter what is known as the postindustrial age and cultures enter what is known as the postmodern age.

One notable feature is that English doesn't have much of a system for expressing relative social status.

I'm surprised that more people don't emulate Rachel Dolezal and pretend to be black or members of some other minority. Our gullible society rushes to reward such status, often with jobs and money.

People who study primate societies make a distinction between two kinds of cultural interactions, agonic and hedonic. In agonic societies, you gain status by asserting dominance over others. In hedonic societies, you gain status by drawing attention to yourself. Open source is a hedonic culture.