The other day I happened to be reading a careful, interesting account of the state of British higher education. The government is a kind of market-oriented government and they came out with an official paper, a ‘White Paper’ saying that it is not the responsibility of the state to support any institution that can’t survive in the market. So, if Oxford is teaching philosophy, the arts, Greek history, medieval history, and so on, and they can’t sell it on the market, why should they be supported? Because life consists only of what you can sell in the market and get back, nothing else. That is a real pathology. . Noam Chomsky
About This Quote

The idea that our lives must be dictated by the ethos of the marketplace is a great way to strip all of the joy out of living. Some of us may have been taught that our lives were meant to be a success in the marketplace. If we didn’t make enough money, we failed. If we didn’t get on the list for a reason, we failed.

If we weren’t on top of our game, we failed. The idea that life is nothing more than a competition between people to succeed is extremely limiting. It promotes a kind of fear where one thinks that they only have one chance at life and one opportunity to fail.

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More Quotes By Noam Chomsky
  1. Do you train for passing tests or do you train for creative inquiry?

  2. I was never aware of any other option but to question everything.

  3. The only debatable issue, it seems to me, is whether it is more ridiculous to turn to experts in social theory for general well-confirmed propositions, or to the specialists in the great religions and philosophical systems for insights into fundamental human values.

  4. Either you repeat the same conventional doctrines everybody is saying, or else you say something true, and it will sound like it's from Neptune.

  5. Religion is based on the idea that God is an imbecile.

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