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About this quote

What does it mean?
Philosophy and ethics are irrelevant when people are starving.
In plain terms
You can't talk about right and wrong when people need food.
What can you take from it?
Basic needs must be met before abstract ideals matter.

Where it applies

  • social policy
  • relief work
  • community organizing

Putting it to work

  • prioritize food security
  • link ethics to survival
  • address poverty

Questions to consider

  • What comes before ethics?
  • How do we feed people?

Another view

Some philosophies address survival directly.

More from Bertolt Brecht

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  2. For once you must try not to shirk the facts: Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.

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  3. And the shark he has his teeth and There they are for all to see And Macheath he has his knife but No one knows where it may be.

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