Quotes About Power

Not only does free trade have nothing to do with democracy, but in most cases throughout history the two have been inimical. Free trade prospered only at the expense of democracy and the freedom of the majority.

The problem with the politicians of both parties in the US is that neither of them have a real agenda except to feather their own nests. They both have their hands deep in corporate pockets. All the rest is sleight of hand and distraction to keep the public occupied with trivia, divided against each other, and thinking their vote matters.

The greatest delusion of this generation is that democracy still works when both the Congress and the presidency are blatantly influenced by corporate money.

Take the president of the United States, for example,' he says. 'I'm not talking about George Bush specifically as much as I'm generally talking about the position of president. What an awesome responsibility that must be to lead a country under the most scrutiny.

It thus was historically logical that Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara should become president of the World Bank upon leaving his position as architect of America's war in Southeast Asia.

it is possible to cause more trouble with a rouble than with a club; it is only political economy that does not want to know it. — Leo Tolstoy, What Shall We Do Then? (1886)

So we are brought back to the fact that compound interest does not merely increase the flow of income to the rentier One Percent, but also transfers property into its hands.

History of the Great American Fortunes uncovered how many family fortunes were taken from the public domain by colonial land grants, bribery and insider dealing – and how such fortunes quickly take a financial form.

Money, endless money, is the sinews of war," wrote Cicero in his Philippics (43 BC). Not only money, but credit, too.

Campaign donors buy a get out of jail pass... essentially, fraud has been decriminalized.

Indeed, warfare became financialized long before industry or real estate.

despite "the ease with which US corporations can walk away from their creditors is breathtaking," no such leeway or adjustment exists when it comes to nations and their governments. The intent is to subordinate government power to Wall Street and London bankers.

He recognizes that the inherent tendency of history is for the wealthy to win out and make society increasingly unequal. This argument also has been made by Thomas Piketty and based largely on the inheritance of great fortunes

The Godfather, Part III (1990): Vincent Mancini: Don Lucchesi, you are a man of finance and politics. These things I don't understand. Don Lucchesi: You understand guns? Vincent Mancini: Yes. Don Lucchesi: Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.

Women are incredible in groups together. Terrifying. Men have nothing on them.

But we got up there and decided to stick to this mix of power chords and funk and that's where it really started for us. In having the courage to take that decision. To take a gamble not just with our music but our lives.

I actually don't know anyone who wants to be famous for fame's sake, at least not anyone I respect. But you need to have a certain amount of power in order to be able to do what you want.

But, the source explained, this fit Putin's larger strategic vision: "to destroy NATO, destroy the European Union, and seriously harm the United States.

One idea Daniel proposed was unusual: The United States and NATO should publicly announce a giant "cyber exercise" against a mythical Eurasian country, demonstrating that Western nations had it within their power to shut down Russia's entire civil infrastructure and cripple its economy.

I don't have a set of tenets, but I live an ethical life. I practice a humility that presupposes there's a power greater than myself. And I always believe, don't inflict harm where it's not necessary.

Life is the power that's greater than I can ever comprehend. The way life runs through everything, even the tiniest elements of nature - that makes me humble.

An unrestrained security apparatus has throughout history been one of the principal reasons that free governments have failed.

Moreover, Revelation tells us not only who is really sovereign but also what kind of sovereignty the true God exercises, namely what many have called nonviolent and non-coercive "Lamb power

Revelation imaginatively reveals the nature of any and all systems that oppose the ways of God in the world, especially as revealed in Christ the Lamb who was slaughtered. Those systems are not limited to particular future powers but are found in all places and times.