The twentieth century has been called the century of the homeless man. The number of persons permanently displaced for political reasons as a result of wars, treaties or sometimes obscure reason is startling.
— Gunther Beyer“Different things energise different people. I get energised from building things that people like. I've met people who are totally motivated by being in the press, or motivated by money, and so many things… but for me, it's about making sure people enjoy the things we're building.”— Dennis Crowley
The quote archive
Politics
A growing archive of 3,000+ moments, drawn from every interview.
We live in the age of the refugee, the age of the exile.
— Ariel DorfmanChilean-American Writer & Human Rights Activist, Author of "Death and the Maiden
We don't currently have the accountability mechanisms in our digital life that we do in our physical life.
— Mitchell BakerCEO and Chairwoman of Mozilla Foundation and Mozilla Corporation
In a geopolitical recession, suddenly the biggest macro risks are by their nature political. And you focus less on growth and more on stability and resilience, and that's a problem because the free market model tells you 'don't focus on resilience and stability, focus first and foremost on growth and everything else will take care of itself'.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
The rise of populism, backlash against globalisation, and movement against open borders means that populations support the weaponisation of economies even though it doesn't work to their own advantage.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
It's hard to predict risks, but easy to understand resilience, and frighteningly, we're living in a world that is less resilient than I've ever experienced in my lifetime.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
We've entered a geopolitical recession, where the old US led world-order is unwinding. This isn't just a Trump issue- it's about Europe, BREXIT, about Russia undermining the US and the West, the rise of China and its alternative political and economic models.
— Ian BremmerFounder of Eurasia Group & Political Risk Analyst
In the United States, we had over $940 billion dollars of fraud in 2017, that's almost $1 trillion. There isn't enough law enforcement in the world to deal with that.
— Frank AbagnaleNotorious con artist and impostor who inspired the film "Catch Me If You Can
People who haven't benefitted from decades of neo-liberal prosperity are right in their assessment that democracy does work for certain people, but not for them.
— Darren McGarveyScottish Writer, Broadcaster & Anti-Poverty Activist & Poet
It's a very precarious situation we're in right now; and the biproduct of our current policies is that a tidal wave of radioactive social problems is coming. I worry that we'll just repeat the mistakes of the past where drug addictions, drug related deaths, alcoholism and suicide spike out of control.
— Darren McGarveyScottish Writer, Broadcaster & Anti-Poverty Activist & Poet
Today's politicians can't lead public opinion, because they're frightened of it – and we're so consumed by constitutional crises, that there's just no real chance that politicians can give these issues sufficient thought.
— Darren McGarveyScottish Writer, Broadcaster & Anti-Poverty Activist & Poet
Currently, public services are extraordinarily hostile to those in poverty; a doctrine we've seen clearly in how the Home Office has handled the Windrush generation. This ideology believes people will respond positively to being treated with hostility; but that only works for emotionally regulated people who didn't grow-up in adversity. Our public services are emotionally illiterate.
— Darren McGarveyScottish Writer, Broadcaster & Anti-Poverty Activist & Poet
Our technological distraction is a first order political problem, worldwide. If digital media has become the lens through which we understand and engage with others, we need to figure out how to make that the right kind of lens.
— James WilliamsThe concentration of power in technology corporations is a moral and political problem that we simply don't have a precedent for. More people use Facebook than speak English for example, so the implications of Facebook, as just one platform, are at the scale of language itself.
— James WilliamsI've described celebrities as being 'double agents of the patriarchy,' and whilst things are getting better- and language is changing, we are still not always calling out those who fat shame or age shame women.
— Jameela JamilActress & Mental Health Advocate; Host of "The Good Place
There has been a pathetic failure of governments to invest in educating people about the rights that they hold and enjoy; I suspect because if people knew their rights, they would claim them and put the governments of the world under pressure.
— Kumi NaidooEnvironmental activist & former Executive Director of Greenpeace International