--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who's the big government guy? These…" description: "\"Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense. And the Tea Party, if you want to call them working class, you know, a working-class insurgenc..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg" --- # Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense… ![“Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense. And the Tea Party, if you want to call them working class, you know, a working-class insurgency from below, they are a mass of contradictions; they don't have a single consistent viewpoint; but part of their impulse is to be wary of…” quote by Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg) > “Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense. And the Tea Party, if you want to call them working class, you know, a working-class insurgency from below, they are a mass of contradictions; they don't have a single consistent viewpoint; but part of their impulse is to be wary of government.” [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A critique of the Tea Party as a contradictory, loosely organized movement lacking a unified stance, yet skeptical of government. **In simple terms:** The Tea Party is inconsistent and wary of government. Key Takeaway Recognize the complexity of grassroots movements. Themes politics grassroots contradiction Mood critical analytical Type political commentary When to use this quote - political analysis - campaign strategy - public discourse Key Concepts government skepticism movement analysis ideological diversity Questions to Reflect On - What drives the Tea Party’s contradictions? - How can movements maintain coherence? A Different Perspective Simplifies diverse motivations into a single label. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Big government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-government/) [Bigs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigs/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Class Insurgency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class-insurgency-5475482/) [Consistent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consistent/) [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Guy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guy/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Insurgency](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insurgency/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Labels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labels/) [Labels Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labels-nonsense-5475483/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Nonsense](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonsense/) [Party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/party/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tea/) [Tea party](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tea-party/) [Viewpoints](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viewpoints/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Wary Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wary-government-826221/) [Working class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-class/) ## Related quotes > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I spoke at the University of Georgia, and a whole contingent of Tea Party people in Hell's Angels regalia came in and sat in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-spoke-at-the-university-of-georgia-and-a-whole-contingent-of-tea/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The public's continuing ambivalence about cultural matters is all the more striking given that the political conversation on these issues has for 30 years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-willis/the-public-s-continuing-ambivalence-about-cultural-matters-is-all-the/) [Ellen Willis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-willis/) > [We are facing an enormous crisis in Africa right now in terms of illegal wildlife trafficking, which is decimating animal populations, destroying local economies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah-barron/we-are-facing-an-enormous-crisis-in-africa-right-now-in-terms-of/) [David Jeremiah Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah-barron/) > [I think a lot of the people who feel out of step with contemporary society or feel that they've been left back economically or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheldon-whitehouse/i-think-a-lot-of-the-people-who-feel-out-of-step-with-contemporary/) [Sheldon Whitehouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheldon-whitehouse/) > [“Constructive insurgency: Is the use of legal and imaginative means of resistance to reform a system of repression. Generally through the use of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/constructive-insurgency-is-the-use-of-legal-and-imaginative-means-of/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am encouraged by the news today that United States special operations personnel found, identified and killed the terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the operational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-fitzpatrick/i-am-encouraged-by-the-news-today-that-united-states-special/) [Mike Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-fitzpatrick/) > [The presence of American troops is fueling the insurgency in Iraq, as acknowledged by General Casey and numerous other experts, and is helping terrorist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-conyers/the-presence-of-american-troops-is-fueling-the-insurgency-in-iraq-as/) [John Conyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-conyers/) > [We'd be better off if the whole purpose of the adventure in Iraq was, say, to protect Israel or to protect the flow of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seymour-hersh/we-d-be-better-off-if-the-whole-purpose-of-the-adventure-in-iraq-was/) [Seymour Hersh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seymour-hersh/) > [I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time... The level of activity that we see today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/i-think-we-may-well-have-some-kind-of-presence-there-over-a-period-of/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [I think Martin Luther King would always keep