Economic Justice Quotes

“What does 'economic justice' mean, except that you want something that someone else produced, without having to produce anything yourself in return?”

“What the two hands of the labourer can achieve, the capitalist will never get with all his gold and silver.”

“Under ideal conditions, the barrister and the bhangi (sweeper) should both get the same payment.”

“And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy.”

“The unemployed, poverty-stricken white man must be made to realize that he is in the very same boat with the Negro. Together, they could exert massive pressure on the government to get jobs for all. Together, they could form a grand alliance. Together, they could merge all people for the good of all.”

“It is not only poverty that torments the Negro; it is the fact of poverty amid plenty. It is a misery generated by the gulf between the affluence he sees in the mass media and the deprivation he experiences in his everyday life.”

“In our society, it is psychological murder to deprive a man of a job...you are in substance saying to that man "You have no right to exist.”

“There is nothing but a lack of social vision to prevent us from paying an adequate wage to every American citizen whether he be a hospital worker, laundry worker, maid or day laborer”

“Many white Americans of good will have never connected bigotry with economic exploitation. They have deplored prejudice but tolerated or ignored economic injustice.”

“We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.”

“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age.”

“Truth is not to be found either in traditional capitalism or in Marxism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically, capitalism failed to discern the truth in collective enterprise and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise.”

“If our economic system is to survive, there has to be a better distribution of wealth ... we can't have a system where some people live in superfluous, inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty.”

“A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts among husbands, wives and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on the scale of dollars is eliminated.”

“What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?”

“Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

“We must develop a federal program of public works, retraining, and jobs for all - so that none, white or black, will have cause to feel threatened. . . There is nothing except shortsightedness to prevent us from guaranteeing an annual minimum and livable income for every American family.”

“What does a black man look like begging for a cup of coffee in a white restaurant, and doesn't have a job to back up his - to pay for it when, when - when he does get the coffee? It's putting the cart before the horse.”

“It is difficult for me to imagine what "personal liberty" the unemployed can have who go hungry and cannot find utilization of their labor.”

“Real liberty exists only there where exploitation has been annihilated, where no oppression of some peoples by others exists, where there is no unemployment and pauperism, where a person does not tremble because tomorrow he may lose his job, home and bread.”

“While much remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity-for the average woman worker earns only 60 percent of the average wage for men-this legislation is a significant step forward.”

“Working full-time should mean enough to support a family.”

“I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.”

“Food Stamp recipients didn't cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did.”

“We've got a lot of work to do economically in this country to bring about a more just and fair economy.”