"The person who fears suffering is already suffering from what they fear." -- Unknown
..."I'll use the term 'wrong' to mean 'that which is not serving you, given who and what you choose to be.' This is how I've always used the terms 'right' and 'wrong' with you; it is always within this context, for, in truth, there is no Right and Wrong.
..."So, within that context, no, it is not wrong to base foreign policy decisions on vested interest considerations. What is wrong is to pretend that you're not doing so.
..."This most countries do, of course. They take action -- or fail to take action -- for one set of reasons, then give as a rationale another set of reasons.
..."They do this because governments know that if people understood the real reasons for most foreign policy decisions, the people would not support them.
..."This is true of governments everywhere. There are very few governments which do not deliberately mislead their people. Deception is part of government, for few people would choose to be governed the way they are governed -- few would choose to be governed at all -- unless government convinced them that its decisions were for their own good.
..."This is a hard convincing, for most people plainly see the foolishness in government. So government must lie to at least try to hold the people's loyalty. Government is the perfect portrayer of the accuracy of the axiom that if you lie big enough, long enough, the lie becomes the 'truth.'
..."People in power must never let the public know how they came to power -- nor all that they've done and are willing to do to stay there.
..."Truth and politics do not and cannot mix because politics is the art of saying only what needs to be said -- and saying it in just the right way -- in order to achieve a desired end.
..."Not all politics are bad, but the art of politics is a practical art. It recognizes with great candor the psychology of most people. It simply notices that most people operate out of self-interest. So politics is the way that people of power seek to convince you that their self-interest is your own." -- Conversations With God, Book 2
"All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes." -- Adolf Hitler
"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the oil pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company. " -- Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations, Unocal Corporation -- 2/12/98
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering, Hitler's #2 Man
"As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy." -- Christopher Dawson
"In a time of universal deceit, TELLING THE TRUTH is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
"You must take care not to smother yourself in laws trying to guarantee people a chance to breathe!" -- Conversations With God, Book 2
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That's our problem." -- Howard Zinn, Failure to Quit
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." -- George W Bush during a photo-op with Congressional leaders on 12/18/2000
..."I'll use the term 'wrong' to mean 'that which is not serving you, given who and what you choose to be.' This is how I've always used the terms 'right' and 'wrong' with you; it is always within this context, for, in truth, there is no Right and Wrong.
..."So, within that context, no, it is not wrong to base foreign policy decisions on vested interest considerations. What is wrong is to pretend that you're not doing so.
..."This most countries do, of course. They take action -- or fail to take action -- for one set of reasons, then give as a rationale another set of reasons.
..."They do this because governments know that if people understood the real reasons for most foreign policy decisions, the people would not support them.
..."This is true of governments everywhere. There are very few governments which do not deliberately mislead their people. Deception is part of government, for few people would choose to be governed the way they are governed -- few would choose to be governed at all -- unless government convinced them that its decisions were for their own good.
..."This is a hard convincing, for most people plainly see the foolishness in government. So government must lie to at least try to hold the people's loyalty. Government is the perfect portrayer of the accuracy of the axiom that if you lie big enough, long enough, the lie becomes the 'truth.'
..."People in power must never let the public know how they came to power -- nor all that they've done and are willing to do to stay there.
..."Truth and politics do not and cannot mix because politics is the art of saying only what needs to be said -- and saying it in just the right way -- in order to achieve a desired end.
..."Not all politics are bad, but the art of politics is a practical art. It recognizes with great candor the psychology of most people. It simply notices that most people operate out of self-interest. So politics is the way that people of power seek to convince you that their self-interest is your own." -- Conversations With God, Book 2
"All this was inspired by the principle -- which is quite true in itself -- that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily, and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying. These people know only too well how to use falsehood for the basest purposes." -- Adolf Hitler
"From the outset, we have made it clear that construction of the oil pipeline we have proposed across Afghanistan could not begin until a recognized government is in place that has the confidence of governments, lenders, and our company. " -- Mr. John J. Maresca, vice president of international relations, Unocal Corporation -- 2/12/98
"Why of course the people don't want war. Why should some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece? Naturally the common people don't want war: neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering, Hitler's #2 Man
"As soon as men decide that all means are permitted to fight an evil, then their good becomes indistinguishable from the evil that they set out to destroy." -- Christopher Dawson
"In a time of universal deceit, TELLING THE TRUTH is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
"You must take care not to smother yourself in laws trying to guarantee people a chance to breathe!" -- Conversations With God, Book 2
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience... Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running and robbing the country. That's our problem." -- Howard Zinn, Failure to Quit
"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." -- George W Bush during a photo-op with Congressional leaders on 12/18/2000