Lenin: Classical political economy, before Marx, evolved in England, the most developed of the capitalist countries. Adam Smith and David Ricardo, by their investigations of the economic system, laid the foundations of the labour theory of value. Marx continued their work; he provided a proof of the theory and developed it consistently. He showed that the value of every commodity is determined by the quantity of socially necessary labour time spent on its production. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4620
Lenin: Having recognised that the economic system is the foundation on which the political superstructure is erected, Marx devoted his greatest attention to the study of this economic system. Marx's principal work, Capital, is devoted to a study of the economic system of modern, i.e., capitalist, society. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4621
Lenin: Just as man's knowledge reflects nature (i.e., developing matter), which exists independently of him, so man's social knowledge (i.e., his various views and doctrines -- philosophical, religious, political and so forth) reflects the economic system of society. Political institutions are a superstructure on the economic foundation. We see, for example, that the various political forms of the modern European states serve to strengthen the domination of the bourgeoisie over the proletariat. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4622
Fidel Castro: If fate were to decree that one day we would be among the last defenders of socialism in a world in which US imperialism had realised Hitler’s dreams of world domination, we would defend this bulwark to the last drop of our blood. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4623
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Social
English– @protestation@telleverybody.netFrançais– @protestation@soc.redeyes.site
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Quotes– @protestation@friendica.xid.ch
Otto von Bismarck: Never fight against Russians. Your every cunning will be responded by their unpredictable stupidity. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4624
Otto von Bismarck: A conquering army on the border will not be stopped by eloquence. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4625
Zbigniew Brzezinski: We have a large public that is very ignorant about public affairs and very susceptible to simplistic slogans by candidates who appear out of nowhere, have no track record, but mouth appealing slogans. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4626
Zbigniew Brzezinski: The technotronic era involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite, unrestrained by traditional values. Soon it will be possible to assert almost continuous surveillance over every citizen and maintain up-to-date complete files containing even the most personal information about the citizen. These files will be subject to instantaneous retrieval by the authorities. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4627
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Most Americans are close to total ignorance about the world. They are ignorant. That is an unhealthy condition in a country in which foreign policy has to be endorsed by the people if it is to be pursued. And it makes it much more difficult for any president to pursue an intelligent policy that does justice to the complexity of the world. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4628
Zbigniew Brzezinski: In the technotronic society the trend would seem to be towards the aggregation of the individual support of millions of uncoordinated citizens, easily within the reach of magnetic and attractive personalities exploiting the latest communications techniques to manipulate emotions and control reason. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4629
Zbigniew Brzezinski: (American exceptionalism) is a reaction to the inability of people to understand global complexity or important issues like American energy dependency. Therefore, they search for simplistic sources of comfort and clarity. And the people that they are now selecting to be, so to speak, the spokespersons of their anxieties are, in most cases, stunningly ignorant. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4630
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Another threat, less overt but no less basic, confronts liberal democracy. More directly linked to the impact of technology, it involves the gradual appearance of a more controlled and directed society. Such a society would be dominated by an elite whose claim to political power would rest on allegedly superior scientific knowhow. Unhindered by the restraints of traditional liberal values, this elite would not hesitate to achieve its political ends by using the latest modern techniques for influencing public behavior and keeping society under close surveillance and control. Under such circumstances, the scientific and technological momentum of the country would not be reversed but would actually feed on the situation it exploits. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4631
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Persisting social crisis, the emergence of a charismatic personality, and the exploitation of mass media to obtain public confidence would be the steppingstones in the piecemeal transformation of the United States into a highly controlled society. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4632
Zbigniew Brzezinski: This regionalization is in keeping with the Tri-Lateral Plan which calls for a gradual convergence of East and West, ultimately leading toward the goal of one world government. National sovereignty is no longer a viable concept. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4633
Zbigniew Brzezinski: The world became more aware that America-despite being the hope of many who have the personal drive and ambition to become part of the "American dream"-is beset by serious operational challenges: a massive and growing national debt, widening social inequality, a cornucopian culture that worships materialism, a financial system given to greedy speculation, and a polarized political system. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4634
Zbigniew Brzezinski: Nation state as a fundamental unit of man's organized life has ceased to be the principal creative force: International banks and multinational corporations are acting and planning in terms that are far in advance of the political concepts of the nation-state. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4635
Zbigniew Brzezinski: ...foreign policy of a pluralistic democracy like the United States should be based on bipartisanship because bipartisanship is the means and the framework for formulating policies based on moderation and on the recognition of the complexity of the human condition. That has been the tradition since the days of Truman and Vandenberg all the way until recent times. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4636
Zbigniew Brzezinski: The mistakes of the Iraq war are not only tactical and strategic, but historical. It is essentially a war of colonialism, attempted in the post-colonial age. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4637
Zbigniew Brzezinski: It is also a fact that America is too democratic at home to be autocratic abroad. This limits the use of America's power, especially its capacity for military intimidation. Never before has a populist democracy attained international supremacy. But the pursuit of power is not a goal that commands popular passion, except in conditions of a sudden threat or challenge to the public's sense of domestic well-being. The economic self-denial (that is, defense spending) and the human sacrifice (casualties, even among professional soldiers) required in the effort are uncongenial to democratic instincts. Democracy is inimical to imperial mobilization. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4638
Karl Marx: The weapon of criticism cannot, of course, replace criticism of the weapon, material force must be overthrown by material force; but theory also becomes a material force as soon as it has gripped the masses. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4639
Karl Marx: When communist artisans associate with one another, theory, propaganda, etc., is their first end. But at the same time, as a result of this association, they acquire a new need — the need for society — and what appears as a means becomes an end. ... the brotherhood of man is no mere phrase with them, but a fact of life, and the nobility of man shines upon us from their work-hardened bodies. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4640
Friedrich Engels: A few days in my old man’s factory have sufficed to bring me face to face with this beastliness, which I had rather overlooked. ..., it is impossible to carry on communist propaganda on a large scale and at the same time engage in huckstering and industry. https://wordsmith.social/protestation/quotes#quote4641