--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith…" description: "\"We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kil..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a21/chris-hedges-2131_adam_we-have-to-grasp-as-marx-and-adam-smith_2887082.png" --- # We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that… ![“We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the…” quote by Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a21/chris-hedges-2131_adam_we-have-to-grasp-as-marx-and-adam-smith_2887082.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a21/chris-hedges-2131_adam_we-have-to-grasp-as-marx-and-adam-smith_2887082.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a21/chris-hedges-2131_adam_we-have-to-grasp-as-marx-and-adam-smith_2887082.png) > “We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw poor people out of homes, let the uninsured die, wage useless wars for profit, poison and pollute the ecosystem, slash social assistance programs, gut public education, trash the global economy, plunder the U.S. Treasury and crush all popular movements that seek justice for working men and women. They worship money and power.” [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. Corporations prioritize profit over public good, causing widespread harm. **In simple terms:** Companies chase profit, harming society. Key Takeaway Advocate for corporate accountability and ethical practices. Themes capitalism environment social justice Mood critical urgent Type political activist When to use this quote - policy reform - consumer activism - community organizing Key Concepts economics ethics political theory Questions to Reflect On - How can we hold corporations accountable? - What alternatives exist to profit‑driven models? A Different Perspective Profit motives can also fund positive initiatives. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-good/) [Corporations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporations/) [Crush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crush/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economy/) [Ecosystems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ecosystems/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Global economy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/global-economy/) [Guts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guts/) [Home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/home/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Making money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/making-money/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Money and power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/money-and-power/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Poor people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-people/) [Profit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profit/) [Public education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-education/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Working man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-man/) [Worship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worship/) ## Related quotes > [Legitimate rage on the part of working men and women is directed not only towards government but, I think quite correctly, towards liberals, who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/legitimate-rage-on-the-part-of-working-men-and-women-is-directed-not/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [I am a believer in Adam Smith, who says that if you look at something that really contributes value to society, and you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-cheriton/i-am-a-believer-in-adam-smith-who-says-that-if-you-look-at-something/) [David Cheriton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-cheriton/) > [We're supposed to worship Adam Smith but you're not supposed to read him. That's too dangerous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/we-re-supposed-to-worship-adam-smith-but-you-re-not-supposed-to-read/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Adam Smith's huge failure was the fact that he did not foresee the industrial revolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/adam-smith-s-huge-failure-was-the-fact-that-he-did-not-foresee-the/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [Laissez Faire, laissez passer. Let it be, let it pass. The phrase is not readily translatable. It was widely used by the Physiocrats in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-quesnay/laissez-faire-laissez-passer-let-it-be-let-it-pass-the-phrase-is-not/) [Francois Quesnay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-quesnay/) > [“They failed to appreciate how the network would funnel the energies of the people into a centrally administered, tightly monitored information system organized to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-carr/they-failed-to-appreciate-how-the-network-would-funnel-the-energies/) [Nicholas Carr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-carr/) > [“In America, too, the reality behind the words of the Declaration of Independence (issued in the same year as Adam Smith’s capitalist manifesto, The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/in-america-too-the-reality-behind-the-words-of-the-declaration-of/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [“The American Works Progress (later Projects) Administration, founded in 1935 to provide jobs for “employable workers” during the Great Depression, established the Mathematical Tables…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-lynch/the-american-works-progress-later-projects-administration-founded-in/) [Jack Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-lynch/) > [Modern sociology is virtually an attempt to take up the larger program of social analysis and interpretation which was implicit in Adam Smith's moral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/modern-sociology-is-virtually-an-attempt-to-take-up-the-larger/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [On the conservative side, today's libertarianism is far more dogmatic and devoid of qualification than the liberalism of Adam Smith or J.S. Mill. Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-lind/on-the-conservative-side-today-s-libertarianism-is-far-more-dogmatic/) [Michael Lind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-lind/) > [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“It was in the eighteenth century that England became what (Adam) Smith called "a nation of shopkeepers"… (p. 58)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-z-muller/it-was-in-the-eighteenth-century-that-england-became-what-adam-smith/) [Jerry Z. Muller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-z-muller/) > [“Instead, contracts were awarded to American consultancies like Bearing Point, or Adam Smith from the UK, to bring in their own people to run…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christina-lamb/instead-contracts-were-awarded-to-american-consultancies-like-bearing/) Christina Lamb > [“Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was in large part a critique of imperialism. We often associate opposition to imperialism with Marxism and the Left,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-brennan/adam-smith-s-wealth-of-nations-was-in-large-part-a-critique-of/) [Jason Brennan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-brennan/) > [“A man must always live by his work, and his wages must at least be sufficient to maintain him. They must even upon most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-watson/a-man-must-always-live-by-his-work-and-his-wages-must-at-least-be/) [Bruce Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-watson/) ## 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. Take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/a-democracy-survives-when-its-citizens-have-access-to-trustworthy-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/it-is-the-cult-of-self-that-is-killing-the-united-states-this-cult/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Our march toward self-annihilation has already obliterated ninety percent of the large fish in the oceans and wiped out half of the mature tropical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/our-march-toward-self-annihilation-has-already-obliterated-ninety/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [No real journalist makes $5 million a year... 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It's not really worth fighting because they know what they're doing. Ask Napoleon. Ask Adam. Ask Richard Burton or Richie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-bon-jovi/women-rule-the-world-it-s-not-really-worth-fighting-because-they-know/) [Jon Bon Jovi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-bon-jovi/) > [The writings of latter-day prophets clearly teach that the sorrows and sufferings endured by Adam and Eve upon their leaving the Garden of Eden…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-k-judd/the-writings-of-latter-day-prophets-clearly-teach-that-the-sorrows/) Daniel K Judd > [“Mary: Some call this "Eve's curse," but I think that is stupid because the real curse of Eve was having to put up with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/mary-some-call-this-eve-s-curse-but-i-think-that-is-stupid-because/) [Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Adam could imagine what he looked like: a debauched nerd.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullinan/adam-could-imagine-what-he-looked-like-a-debauched-nerd/) [Heidi Cullinan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullinan/) > [Adam Berenson knows how to compose, organize an ensemble, do musical research, play solo and trio piano, write for musical journals, and enlist others…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-bley/adam-berenson-knows-how-to-compose-organize-an-ensemble-do-musical/) [Paul Bley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-bley/) > [“Finally, someone had seen him. And what had he done? Let her get away. Undermined by his disgusting human anatomy. It had just been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/finally-someone-had-seen-him-and-what-had-he-done-let-her-get-away/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“I’d think there are degrees of greatness,” Adam said. “I don’t think so,” said Samuel. “That would be like saying there is a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-d-think-there-are-degrees-of-greatness-adam-said-i-don-t-think-so/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [An ineffably holy God, who has the utmost abhorrence of sin, was never invented by any of Adam's descendents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/an-ineffably-holy-god-who-has-the-utmost-abhorrence-of-sin-was-never/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“think Adam is looking to break Kenji’s neck at this point.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tahereh-mafi/think-adam-is-looking-to-break-kenji-s-neck-at-this-point/) [Tahereh Mafi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tahereh-mafi/) > [“Adam's lips are set in a grime line. I can't tell if he's about to cry or about to punch the guard. For his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/adam-s-lips-are-set-in-a-grime-line-i-can-t-tell-if-he-s-about-to-cry/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [And as regards Adam and Eve we must maintain that before the fall they were virgins in Paradise: but after they sinned, and were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-jerome/and-as-regards-adam-and-eve-we-must-maintain-that-before-the-fall/) [St. Jerome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-jerome/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [Oh, Adam was a gardener, and God who made him sees That half a proper gardener's work is done upon his knees, So when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/oh-adam-was-a-gardener-and-god-who-made-him-sees-that-half-a-proper/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [“Barışı elde etmek için çabalayan her adam olağanüstü bir adamdır!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/bar-elde-etmek-i-in-abalayan-her-adam-ola-an-st-bir-adamd-r/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) Browse all 1,360 Adam quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. 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