6 Howard Zinn Quotes on Politics

Howard Zinn quotes on politics

1. If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

2. If patriotism were defined, not as blind obedience to government, nor as submissive worship to flags and anthems, but rather as love of one's country, one's fellow citizens (all over the world), as loyalty to the principles of justice and democracy, then patriotism would require us to disobey our government, when it violated those principles.

4. The First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment rights in the United States Constitution were being violated in Albany again and again - freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, the equal protection of the laws - I could count at least 30 such violations. Yet the president, sworn to uphold the Constitution, and all the agencies of the United States government at his disposal, were nowhere to be seen.

16. Voting is easy and marginally useful, but it is a poor substitute for democracy, which requires direct action by concerned citizens.

20. Capitalism has always been a failure for the lower classes. It is now beginning to fail for the middle classes.

22. Americans have been taught that their nation is civilized and humane. But, too often, U.S. actions have been uncivilized and inhumane.