Martha Nussbaum Quotes
When we feel helpless later in life, fear makes us scapegoat others. Instead of fixing the problems, we say, 'Oh, it's all their fault - those women or immigrants are infesting our country.' Rather than useful protest or constructive solutions, we get angry at these handy targets.
Nussbaum, Martha. The Monarchy of Fear: A Philosopher Looks at Our Political Crisis. Simon & Schuster, 2018.
This quote is often cited to imply that Luther endorsed rioting which is not the case. See the related quotes from the same speech for the larger context of the quote which makes clear Luther’s true views of the unproductiveness and destructiveness of rioting.
He was referring to the charge that Richard A. Clark, Chief of Counterterrorism, had politicized the 9-11 investigations. In reality, while the hearings had been apolitical, after he testified, there were massive attacks on him by the Republicans and then massive defenses by the Democrats and the hearings had indeed been politicized. It is noteworthy however that the Commission itself remained bi-partisan in its procedures and votes.
Martha Craven Nussbaum is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosophy department. She has a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political philosophy, existentialism, feminism, and ethics, including animal rights. She also holds associate appointments in classics, divinity, and political science, is a member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a board member of the Human Rights Program. She previously taught at Harvard and Brown.
