--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Washington has become our Versailles. We…" description: "\"Washington has become our Versailles. We are ruled, entertained, and informed by courtiers -- and the media has evolved into a class of courtiers. The ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/chris-hedges-2131_behinds_washington-has-become-our-versailles-we_583096.png" --- # Washington has become our Versailles. We are ruled… ![“Washington has become our Versailles. We are ruled, entertained, and informed by courtiers -- and the media has evolved into a class of courtiers. The Democrats, like the Republicans, are mostly courtiers. Our pundits and experts, at least those with prominent public platforms, are courtiers. We…” quote by Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/chris-hedges-2131_behinds_washington-has-become-our-versailles-we_583096.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/chris-hedges-2131_behinds_washington-has-become-our-versailles-we_583096.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/433/chris-hedges-2131_behinds_washington-has-become-our-versailles-we_583096.png) > “Washington has become our Versailles. We are ruled, entertained, and informed by courtiers -- and the media has evolved into a class of courtiers. The Democrats, like the Republicans, are mostly courtiers. Our pundits and experts, at least those with prominent public platforms, are courtiers. We are captivated by the hollow stagecraft of political theater as we are ruthlessly stripped of power. It is smoke and mirrors, tricks and con games, and the purpose behind it is deception.” [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The political system is reduced to theatrical performance, where media and elites manipulate public perception, stripping citizens of real power. **In simple terms:** Politics is a staged illusion controlled by media and elites. Key Takeaway Recognize and question the performance to reclaim agency. Themes politics media power illusion theater Mood cynical critical Type analytical commentary When to use this quote - voting - media consumption - public discourse - activism Key Concepts propaganda public sphere elite control Questions to Reflect On - How does media shape your political views? - What can individuals do to see beyond the performance? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex institutional dynamics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Behinds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Courtiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtiers/) [Courtiers Democrats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtiers-democrats-4788592/) [Courtiers Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtiers-media-4788595/) [Courtiers Pundits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/courtiers-pundits-4788594/) [Deception](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/deception/) [Democrat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democrat/) [Experts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/experts/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Informed Courtiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/informed-courtiers-4788596/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Platforms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/platforms/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Pundits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pundits/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Republican](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republican/) [Republicans Courtiers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/republicans-courtiers-4788593/) [Smoke and mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/smoke-and-mirrors/) [Theater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theater/) [Tricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tricks/) [Versailles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/versailles/) ## Related quotes > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Growing up in Versailles is like growing up in a museum, and the people living there are almost the security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-mars/growing-up-in-versailles-is-like-growing-up-in-a-museum-and-the/) [Thomas Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-mars/) > [I had always been a great talker and teller of tales. 'You should put a lock on that tongue of yours. It's long enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-forsyth/i-had-always-been-a-great-talker-and-teller-of-tales-you-should-put-a/) [Kate Forsyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-forsyth/) > [Anyone who has walked through the deserted palaces of Versailles or Vienna realise how much of a part of the life of a nation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-rees-mogg/anyone-who-has-walked-through-the-deserted-palaces-of-versailles-or/) [William Rees-Mogg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-rees-mogg/) > [Never in a million years would I want to live at Versailles with Marie Antoinette or anybody else. I hate to tell you this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-lasky/never-in-a-million-years-would-i-want-to-live-at-versailles-with/) [Kathryn Lasky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-lasky/) > [“The African villager with a solar powered smartphone has more access to more information than Louis XIV in the halls of Versailles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-russell-mead/the-african-villager-with-a-solar-powered-smartphone-has-more-access/) [Walter Russell Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-russell-mead/) > [Each age, each guilty age, builds high walls around its Versailles; and personally I hate those walls most when they are made by literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/each-age-each-guilty-age-builds-high-walls-around-its-versailles-and/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) > [“Sometimes, I recall the little things in life that make the journey more joyful, like the cheerful guy playing the accordion in Paris, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virgil-kalyana-mittata-iordache/sometimes-i-recall-the-little-things-in-life-that-make-the-journey/) [Virgil Kalyana Mittata Iordache](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virgil-kalyana-mittata-iordache/) > [Dance is very, very old. With Louis XIV at Versailles is where ballet started.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neve-campbell/dance-is-very-very-old-with-louis-xiv-at-versailles-is-where-ballet/) [Neve Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neve-campbell/) > [Both Iraq and Syria are a fissile mixture of ethnicities and religions thrown together after Versailles by departing French and British imperialists and only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ignatieff/both-iraq-and-syria-are-a-fissile-mixture-of-ethnicities-and/) [Michael Ignatieff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ignatieff/) > [the pyramids were built for pharaohs on the happy theory that they could take their stuff with them. Versailles was built for kings on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-ivins/the-pyramids-were-built-for-pharaohs-on-the-happy-theory-that-they/) [Molly Ivins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-ivins/) > [Compare the scale and magnifcence of Versailles with St James's - the brick-built hovel in which the 18th-century kings of England lived. What was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-starkey/compare-the-scale-and-magnifcence-of-versailles-with-st-james-s-the/) [David