Capitalism Quote by Audre Lorde
““Institutionalized rejection of difference is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human difference between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate. But we have no patterns for relating across our human differences as equals. As a result, those differences have been misnamed and misused in the service of separation and confusion.””
About This Quote
Source Essay: “The Difference Between Difference and Diversity” by Audre Lorde, 1991
Societies that profit from hierarchies treat diversity as a threat, responding with fear, imitation, or elimination instead of equitable engagement.
In simple terms: Profit-driven cultures fear and misuse human differences.
Key Takeaway
Learn to relate as equals across differences.
Themes
inequality
power
identity
social justice
Mood
critical
reflective
concerned
Type
analytical
activist
When to use this quote
- workplace diversity training
- community organizing
- educational curricula
- policy making
- personal relationships
Key Concepts
intersectionality
othering
systemic bias
Questions to Reflect On
- How can we create structures that reward genuine equality?
- What personal habits reinforce fear of difference?
A Different Perspective
The model may oversimplify complex cultural dynamics and ignore individual agency.
![“Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a [Soviet socialistic] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants, lands, banks, means of transportation, etc., remain untouched there, and, therefore, capitalism in Germany and Italy…” quote by Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/411/joseph-stalin-1734_capitalism_neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-natio_1430.jpg)
