“The process of shaping opinion, attitudes, and perceptions was termed the ‘engineering of consent’ by one of the founders of the modern public relations industry, Edward Bernays.”

The United States is unusual among the industrial democracies in the rigidity of the system of ideological control – ‘indoctrination’, we might say – exercised through the mass media.

They come from acceptance of American values, not a rejection of them, and recognition that they’re rejected by the U.S. government and by U.S. elites, which does lead to hatred and anger.

Any dictator would admire the uniformity and obedience of the U.S. media.

There’s a tremendous gap between public opinion and public policy.

Every time there has been an effort by the Haitian people to overcome the misery and poverty that comes from 200 years of bitter attacks, really bitter, the U.S. steps in and blocks it.

If you don’t like what someone has to say, argue with them.

It’s a near miracle that nuclear war has so far been avoided.

The probability of apocalypse soon cannot be realistically estimated, but it is surely too high for any sane person to contemplate with equanimity.

Death and genitals are things that frighten people, and when people are frightened, they develop means of concealment and aggression. It is common sense.

The Federal Reserve has an official commitment to two different policies. One is to prevent inflation from getting too high. The second is to maintain high employment.

You cannot control your own population by force, but it can be distracted by consumption.

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss.

But China, they’ve been there for 3,000 years and are paying no attention to the barbarians and don’t see any need to.

But I would not intend this to imply that in all imaginable circumstances one must, necessarily, act in accordance with this general responsibility.

Debt is a trap, especially student debt, which is enormous, far larger than credit card debt.

John Lewis Gaddis is not only the favorite historian of the Reagan administration, but he’s regarded as the dean of Cold War scholarship.

How to become a really modern society when today we are so – as a human being, we feel so powerful. We have high technology and a superb way of controlling our life. And at the same time, in many ways we are so primitive.

He will still mean danger. Modern technology requires calm. You shouldn’t trust anyone with a car who has no knowledge about vehicles or roads.

We can’t meet the demands of being a modern society.

Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.

Modern dancers give a sinister portent about our times.

In the stress of modern life, how little room is left for that most comfortable vanity that whispers in our ears that failures are not faults! Now we are taught from infancy that we must rise or fall upon our own merits; that vigilance wins success, and incapacity means ruin

Modern dancers give a sinister portent about our times. The dancers don’t even look at one another.

I believe that in the future meditation could be as commonplace in schools and society as eco-awareness is now. It interests me that an ancient cure may be the solution to a modern problem.