“Capitalism: Nothing so mean could be right. Greed is the ugliest of the capital sins.”

—  Edward Abbey

Source: A Voice Crying in the Wilderness (Vox Clamantis in Deserto) (1990), Ch. 11 : Money Et Cetera, p. 100

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Capitalism: Nothing so mean could be right. Greed is the ugliest of the capital sins." by Edward Abbey?
Edward Abbey photo
Edward Abbey 146
American author and essayist 1927–1989

Related quotes

Vangelis photo

“Generally speaking, yes, greed and capital. In other words, banking”

Vangelis (1943) Greek composer of electronic, progressive, ambient, jazz, pop rock, and orchestral music

2012
Context: On world economy: "I see the crisis like a theatrical play that concerns the world – not just Greece... But, I am afraid that it is not easy for any country today to decide their own future... Corruption is another way for just a few to benefit... It's a game. What you read is not what's happening. The whole planet is in trouble for the same reason... Generally speaking, yes, greed and capital. In other words, banking".

David Korten photo
Milton Friedman photo
Karl Marx photo

“An increase in the productivity of labour means nothing more than that the same capital creates the same value with less labour, or that less labour creates the same product with more capital.”

Karl Marx (1818–1883) German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist

Grundrisse (1857-1858)
Source: Notebook IV, The Chapter on Capital, p. 308.

Adam Smith photo

“No fixed capital can yield any revenue but by means of a circulating capital.”

Adam Smith (1723–1790) Scottish moral philosopher and political economist

Source: (1776), Book II, Chapter I, p. 311.

Milton Friedman photo
Fidel Castro photo

“Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.”

Fidel Castro (1926–2016) former First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Cuba

Comments on Latin American Debt (15 September 1985) http://info.lanic.utexas.edu/la/cb/cuba/castro/1985/19850915
Context: Let us yield a bit. Let us grant socialism a few more years. Socialism is so obsolete, it is dying by itself.… Did I say socialism? I assure you on my honor this was not a mental slip. This was a slip of the tongue. Do not forget that. Capitalism—and I say it with such gusto—capitalism is so obsolete that it is dying by itself.

Oswald Spengler photo

“Socialism is nothing but the capitalism of the lower classes.”

Oswald Spengler (1880–1936) German historian and philosopher

Source: The Hour of Decision

Fidel Castro photo

“The economic management and planning system was not set up so that we can play at capitalism; and some people are shamefully playing at capitalism; we know this, we see it, and thismust be set right.”

Fidel Castro (1926–2016) former First Secretary of the Communist Party and President of Cuba

Rectifying the Errors of the Cuban Revolution (1986)

Ursula K. Le Guin photo

“We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings.”

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929–2018) American writer

National Book Awards, November 2014 https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/national-book-awards-ursula-le-guin
Context: I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries—the realists of a larger reality. Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art. We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings. … Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words. I’ve had a long career and a good one, in good company, and here, at the end of it, I really don’t want to watch American literature get sold down the river.... The name of our beautiful reward is not profit. Its name is freedom.

Related topics