Naomi Klein

war economic planetary system change rule laws of nature

"Our economic system and our planetary system are now at war … Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it's not the laws of nature"

—Naomi Klein

democracy vote dignity

“Democracy is not just the right to vote, it is the right to live in dignity.”

—Naomi Klein

idea freedom democracy diversity bombing

“You actually cannot sell the idea of freedom, democracy, diversity, as if it were a brand attribute and not reality — not at the same time as you're bombing people, you can't.”

—Naomi Klein

party gain battlefield

“The parties with the most gain never show up on the battlefield.”

—Naomi Klein

environment economy war planet life earth planet

“our economic system and our planetary system are now at war. Or, more accurately, our economy is at war with many forms of life on earth, including human life. What the climate needs to avoid collapse is a contraction in humanity’s use of resources; what our economic model demands to avoid collapse is unfettered expansion. Only one of these sets of rules can be changed, and it’s not the laws of nature.”

—Naomi Klein

contractors sky limit basic function coffer empty

“When it comes to paying contractors, the sky is the limit; when it comes to financing the basic functions of the state, the coffers are empty.”

—Naomi Klein

choice climate destruction economy denial incremental

“So we are left with a stark choice: allow climate disruption to change everything about our world, or change pretty much everything about our economy to avoid that fate. But we need to be very clear: because of our decades of collective denial, no gradual, incremental options are now available to us.”

—Naomi Klein

frontier capitalism crisis

“What we have been living for three decades is frontier capitalism, with the frontier constantly shifting location from crisis to crisis, moving on as soon as the law catches up. ”

—Naomi Klein

neoliberalism self-preservation

“This, without a doubt, is neoliberalism’s single most damaging legacy: the realization of its bleak vision has isolated us enough from one another that it became possible to convince us that we are not just incapable of self-preservation but fundamentally not worth saving.”

—Naomi Klein

wake-up call flood draught extinction planet economic model

“It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message—spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions—telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet.”

—Naomi Klein

policy pillar privatization deregulation corporate taxation

“The three policy pillars of this new era are familiar to us all: privatization of the public sphere, deregulation of the corporate sector, and lower corporate taxation, paid for with cuts to public spending.”

—Naomi Klein

culture caretaking value people human øife

"The task is clear: to create a culture of caretaking in which no one and nowhere is thrown away, in which the inherent value of people and all life is foundational."

—Naomi Klein

free market climate failure corporation atmosphere sewer

"We can't leave everything to the free market. In fact, climate change is, I would argue, the greatest single free-market failure. This is what happens when you don't regulate corporations and you allow them to treat the atmosphere as an open sewer."

—Naomi Klein

politics vacuum hope fear

"Politics hates a vacuum. If it isn't filled with hope, someone will fill it with fear."

—Naomi Klein

free speech meaningless commercial cacaphony

"Free speech is meaningless if the commercial cacophony has risen to the point where no one can hear you."

—Naomi Klein

save ourselves myth dominance work nature

"We can save ourselves, but only if we let go of the myth of dominance and mastery and learn to work with nature."

—Naomi Klein

world profit people planet economics ethics morality

"In a world where profit is consistently put before both people and the planet, climate economics has everything to do with ethics and morality."

—Naomi Klein

Africa poor investor creditor rich

"Africa is poor because its investors and its creditors are unspeakably rich."

—Naomi Klein