Born in Quebec, Naomi Klein is an author and activist who is most known for her harsh criticisms of capitalism and politics. She is most famous for her internationally best selling book, No Logo, which shows her disdain for global corporations and their effects on our world. Here are some of her powerful quotes to get you thinking.
“A term like capitalism is incredibly slippery, because there’s such a range of different kinds of market economies. ”
“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”
“Despite different cultures, middle-class youth all over the world seem to live their lives as if in a parallel universe. They get up in the morning, put on their Levi’s and Nikes,
grab their caps and backpacks, and Sony personal CD players and head for school.”
This was seriously fun. Watch the #popepanel on @nightlyshow later! pic.twitter.com/fwQ58UPxfC
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) September 23, 2015
“Drilling without thinking has of course been Republican party policy since May 2008. With gas prices soaring to unprecedented heights, that’s when the conservative leader Newt
Gingrich unveiled the slogan ‘Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less’—with an emphasis on the now.”
“During the Cold War, widespread alcoholism was always seen in the West as evidence that life under Communism was so dismal that Russians needed large quantities of vodka to get
through the day. Under capitalism, however, Russians drinks more than twice as much alcohol as they used to – and they are reaching for harder painkillers as well.”
“Extreme violence has a way of preventing us from seeing the interests it serves.”
“Free speech is meaningless if the commercial cacophony has risen to the point where no one can hear you.”
“I am convinced that climate change represents a historic opportunity on an even greater scale.”
“In moments of crisis, people are willing to hand over a great deal of power to anyone who claims to have a magic cure—whether the crisis is a financial meltdown or, as the Bush
administration would later show, a terrorist attack.”
“It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message—spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions—telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet.”
“It is always easier to deny reality than to allow our worldview to be shattered, a fact that was as true of die hard Stalinists at the height of the purges as it is of libertarian
climate change deniars today.”
U.K., Canada and U.S. editions of book have all arrived. Launch in 12 days!! pic.twitter.com/7WJkMauniP
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) September 4, 2014
“Our enslavement to oil has required the repression of millions of Arab people. As they shake off their bonds, so must we.”
“People without memory are putty.”
“Regardless of the overall state of the economy, there is now a large enough elite made up of new multi-millionaires and billionaires for Wall Street to see the group as
“superconsumers,” able to carry consumer demand all on their own.”
“Slavery wasn’t a crisis for British and American elites until abolitionism turned it into one.”
“So we are left with a stark choice: allow climate disruption to change everything about our world, or change pretty much everything about our economy to avoid that fate. But we need
to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.”
“The parties with the most gain never show up on the battlefield.”
“The powerful feed ideology to the masses like fast food while they dine on the most rarefied delicacy: impunity.”
“The widespread abuse of prisoners is a virtually foolproof indication that politicians are trying to impose a system–whether political, religious or economic–that is rejected by
large numbers of the people they are ruling. Just as ecologists define ecosystems by the presence of certain “indicator species” of plants and birds, torture is an indicator species
of a regime that is engaged in a deeply anti-democratic project, even if that regime happens to have come to power through elections.”
“This is what Keynes had meant when he warned of the dangers of economic chaos—you never know what combination of rage, racism and revolution will be unleashed.”
“What haunts me is not exactly the absence of literal space so much as a deep craving for metaphorical space: release, escape, some kind of open-ended freedom.”
9 months! pic.twitter.com/OCH0FxDcjz
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) March 22, 2013
“What we have been living for three decades is frontier capitalism, with the frontier constantly shifting location from crisis to crisis, moving on as soon as the law catches up.”
“When it comes to paying contractors, the sky is the limit; when it comes to financing the basic functions of the state, the coffers are empty.”
“When Nike says, just do it, that’s a message of empowerment. Why aren’t the rest of us speaking to young people in a voice of inspiration.”
“You actually cannot sell the idea of freedom, democracy, diversity, as if it were a brand attribute and not reality — not at the same time as you’re bombing people, you can’t.”
In this eye opening video, Naomi Klein talks about her views on the politics of the world.
Thanks for checking out these awesome Naomi Klein quotes, be sure to check back for more quotes from other inspiring people.
Although millions of people visit Brandon's blog each month, his path to success was not easy. Go here to read his incredible story, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors." If you want to send Brandon a quick message, then visit his contact page here.