Aphorisms for reflection or rejection

Surveillance turns people into actors.

It doesn't take much to turn democracies into former democracies.

Distraction fuels the status quo.

If you make an uninformed decision, the decision has been made for you.

The status quo will never change itself.

To be part of the solution you have to be informed.

Nothing happens for a reason.

Common wisdom goes unchallenged - whether it’s right or wrong.

The society on screens is coloured by consumerism

The Capitalist Singularity - Recognised historically, when the first domino fell.

The age of - what have you done for me lately?

Free press? The irony that is lost on the masses, is inflicted on the masses.

The wealthy are a problem. Society finds ways of resolving problems.

The status quo & ignorance is a marriage made in hell.

The arts community is a Marxian club - Groucho, not Karl.

Economics is a social science - economists pedal myths not facts.

An unengaged society is unlikely to have a democracy worth saving.

You can set stories in the past, present or future, but you must live in the present.

It is definitely not the critic who counts.

The young must vote - they have more tomorrows.

Opinion and journalism are mutually exclusive.

You either belong or you don’t.

Money isn’t real which makes capitalism nihilism.

Individual responsibility is corporates avoid responsibility.

Reductionism is the childish inability to join the dots.

An uninformed citizen is a dangerous oxymoron.

Groucho Marx was not a grumpy communist.

Sometimes we need to throw the baby out; sometimes we just need the bath.

There’s a widening chasm between what we know and what we’ve heard.

Centrist politicians focus on voters not people. Centrist governments pander to them.

Utilitarianism - the greatest good for the greatest number. Neoliberalism - the greatest good for the smallest number.

Ignorance is not bliss, it’s ignorance.

Society’s greatest existential threat is the status quo.

Banks move money from the poor to the rich. That is it.

The outcome from underpaying teachers is an ill-educated society. History tells us where this leads.

The thinnest legacy is bequeathing money to children you don’t know.

The biggest risk is to not know what’s the biggest risk.

Justice at the mercy of money is unjust.

University’s focus on money is death by degrees.

Never drink alone: by yourself or in a crowd.

21stC Nihilism - the belief that only money has meaning.

Productised education is unfit for human consumption.

Corporate citizenship – The least cash needed to look like you give a shit.

The big picture can’t be seen on a screen.

We mistake fads for progress.

Capitalism continued guarantees climate change.

Reasoned progress is not drunken lurching towards the abyss.

The ideas from the social sciences are needed outside the university.

Everyone’s answer to the question, “How much money is enough?”, is “More than I have”.

When reading news ask: who is telling me this? How do they know? What’s in it for them?

Privilege - the subtle art of being able to not give a f*ck.

McDonaldsisation - trading delight or disappointment for bland repetition.

A guru is a person selling rebranded commonsense

Enjoy the journey, arrival can be an anticlimax.

Making money distracts us from living.

The term ‘the market’ can be replaced with ‘God’ without losing meaning.

The leadership fad - ‘Mirror, mirror, on the wall ….’