track of collective insurgencies among poor and working people. He was concerned about the treatment of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-martin-luther-king-would-always-keep-track-of-collective/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ There \[in Afghanistan\] is also a growing insurgency threat from al-Qaida, the Taliban and other extremist elements, some of which comes from the tribal… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-petraeus/there-in-afghanistan-is-also-a-growing-insurgency-threat-from-al/) [David Petraeus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-petraeus/) > [We must support initiatives that provide clear, concrete measures and milestones that our troops need for defeating the insurgency, building up Iraqi security forces,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrod-brown/we-must-support-initiatives-that-provide-clear-concrete-measures-and/) [Sherrod Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrod-brown/) > [ \[In response to the question "Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency's strength?"\] I think so. I guess if I look back on… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-cheney/in-response-to-the-question-do-you-think-that-you-underestimated-the/) [Dick Cheney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-cheney/) > [Almost immediately, I remember right when Tikrit even fell, a few days after Baghdad fell, there was talks of insurgency, there was talks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/farnaz-fassihi/almost-immediately-i-remember-right-when-tikrit-even-fell-a-few-days/) [Farnaz Fassihi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/farnaz-fassihi/) ## More by Bill Ayers > [ It wasn't \[Barack\] Obama per se; it was the feeling on the ground; it was seeing an old black woman in a wheelchair being… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/it-wasn-t-barack-obama-per-se-it-was-the-feeling-on-the-ground-it-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I didn't respond to people thrusting microphones at me and asking me questions that were unanswerable in a sound bite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-didn-t-respond-to-people-thrusting-microphones-at-me-and-asking-me/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I haven't been silent. I teach, I lecture at universities, I write, I'm not silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-haven-t-been-silent-i-teach-i-lecture-at-universities-i-write-i-m/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ One of the great crimes of the Bloomberg/Klein administration \[in New York City\] is that they've removed themselves from communities, as if communities have… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/one-of-the-great-crimes-of-the-bloomberg-klein-administration-in-new/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was involved in the anti-war movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-involved-in-the-anti-war-movement/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[Lyndon \] Johnson was responding to a black freedom movement that was tearing the country open and he did what he had to do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/lyndon-johnson-was-responding-to-a-black-freedom-movement-that-was/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'm wary of government. Part of \[the Tea Party\] impulse is to dislike and be worried about the rich. I'm that way too. So… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-m-wary-of-government-part-of-the-tea-party-impulse-is-to-dislike/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ I'd been arrested many times by then. I'd been an organizer, so many things had changed over those three years \[from 1965 till 1968\]. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-d-been-arrested-many-times-by-then-i-d-been-an-organizer-so-many/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [You cannot live a political life, you cannot live a moral life if you're not willing to open your eyes and see the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/you-cannot-live-a-political-life-you-cannot-live-a-moral-life-if-you/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [I was a good liberal in some sense at that point. I wanted to end a war. I wanted to support the civil rights…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/i-was-a-good-liberal-in-some-sense-at-that-point-i-wanted-to-end-a/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The fact is that in my prep school, I went to a boarding school, 39 young men graduated from that prep school. Five years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-fact-is-that-in-my-prep-school-i-went-to-a-boarding-school-39/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [ \[The whole first year at university\] was a great time for me and great time of awakening. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-whole-first-year-at-university-was-a-great-time-for-me-and-great/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [The truth is that the antiwar movement was powered by the working class. The students were the ones that got the media and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/the-truth-is-that-the-antiwar-movement-was-powered-by-the-working/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [There was one moment when J. Edgar Hoover and us had the same distorted lens about who we were - "a real threat," you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/there-was-one-moment-when-j-edgar-hoover-and-us-had-the-same/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) > [Every politician - FDR, Lyndon Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama - they're all conservative by nature. They are part of the big thing and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/every-politician-fdr-lyndon-johnson-abraham-lincoln-barack-obama-they/) [Bill Ayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) [Explore all 204 Bill Ayers quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/) ## More Big government quotes > [Big-government proponents embrace both the power of the federal government and the idea that millions of Americans ought to be dependent on its largesse.