Lawrence Wright Quotes

Most of the oil rich exporting countries were not really helped in the long run by their oil resources. Oil wealth distorted the development of the country. Corruption, the concept of something for nothing, the lack of development of a manufacturing or agricultural base, the resources to keep a dictator in power without depending on the people—all were problems.

Many rich people in China made their fortunes by damaging natural resources and building corrupt relations with the government.

And I believe that it becomes a troubled continent because there are those who must always cause confusion so that we do not keep these natural resources.

Oil wealth has been a curse on us, made us weak and docile.

Poor countries are poor because they are wasting their resources.

The thing about a real economy is that it actually is like the game of Monopoly in the sense that when one person has all the money, the game is over. And in a game of Monopoly, of course, that's quite charming, but in a real economy, it's much more problematic.

When money is controlled by a few it gives that few an undue power and control over labor and the resources of the country. Labor will have its best return when the laborer can control its disposal.

When a nation is over-reliant on one or two commodities like oil or precious minerals, corrupt government ministers and their dodgy associates hoard profits and taxes instead of properly allocating them to schools and hospitals.

Liberals are concerned about the concentration of wealth because it almost inevitably leads to a concentration of power that undermines democracy.

Poverty and backwardness in the midst of clear waters and verdant mountains is no good, nor is it to have prosperity and wealth while the environment deteriorates.

Our family's fortune is growing faster than ever. We're a part of a small number of American families that own most of the country's wealth. But having so much in the hands of so few can't be good for America.

It seems that almost every time a valuable natural resource is discovered in the world-whether it be diamonds, rubber, gold, oil, whatever-often what results is a tragedy for the country in which they are found. Making matters worse, the resulting riches from these resources rarely benefit the people of the country from which they come.

The aggregation of large fortunes is not at all a thing to be regretted.

For far too long the world's poorest people have seen no benefit from the vast natural resources in their own backyards. It is time to end the injustice where ordinary people are silent witnesses, left to suffer without basic services, as the profits from their countries' assets are hidden and plundered by corrupt regimes.

The rise of capitalist practice and morality brought with it a radical revision of how the commons are treated, and also of how they are conceived.

You've got the top 400 Americans owning more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans. Most folks do not think that is right.

We have more billionaires than any country but the United States. And Putin can imprison any one of them at a moment’s notice. Do you think he is poor?

The reigning model of economic globalization threatens earth’s life systems, undermines cultural integrity and diversity, and endangers the lives of many who are poor in order that some might consume exorbitantly and a few accumulate vast wealth.

There’s just too much money in the hands of too few.

I see in the near future a crisis approaching. It unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country... the Money Power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war

The public domain has been squandered, our coal fields bartered away, our forests denuded, our people impoverished, and we are attempting to build a prosperous commonwealth among people who are being robbed of their homes.

Great accumulations of wealth cannot be justified on the basis of personal and family security. In the last analysis such accumulations amount to the perpetuation of great and undesirable concentration of control in a relatively few individuals over the employment and welfare of many, many others.

Perhaps it’ll surprise you but we socialists don’t agree with your rebate agony. The quicker the concentration of wealth is completed the better it suits us…. The point that all you reforming folks seem to miss is that you are locking the stable doors after the horse is gone. The trusts are formed. The big shipper has got the money. Also, with the money he has bought the government.

A state becomes “rentier” if oil, gas, and mineral rents constitute over 40 percent of its revenues…. This maintains the rulers.

The theory of communism is that the government takes money from the haves to help the have-nots; the reality is the government helps itself. In capitalistic America, four of the five richest counties surround Washington, D.C. If we were communists, it would be five.