6 Quotes & Sayings By Michael Parenti

Michael Parenti is a political scientist, journalist, and activist. His writing has appeared in many newspapers, including The Nation, The Guardian, and The Progressive. He has also appeared on many radio shows including Democracy Now! and Free Speech Radio News. Parenti was born in Brooklyn in 1943 Read more

He graduated from New York University with a degree in political science and worked as an organizer for the United Auto Workers Union before becoming a journalist in the late 1960s. He lives in New York City with his wife, two children, and dog.

1
The essence of capitalism is to turn nature into commodities and commodities into capital. The live green earth is transformed into dead gold bricks, with luxury items for the few and toxic slag heaps for the many. The glittering mansion overlooks a vast sprawl of shanty towns, wherein a desperate, demoralized humanity is kept in line with drugs, television, and armed force. Michael Parenti
2
As demonstrated in Russia and numerous other countries, when faced with a choice between democracy without capitalism or capitalism without democracy, Western elites unhesitatingly embrace the latter. Michael Parenti
3
The diseconomies of capitalism are treated as the public's responsibility. Corporate America skims the cream and leaves the bill for us to pay, then boasts about how productive and efficient it is and complains about our wasteful government. Michael Parenti
4
No surprise then that the pure socialists support every revolution except for the ones that succeed. Michael Parenti
5
Official Washington cannot tell the American people that the real purpose of its gargantuan military expenditures and belligerent interventions is to make the world safe for General Motors, General Electric, General Dynamics, and all the other generals. Michael Parenti