The only justification for repressive institutions is material and cultural deficit. But such institutions, at certain stages of history, perpetuate and produce such a deficit, and even threaten human survival.

Quote by Noam Chomsky

Topics: History Quotes

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

Colorless green ideas sleep furiously.

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant...

All over the place, from the popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant...

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.

If the Nuremberg laws were applied, then every post-war American president would have been hanged.

Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on...

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just...

In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just...

The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system...

The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system...

We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without...

We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without...

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens,...

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens,...

If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion.

If we choose, we can live in a world of comforting illusion.

To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure...

To some degree it matters who's in office, but it matters more how much pressure...

The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the...

The people who were honored in the Bible were the false prophets. It was the...

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it...

I have often thought that if a rational Fascist dictatorship were to exist, then it...

States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.

States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise,...

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise,...

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for...

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for...

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the...

Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the...

The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product...

The principle that human nature, in its psychological aspects, is nothing more than a product...

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by...

History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by...

What is public history but a register of the successes and disappointments, the vices, the...

What is public history but a register of the successes and disappointments, the vices, the...

We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history...

We don't want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history...