--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as…" description: "\"“Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as a way of life. People think the Cambodians were crazy for exterminating themselves, but are we any different..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/bob-black-24650_anarchism_work-then-institutionalizes-homicide-as_2965992.jpg" --- # Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as a way of life… ![“Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as a way of life. People think the Cambodians were crazy for exterminating themselves, but are we any different? The Pol Pot regime at least had a vision, however blurred, of an egalitarian society. We kill people in the six-figure range (at least) in order…” quote by Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/bob-black-24650_anarchism_work-then-institutionalizes-homicide-as_2965992.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/bob-black-24650_anarchism_work-then-institutionalizes-homicide-as_2965992.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c12/bob-black-24650_anarchism_work-then-institutionalizes-homicide-as_2965992.jpg) > ““Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as a way of life. People think the Cambodians were crazy for exterminating themselves, but are we any different? The Pol Pot regime at least had a vision, however blurred, of an egalitarian society. We kill people in the six-figure range (at least) in order to sell Big Macs and Cadillacs to the survivors. Our forty or fifty thousand annual highway fatalities are victims, not martyrs. They died for nothing — or rather, they died for work. But work is nothing to die for.”” [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Work normalizes killing by making profit from human loss, yet society accepts it as routine. **In simple terms:** Work treats death as business. Key Takeaway Question the ethics of profit‑driven work. Themes capitalism ethics industrial violence Mood critical somber Type philosophical political When to use this quote - corporate profit motives - consumer culture - road safety policies - industrial accidents Key Concepts alienation value of life Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives exist to profit‑driven work? - How can individuals reduce harm in their jobs? A Different Perspective Economic systems may argue that such outcomes are unavoidable side effects. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anarchism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) [Big mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/big-mac/) [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Fatalities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatalities-979319/) [Institutionalizes Homicide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/institutionalizes-homicide-4542365/) [Kill People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kill-people/) [Labor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/labor/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Pol Pot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pol-pot/) [Pot Regime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pot-regime-4542366/) [Think Cambodians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-cambodians-4542367/) [Way of life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way-of-life/) [Work](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/work/) ## Related quotes > [If liberals can seize our guns because they are dangerous, we have no chance of holding on to our cars and our homes. 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But those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lowrey/climate-change-is-killing-americans-wildfires-heat-waves-mudslides/) [Annie Lowrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lowrey/) > [“In 2012, the last year for which full numbers are available, 726 cyclists lost their lives nationwide — almost two a day. It’s far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-2012-the-last-year-for-which-full-numbers-are-available-726/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“of the highest asthma death rates in the Western world – third only behind Estonia and Spain – and the number of fatalities is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/of-the-highest-asthma-death-rates-in-the-western-world-third-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pol Pot will surrender, be captured or commit suicide.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hun-sen/pol-pot-will-surrender-be-captured-or-commit-suicide/) [Hun Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hun-sen/) > [“I argue that three key doctrines of postmodernist thought have conspired to discredit the classical concept of ideology. The first of these doctrines turns…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-eagleton/i-argue-that-three-key-doctrines-of-postmodernist-thought-have/) [Terry Eagleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-eagleton/) > [It's the camel's nose in the tent. Look at Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao Zedong, Pol Pot, Idi Amin--every one of these monsters, on seizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlton-heston/it-s-the-camel-s-nose-in-the-tent-look-at-stalin-mussolini-hitler-mao/) [Charlton Heston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlton-heston/) > [And who can deny that Stalin and Mao, not to mention Pol Pot and a host of others, all committed atrocities in the name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinesh-d-souza/and-who-can-deny-that-stalin-and-mao-not-to-mention-pol-pot-and-a/) [Dinesh D'Souza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinesh-d-souza/) ## More by Bob Black > [You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid, monotonous work, chances are you'll end up boring, stupid, and monotonous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/you-are-what-you-do-if-you-do-boring-stupid-monotonous-work-chances/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/i-call-for-a-collective-adventure-in-generalized-joy-and-freely/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [People aren't as stupid as the politicians think. More and more of us are laughing off our 'civic duty' to vote, rejecting the role…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/people-aren-t-as-stupid-as-the-politicians-think-more-and-more-of-us/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Some people giving orders and others obeying them: this is the essence of servitude. Of course, as Hospers smugly observes, "one can at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/some-people-giving-orders-and-others-obeying-them-this-is-the-essence/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [“Looking for work sounds almost as bad as finding it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/looking-for-work-sounds-almost-as-bad-as-finding-it/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Liberals say we should end employment discrimination. I say we should end employment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/liberals-say-we-should-end-employment-discrimination-i-say-we-should/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Leisure is non-work for the sake of work. Leisure is the time spent recovering from work and in the frenzied but hopeless attempt to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/leisure-is-non-work-for-the-sake-of-work-leisure-is-the-time-spent/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [I call for a collective adventure in generalized joy and freely interdependent exuberance. Play isn't passive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/i-call-for-a-collective-adventure-in-generalized-joy-and-freely-2/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Cleansed