--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the state is not kind, then the…" description: "\"“When the state is not kind, then the people are fodder.”\" — Ali Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25b/ali-smith-1801_fodder_when-the-state-is-not-kind-then-the-peop_2820381.jpg" --- # When the state is not kind, then the people are fodder. ![“When the state is not kind, then the people are fodder.” quote by Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25b/ali-smith-1801_fodder_when-the-state-is-not-kind-then-the-peop_2820381.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25b/ali-smith-1801_fodder_when-the-state-is-not-kind-then-the-peop_2820381.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/25b/ali-smith-1801_fodder_when-the-state-is-not-kind-then-the-peop_2820381.jpg) > ““When the state is not kind, then the people are fodder.”” [Ali Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. When the state is cruel, people become expendable. **In simple terms:** Cruel state makes people fodder. Key Takeaway Resist oppressive systems. Themes politics human rights oppression Mood urgent defiant Type political inspirational When to use this quote - activism - journalism - community organizing Key Concepts political theory ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can you protect the vulnerable? - What actions counter state cruelty? A Different Perspective Resistance can be dangerous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Kind people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind-people/) ## Related quotes > [You will find that the State is the kind of organization which, though it does big things badly, does small things badly, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/you-will-find-that-the-state-is-the-kind-of-organization-which-though/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Because I've never made this kind of movie before, so I've never even been to Comic-Con. And Hugh and Evangeline keep telling me, 'Oh,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-anthony-levy/because-i-ve-never-made-this-kind-of-movie-before-so-i-ve-never-even/) [Shawn Anthony Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-anthony-levy/) > [Things seem to be at a boiling point all the time. In fact, it has been that way my whole life. 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It appears that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/one-must-search-diligently-to-find-laudatory-comments-on-education/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [Women are an enslaved population - the crop we harvest is children, the fields we work are houses. Women are forced into committing sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-dworkin/women-are-an-enslaved-population-the-crop-we-harvest-is-children-the/) [Andrea Dworkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-dworkin/) > [People have been starving for intellectual fodder, but the best way to get people to close their eyes and not say anything is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamasi-washington/people-have-been-starving-for-intellectual-fodder-but-the-best-way-to/) [Kamasi Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamasi-washington/) > [For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. 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