Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Critique of political groups where liberals cry before harm, reactionaries pose as brave, and radicals are irrelevant.
In plain terms
Different political groups act inconsistently or pointlessly.
What can you take from it?
Be wary of performative politics.

Where it applies

  • political analysis
  • social critique

Putting it to work

  • question political posturing

Questions to consider

  • Are political roles performative?
  • How do we judge political sincerity?

Another view

The generalizations may not apply to all members of these groups.

More from Christopher Hitchens

  1. The disquieting thing about newscaster-babble or editorial-speak is its ready availability as a serf idiom, a vernacular of deference. 'Mr. Secretary, are we a…

    Permalink to quote #32
  2. It is not enough to 'have' free speech. People must learn to speak freely. Noam Chomsky remarked in the sixties about the short-life ultra-radicals on campus w…

    Permalink to quote #34
  3. The conservative aptitude for stressing the 'individual responsibility' of all parties except themselves.

    Permalink to quote #31

Related quotes

  1. 'Instead we tell the church to shut its mouth and even condemn it when at times it chooses to illuminate issues on a spiritual and moral basis, when it points …

    Josefa VosanibolaJosefa Vosanibola quote #3
  2. He is one of those wise philanthropists who in a time of famine would vote for nothing but a supply of toothpicks.

    Douglas William JerroldDouglas William Jerrold quote #1
  3. The fabulous Eva, Government Glad-Hand Girl No. 1 of the extravagant political novelette that is Argentina.

    James CameronJames Cameron quote #1