of its leftist residues, anarchy - anarchism minus Marxism - will be free to get better at being what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/cleansed-of-its-leftist-residues-anarchy-anarchism-minus-marxism-will/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [The reinvention of daily life means marching off the edge of our maps](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/the-reinvention-of-daily-life-means-marching-off-the-edge-of-our-maps/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [ \[Libertarians\] don't denounce what the state does, they just object to who's doing it. This is why the people most victimized by the state… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/libertarians-don-t-denounce-what-the-state-does-they-just-object-to/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [You are what you do. If you do boring, stupid monotonous work, chances are you'll end up boring, stupid and monotonous. Work is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/you-are-what-you-do-if-you-do-boring-stupid-monotonous-work-chances-2/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Play is always voluntary. What might otherwise be play is work if it's forced.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/play-is-always-voluntary-what-might-otherwise-be-play-is-work-if-it-s/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [Unlike side issues like unemployment, unions, and minimum-wage laws, the subject of work itself is almost entirely absent from libertarian literature. Most of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/unlike-side-issues-like-unemployment-unions-and-minimum-wage-laws-the/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) > [To demonize state authoritarianism while ignoring identical albeit contract-consecrated subservient arrangements in the large-scale corporations which control the world economy is fetishism at its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-black/to-demonize-state-authoritarianism-while-ignoring-identical-albeit/) [Bob Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) [Explore all 24 Bob Black quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-black/) ## More Anarchism quotes > [I know one thing: that you can do a lot of things but if you don't educate people into conscious anarchism it gets frittered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/i-know-one-thing-that-you-can-do-a-lot-of-things-but-if-you-don-t/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [In morals as in politics anarchy is not for the weak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-mccarthy/in-morals-as-in-politics-anarchy-is-not-for-the-weak/) [Mary McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-mccarthy/) > [Anarchism is a definite intellectual current in the life of our times, whose adherents advocate the abolition of economic monopolies and of all political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/anarchism-is-a-definite-intellectual-current-in-the-life-of-our-times/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [“Do not all theists insist that there can be no morality, no justice, honesty or fidelity without the belief in a Divine Power? Based…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-goldman/do-not-all-theists-insist-that-there-can-be-no-morality-no-justice/) [Emma Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-goldman/) > [“Does it follow that I reject all authority? Perish the thought. In the matter of boots, I defer to the authority of the bootmaker;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/does-it-follow-that-i-reject-all-authority-perish-the-thought-in-the/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“An anarchist government somehow creates an impression in the hearts of citizens that no one cares.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/an-anarchist-government-somehow-creates-an-impression-in-the-hearts/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Anarchism as a political philosophy seeks to dissolve all forms of authority and power, and if possible, wishes their complete abolition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-marshall/anarchism-as-a-political-philosophy-seeks-to-dissolve-all-forms-of/) [Peter Marshall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-marshall/) > [And now, what has Anarchism to say to all this, this bankruptcy of republicanism, this modern empire that has grown up on the ruins…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltairine-de-cleyre/and-now-what-has-anarchism-to-say-to-all-this-this-bankruptcy-of/) [Voltairine de Cleyre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltairine-de-cleyre/) > [I see anarchism as the theoretical ideal to which we are all gradually evolving to a point where everybody can tell the truth to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-anton-wilson/i-see-anarchism-as-the-theoretical-ideal-to-which-we-are-all/) [Robert Anton Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-anton-wilson/) > [Anarchists are opposed to violence; everyone knows that. The main plank of anarchism is the removal of violence from human relations. It is life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/errico-malatesta/anarchists-are-opposed-to-violence-everyone-knows-that-the-main-plank/) [Errico Malatesta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/errico-malatesta/) > [“They knew that their anarchism was the product of a very high civilization, of a complex diversified culture, of a stable economy and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/they-knew-that-their-anarchism-was-the-product-of-a-very-high/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [Anarchism means voluntary co-operation instead of forced participation. It means harmony and order in place of interference and disorder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-berkman/anarchism-means-voluntary-co-operation-instead-of-forced/) [Alexander Berkman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-berkman/) > [The Anarchists are simply unterrified Jeffersonian Democrats. They believe that 'the best government is that which governs least,' and that which governs least is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-tucker/the-anarchists-are-simply-unterrified-jeffersonian-democrats-they/) [Benjamin Tucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-tucker/) > [We must therefore turn to history for enlightenment; here we find that none of the proclaimed anarchist groups correspond to the libertarian position, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/we-must-therefore-turn-to-history-for-enlightenment-here-we-find-that/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [“I became an anarchist very early on. Anarchism, in my mind, meant taking democracy seriously and organizing prefiguratively- that is, in a way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrej-gruba-i/i-became-an-anarchist-very-early-on-anarchism-in-my-mind-meant-taking/) [Andrej Grubačić](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrej-gruba-i/) [Browse all 388 Anarchism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anarchism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Work, then, institutionalizes homicide as a way of life. People think the Cambodians were crazy for exterminating themselves, but are we any different? The Pol Pot regime at least had a vision, however blurred, of an egalitarian society. We kill people in the six-figure range (at least) in order to sell Big Macs and Cadillacs to the survivors. Our forty or fifty thousand annual highway fatalities are victims, not martyrs. They died for nothing — or rather, they died for work. 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