Jeremy Corbyn - Lisa Hilton TV - Matthew Arnold - H L Mencken - Sally Wentworth - Christopher Hill - Adam Curtis TV - Noam Chomsky - Crooks Anonymous 1962 - Pierre Beaumarchais - Confucius - Dwight D Eisenhower - Benjamin Disraeli - John Kenneth Galbraith - Mother Jones - Stacey Dooley TV -
Who seriously believes that the Tories could ever stand up to the privileged few? They are the party of the privileged few, funded by the privileged few, for the benefit of the privileged few. Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party conference 2016
But the King [Charles I] has no choice except retreat [from parliament]. As he does, their fury finds its voice in cries of, Privilege! Lisa Hilton, Charles I: Downfall of a King III: The Final Showdown, BBC 2019
Tired of knocking on Preferment’s door. Matthew Arnold, The Scholar-Gypsy, 1853
Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges. H L Mencken
In a capitalist society there are always inequalities of class and wealth. People who inherit money and property will always see themselves as being superior to those who have to work for it. Sally Wentworth, Summer Fire
Only very slowly and late have men come to realise that unless freedom is universal it is only extended privilege. Christopher Hill, Century of Revolution, 1961
The ultimate political goal at the heart of our age is the idea of individual freedom. In Britain our government has set out to create a revolution that will free individuals from old elites and bureaucracies. A new world where we are free to choose our lives not be trapped by class or income into predestined roles … ‘To liberate Britain from all the old class divisions, old structures, old prejudices’ [Blair]. Adam Curtis, The Trap: What Happened to Our Dream of Freedom: Fuck You Buddy, BBC 2007
It is a very strange kind of freedom. The attempt to liberate people from the dead hand of bureaucracy has led to the rise of a new and increasingly controlling system of management driven by targets and numbers. While governments committed to creating freedom of choice in all areas have actually presided over a rise in inequalities and a dramatic collapse in social mobility. The consequence has been a return of the power of class and privilege. And abroad the attempt to create democracy has led not just to bloody mayhem but a rejection of the American-led campaign to bring freedom. ibid.
Responsibility I believe accrues through privilege. People like you and me have an unbelievable amount of privilege and therefore we have a huge amount of responsibility. We live in free societies where we are not afraid of the police; we have extraordinary wealth available to us by global standards. If you have those things, then you have the kind of responsibility that a person does not have if he or she is slaving seventy hours a week to put food on the table; a responsibility at the very least to inform yourself about power. Beyond that, it is a question of whether you believe in moral certainties or not. Noam Chomsky
The ideological system is bounded by the consensus of the privileged. Elections are largely a ritual form. In congressional elections virtually all incumbents are returned to office, a reflection of the vacuity of the political system and the choices it offers. Noam Chomsky, Deterring Democracy p59
The goal is to eliminate public meddling in policy formation. This has been largely achieved in the United States, where there is little in the way of political organizations, functioning unions, media independence of the corporate oligopoly, or other popular structures that might offer people means to gain information, clarify and develop their ideas, put them forth in the political arena, and work to realize them. As long as each individual is facing the television tube alone, formal freedom poses no threat to privilege. ibid. p76
Privilege plainly confers opportunity, and opportunity confers responsibility. Noam Chomsky, lecture Havens Centre 8th April 2010, ‘The Role of the Radical Intellectual’
I’ve always had the best since Reginald became a public company. Crooks Anonymous 1962 starring Leslie Phillips & Julie Christie & Stanley Baker & Wilfrid Hyde-White & Michael Medwin & Raymond Huntley & Norman Rossington et al, director Ken Annakin, woman with husband in jewellery shop
No, monsieur. Because you are a great lord you think you a great genius! Nobility, rank, position, fortune – how proud they make a man feel! What have you done to deserve such advantages? Pierre Beaumarchais, The Marriage of Figaro
Wealth and rank are what people desire. But unless they are attained in the right way they may not be possessed. Confucius
A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. Dwight D Eisenhower
The mass of mankind has not been born with saddles on their backs, nor a favoured few to ride them. Thomas Jefferson
I was told that the Privileged and the People formed two nations. Benjamin Disraeli, Sybil, 1845
People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. John Kenneth Galbraith
There is only one class of men, the privileged class. Albert Camus
I know that there are no limits to which the powers of privilege will not go to keep the workers in slavery. Mother Jones
Rich old Crow: People like Johnny have worked their guts out.
Stacey: But he was privileged from the start.
Rich old Crow glaring: What’s wrong with that? Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over s1e6: Landed Gentry, W 2019