John Burdett Quotes

In a sane, civil, intelligent and moral society, you don't blame poor people for being poor.

Poverty is not a trait of character. It is created anew in each generation but not by heredity, by circumstances.

Poverty abides no line drawn by color or culture.

The hopes of the Republic cannot forever tolerate either undeserved poverty or self-serving wealth.

Poor people do not cause poverty. Poverty is thrust upon them.

Inequality saps the will to conceive of ambitious solution to large collective problems, because those problems [to the have’s] no longer seem very collective. Inequality undermines democracy/

The poor are little folks living on little lands who want what we already have.

I see tremendous imbalance in the world. A very uneven playing field, which has gotten tilted very badly. I consider it unstable. At the same time, I don't exactly see what is going to reverse it.

Capitalism, racism and inhuman technocracy quietly develop in their own way. The causes of misery are no longer to be found in the inner attitudes of men, but have long been institutionalized.

I avoid going through places where there's too much poverty.

Poverty is unnecessary.

In a world of increasing inequality, the legitimacy of institutions that give precedence to the property rights of 'the Haves' over the human rights of 'the Have Nots' is inevitably called into serious question.

Back in the thirties we were told we must collectivize the nation because the people were so poor. Now we are told we must collectivize the nation because the people are so rich.

You learn pretty fast that there is no magic solution to poverty.

When I came to the West, I saw many, many things for the first time. But I also saw the prosperity of the West critically. It wasn't really Heaven.

I can't solve the poverty problem, but there are things you can do to mitigate its effects on kids.

People feel like the system is rigged against them, and here is the painful part, they're right. The system is rigged.

I don't think we should stop emphasizing race because I think, you know, race is still very, very important, and we have to recognize that and continue to introduce programs to address racial inequities. But we have to widen our vision and also address the growing problems of economic class.

Leaders of the business community ... have chosen to wage a one-sided class war today in this country - a war against working people, the unemployed, the poor, the minorities, the very young and the very old. .

Poverty is the parent of revolution.

There is another world out there, the existence of which the Court, I suspect, either chooses to ignore or fears to recognize. And so the cancer of poverty will continue to grow.

Deep persistent poverty is unworthy of our nation’s promise …. All of us are diminished when any are hopeless.

If this country ever had a military of the poor, it no longer does.

Why should there be such abject poverty?

Poverty fills armies, mans navies.