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-bauer/big-government-proponents-embrace-both-the-power-of-the-federal/) [Gary Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-bauer/) > [Let's face a historical truth: we have never had a "free market", we have always had government intervention in the economy, and indeed that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/let-s-face-a-historical-truth-we-have-never-had-a-free-market-we-have/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Pure, hard-core liberals believe in a superior race. They think they're it. They believe they're more intelligent than the general run of mankind, better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-koontz/pure-hard-core-liberals-believe-in-a-superior-race-they-think-they-re/) [Dean Koontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-koontz/) > [I think part of the reason the Tea Party has resonated is that people feel disempowered. The Tea Party says, "You are out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zephyr-teachout/i-think-part-of-the-reason-the-tea-party-has-resonated-is-that-people/) [Zephyr Teachout](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zephyr-teachout/) > [Big government helps the people who have made it. It doesn't help the people who are trying to make it; it crushes the people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/big-government-helps-the-people-who-have-made-it-it-doesn-t-help-the/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [Hillary Clinton: putting big government spending financed by the Chinese ahead of good-paying jobs for middle-class Americans. Is she guilty or not guilty?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-christie/hillary-clinton-putting-big-government-spending-financed-by-the/) [Chris Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-christie/) > [I'm not a big government guy. I believe in private industries taking care of people. I think they do a better job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-baio/i-m-not-a-big-government-guy-i-believe-in-private-industries-taking/) [Scott Baio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-baio/) > [Americans must either choose big government and be willing to pay for and submit to it, or they must move toward smaller, less intrusive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-demille/americans-must-either-choose-big-government-and-be-willing-to-pay-for/) [Oliver DeMille](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-demille/) > [What do intellectuals and opinion makers get from big government? An increasing number of cushy jobs in the bureaucracy, or in the government-subsidized sector,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/what-do-intellectuals-and-opinion-makers-get-from-big-government-an/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [America's Christian conservative movement is confronted with this divide: small-government advocates who want to practice their faith independent of heavy-handed government versus big-government sympathizers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-armey/america-s-christian-conservative-movement-is-confronted-with-this/) [Dick Armey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-armey/) > [Vietnam should remind conservatives that whenever you put your faith in big government for any reason, sooner or later you wind up an apologist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-hess/vietnam-should-remind-conservatives-that-whenever-you-put-your-faith/) [Karl Hess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-hess/) > [“Funding for the Special Operations Network comes directly from the government. Most work is centralized, but all of the SpecOps divisions have local representatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasper-fforde/funding-for-the-special-operations-network-comes-directly-from-the/) [Jasper Fforde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasper-fforde/) > [Offering 'comprehensive' reform usually means years of arguing and horse-trading among pressure groups to get anything done. By the time all the special interests…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-davis-hanson/offering-comprehensive-reform-usually-means-years-of-arguing-and/) [Victor Davis Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-davis-hanson/) > [Unfortunately, President Obama's failed policies of new regulations, higher taxes, and Obamacare and his anti-business rhetoric have hit Hispanics especially hard. Big government really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marco-rubio/unfortunately-president-obama-s-failed-policies-of-new-regulations/) [Marco Rubio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marco-rubio/) > [The press is hostile to the idea of liberty. Most people in the press are for big government. Most people think that the solution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-browne/the-press-is-hostile-to-the-idea-of-liberty-most-people-in-the-press/) [Harry Browne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-browne/) [Browse all 245 Big government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-government/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense. And the Tea Party, if you want to call them working class, you know, a working-class insurgency from below, they are a mass of contradictions; they don't have a single consistent viewpoint; but part of their impulse is to be wary of government.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Ayers" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-labels-are-nonsense-and-the-tea/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Big government" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-labels-are-nonsense-and-the-tea/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f8/bill-ayers-1848_big-government_who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-label_688623.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who's the big government guy? These labels are nonsense. And the Tea Party, if you want to call them working…” — Bill Ayers", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Ayers", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-ayers/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Who's the big government guy? These...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-labels-are-nonsense-and-the-tea/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-ayers/who-s-the-big-government-guy-these-labels-are-nonsense-and-the-tea/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```