126 Quotes by Owen Jones

But as the late socialist politician Tony Benn would often put it, social change is a combination of two things: ‘the burning flame of anger at injustice, and the burning flame of hope for a better world’.

What does the case of Jade Goody show us, other than the capacity of the British media for crassness and cruelty? Above all it demonstrated that it is possible to say practically anything about people from Jade’s background. They are fair game.

The modern Establishment relies on a mantra of ‘There Is No Alternative’: potential opposition is guarded against by enforcing disbelief in the idea that there is any other viable way of running society.

A victory is scored when your opponents are forced to debate issues they would rather leave ignored.

I would like Britain – and indeed other countries – to be run in the interests of people’s needs and aspirations, rather than on the basis of profit for a small elite; for democracy to be democratically managed by working people; for democracy to be extended as far as possible, including in the workplace and the economy.

The Establishment is amassing wealth and aggressively annexing power in a way that has no precedent in modern times. After all, there is nothing to stop it.

One day, this Establishment will fall. It will not do so on its own terms or of its own accord, but because it has been removed by a movement with a credible alternative that inspires. For those of us who want a different sort of society, it is surely time to get our act together.

Chav-bashing draws on a long, ignoble tradition of class hatred. But it cannot be understood without looking at more recent events. Above all, it is the bastard child of a very British class war.

The objective is to change the system and the behaviour it encourages, rather than replacing ‘bad’ people with ‘good’ people.