Although (Bertrand) Russell suffered unpopularity in some quarters for his role as a political dissenter, he enjoyed that role immensely. There was more than a touch of exhibitionism in the riskless sit-downs of his last years when he made well-publicized gestures to “Ban the Bomb” that were as futile as they were ill-advised. I once […]
Dissent Quotes
There are a lot of bleeding hearts around who just don’t like to see people with helmets and guns. All I can say is go and bleed… It is more important to keep law and order in society than to be worried about weak-kneed people… Society must take every means at its disposal to defend […]
In a number of cases dissenting opinions have in time become the law.
One thing about Thoreau keeps him very near to me. I refer to his lawlessness – his dissent – his going his absolute own road, let hell blaze all it chooses.
It’s a fact of our culture that the loudest mouths get the most airplay, and the loudmouths are saying now that in times of crisis it is treasonous to question our leaders. Nonsense. That kind of thinking let fascism grow out of the international depression of the 1930s. In critical times, our leaders need most […]
The United States can… be proud that it has institutions and a structure that permit its citizens to express honest dissent, even though those who do so may be maligned by the highest official in the land.
That erroneous assumption is to the effect that the aim of public education is to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence, and so make them fit to discharge the duties of citizenship in an enlightened and independent manner. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim of public […]
The fundamentalist mind, running in a single rut for fifty years, is now quite unable to comprehend dissent from its basic superstitions, or to grant any common honesty, or even any decency, to those who reject them.
We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.
People who set up repressive machinery always think it’s going to be directed against the Bad Guys (whoever they think the Bad Guys are) and never against themselves.
