The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum. |
Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the [U.S.] media. |
For those who stubbornly seek freedom, there can be no more urgent task than to come to understand the mechanisms and practices of indoctrination. These are easy to perceive in the totalitarian societies, much less so in the system of 'brainwashing under freedom' to which we are subjected and which all too often we serve as willing or unwitting instruments. |
If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t believe in it at all. |
From a comparative perspective, the United States is unusual if not unique in the lack of restraints on freedom of expression. It is also unusual in the range and effectiveness of methods employed to restrain freedom of thought... Where the voice of the people is heard, elite groups must insure their voice says the right things. |
In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival. |
Censorship is never over for those who have experienced it. It is a brand on the imagination that affects the individual who has suffered it, forever. |
In the late 19th century there was a major union organization, Knights of Labor, and also a radical populist movement based on farmers. It's hard to believe, but it was based in Texas, and it was quite radical. They wanted their own banks, their own cooperatives, their own control over sales and commerce. |
Moral cowardice and intellectual corruption are the natural concomitants of unchallenged privilege. |