Starkey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-starkey/) > [I'm interested in power. I'm interested in the kind of polarities and equilibriums that take place within sexuality and philosophy and sociology. So in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/i-m-interested-in-power-i-m-interested-in-the-kind-of-polarities-and/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [There was this one time in Vegas when I took four Victoria's Secret models and did one gram off each of their bodies within,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sheen/there-was-this-one-time-in-vegas-when-i-took-four-victoria-s-secret/) [Charlie Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sheen/) > [The king and the dauphin both like to see me on horseback. I only say this because all the world perceives it, and especially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-antoinette/the-king-and-the-dauphin-both-like-to-see-me-on-horseback-i-only-say/) [Marie Antoinette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-antoinette/) ## More by Chris Hedges > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Revolutionists who took part in uprisings in one part of the globe would often migrate to take part in uprisings in another. Francisco de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/revolutionists-who-took-part-in-uprisings-in-one-part-of-the-globe/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Those captivated by the cult of celebrity do not examine voting records or compare verbal claims with written and published facts and reports. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/those-captivated-by-the-cult-of-celebrity-do-not-examine-voting/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Positive psychology is to the corporate state what eugenics was to the Nazis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/positive-psychology-is-to-the-corporate-state-what-eugenics-was-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Hope has a cost. Hope is not comfortable or easy. Hope requires personal risk. It is not about the right attitude. Hope is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/hope-has-a-cost-hope-is-not-comfortable-or-easy-hope-requires/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [This too is a jihad. Yet we Americans find ourselves in the dangerous position of going to war not against a state but against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/this-too-is-a-jihad-yet-we-americans-find-ourselves-in-the-dangerous/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Human beings can be redeemed. Empires cannot. Our refusal to face the truth about empire, our refusal to defy the multitudinous crimes and atrocities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/human-beings-can-be-redeemed-empires-cannot-our-refusal-to-face-the/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [I have seen children shot in El Salvador, Algeria, Guatemala, Sarajevo, but I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/i-have-seen-children-shot-in-el-salvador-algeria-guatemala-sarajevo/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [A democracy survives when its citizens have access to trustworthy and impartial sources of information, when it can discern lies from truth. 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Those in power fear and dislike real journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/no-real-journalist-makes-5-million-a-year-those-in-power-fear-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Just remember,' a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel told me as he strapped his pistol belt under his arm before we crossed into Kuwait, 'that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/just-remember-a-marine-corps-lieutenant-colonel-told-me-as-he/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/most-of-these-who-are-thrust-into-combat-soon-find-it-impossible-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [The imperial projects will continue, Wall Street will be unimpeded in its malfeasance and criminal activity, social programs will continue to be cut, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-imperial-projects-will-continue-wall-street-will-be-unimpeded-in/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) [Explore all 183 Chris Hedges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## More Behinds quotes > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/elections-belong-to-the-people-it-s-their-decision-if-they-decide-to/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) > [Time is painted with a lock before, and bald behind, signifying thereby that we must take time by the forelock; for, when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-swift/time-is-painted-with-a-lock-before-and-bald-behind-signifying-thereby/) [Jonathan Swift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-swift/) > [God hides Himself behind causes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-rollin/god-hides-himself-behind-causes/) [Charles Rollin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-rollin/) > [Home is behind, the world ahead, And there are many paths to tread Through shadows to the edge of night, Until the stars are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/home-is-behind-the-world-ahead-and-there-are-many-paths-to-tread/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Behind every word flows energy. If you use your words to gossip or babble about what you are going to do before you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonia-choquette/behind-every-word-flows-energy-if-you-use-your-words-to-gossip-or/) [Sonia Choquette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonia-choquette/) > [With the realization of God comes all power. If the little wave knew that behind it is the great ocean, it could say, "I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paramahansa-yogananda/with-the-realization-of-god-comes-all-power-if-the-little-wave-knew/) [Paramahansa Yogananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paramahansa-yogananda/) > [Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. 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With or without a record, with or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ike-turner/i-m-really-thankful-to-god-man-like-now-i-m-really-making-a-real/) [Ike Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ike-turner/) > [Empires fall, ids explode, great symphonies are written, and behind all of it is a single instinct that demands satisfaction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwin-b-nuland/empires-fall-ids-explode-great-symphonies-are-written-and-behind-all/) [Sherwin B. Nuland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwin-b-nuland/) > [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/) [Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/) > [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/) [N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/) [Browse all 6,789 Behinds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/behinds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Washington has become our Versailles. We are ruled, entertained, and informed by courtiers -- and the media has evolved into a class of courtiers. The Democrats, like the Republicans, are mostly courtiers. Our pundits and experts, at least those with prominent public platforms, are courtiers. We are captivated by the hollow stagecraft of political theater as we are ruthlessly stripped of power. 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