--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We buy our chains from our jailers and…" description: "\"“We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put need before desire will we escape the prison of neo-liberalism”\" — Dean Cavanagh" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png" --- # We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put… ![“We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put need before desire will we escape the prison of neo-liberalism” quote by Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png) > ““We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put need before desire will we escape the prison of neo-liberalism”” [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. We buy our oppression; prioritizing need over desire frees us. **In simple terms:** Chains are self‑imposed. Key Takeaway Choose needs over cravings. Themes freedom consumerism values Mood critical thoughtful Type philosophical political When to use this quote - personal budgeting - activism - lifestyle changes Key Concepts self‑control political economy Questions to Reflect On - What needs truly serve you? A Different Perspective Desire can also motivate positive change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Consumerism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) ## Related quotes > [Neo-Liberalism promised us a Global Village and gave us a Potemkin Village.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/neo-liberalism-promised-us-a-global-village-and-gave-us-a-potemkin/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [Part of what you need to understand is that we're forced to look back. You had the importation of third world or developing world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-jones/part-of-what-you-need-to-understand-is-that-we-re-forced-to-look-back/) [Van Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-jones/) > [The global policy shift toward neo-liberalism that took place during the 1980s and 1990s was supposed, according to its proponents, to bring a convergence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noreena-hertz/the-global-policy-shift-toward-neo-liberalism-that-took-place-during/) [Noreena Hertz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noreena-hertz/) > [Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Nicaragua have made a tremendous leap just by rejecting the neoliberal adjustment policies, they are making a statement from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alejandro-castro-espin/venezuela-ecuador-bolivia-and-nicaragua-have-made-a-tremendous-leap/) [Alejandro Castro Espin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alejandro-castro-espin/) > [I never fully understood it till my friend Professor Tolkien asked me the very simple question, 'What class of men would you expect to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/i-never-fully-understood-it-till-my-friend-professor-tolkien-asked-me/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The only people who hate escapism are jailers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-only-people-who-hate-escapism-are-jailers/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [“Hence the uneasiness which they arouse in those who, for whatever reason, wish to keep us wholly imprisoned in the immediate conflict. That perhaps…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/hence-the-uneasiness-which-they-arouse-in-those-who-for-whatever/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) > [“...those who are locked up know better than their jailers the taste of free air.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-ne-cixous/those-who-are-locked-up-know-better-than-their-jailers-the-taste-of/) [Hélène Cixous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-ne-cixous/) > [“Like the hostages, I can’t find any excuses for my jailers, even if some of them are rootless exiles. They change continuously as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hanan-al-shaykh/like-the-hostages-i-can-t-find-any-excuses-for-my-jailers-even-if/) [Hanan Al-Shaykh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hanan-al-shaykh/) > [“quiet, unprovocative, unfailingly polite to one another and to them, and whose occasional sadness bore the stamp of a dignity their jailers could never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-rappaport/quiet-unprovocative-unfailingly-polite-to-one-another-and-to-them-and/) [Helen Rappaport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-rappaport/) > [In prison we are their jailers On trial their judges Persecuted their punishers Dead their conquerors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eoin-macneill/in-prison-we-are-their-jailers-on-trial-their-judges-persecuted-their/) Eoin MacNeill > [“I got out late winter. I was off on the exact day by thirty-some hours, which is not bad calculations. I made the decision…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-got-out-late-winter-i-was-off-on-the-exact-day-by-thirty-some-hours/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Do not help your jailers to pretend that their jail is your natural state of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/do-not-help-your-jailers-to-pretend-that-their-jail-is-your-natural/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“Many novelists fumed at men they saw as jailers. A host of masculine villains paraded through their plots—neglectful fathers, cruel husbands, and assorted gamblers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-wallace/many-novelists-fumed-at-men-they-saw-as-jailers-a-host-of-masculine/) [Mike Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-wallace/) > [Beware of those who seek to take care of you lest your caretakers become your jailers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/beware-of-those-who-seek-to-take-care-of-you-lest-your-caretakers/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) ## More by Dean Cavanagh > [“Would a DNA test for love take a sample from the heart or the mind?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/would-a-dna-test-for-love-take-a-sample-from-the-heart-or-the-mind/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“Artist Matthew Barney has made a film about “shit”. It is hardly original. Hollywood has made shit films for decades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/artist-matthew-barney-has-made-a-film-about-shit-it-is-hardly/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“The obsession with the afterlife is born of a panic at not having memories of a before-life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-obsession-with-the-afterlife-is-born-of-a-panic-at-not-having/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“The Path Of Least Resistance Is Littered With The Corpses Of The Bored To Death”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-path-of-least-resistance-is-littered-with-the-corpses-of-the/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [You can never read too much into anything](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/you-can-never-read-too-much-into-anything/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [You can't live in the digital and die in the analog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/you-can-t-live-in-the-digital-and-die-in-the-analog/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“Time to pull the plug on the coma of the left, right paradigm”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/time-to-pull-the-plug-on-the-coma-of-the-left-right-paradigm/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“The ultimate goal of the political elite is to privatize the air. So as not to destroy their own edifice of democratic compassion they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-ultimate-goal-of-the-political-elite-is-to-privatize-the-air-so/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [The ego camouflages itself like a fox born and raised in a hen house. Its only worry is that you fail to notice its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-ego-camouflages-itself-like-a-fox-born-and-raised-in-a-hen-house/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [We don't fall in love, we fall in lust. We ascend to love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-don-t-fall-in-love-we-fall-in-lust-we-ascend-to-love/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“Death Laughs In The Faces Of Clocks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/death-laughs-in-the-faces-of-clocks/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“Keeping your mouth shut whilst eating shit will get you far in life but your soul will die of starvation.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/keeping-your-mouth-shut-whilst-eating-shit-will-get-you-far-in-life/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“The future promises us all our very own Truman Shows and when every man and woman is a star the spectacle becomes auto- cannibalizing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-future-promises-us-all-our-very-own-truman-shows-and-when-every/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [The quantum death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. 24 hours before he was "officially" declared dead it was announced on the internet that he had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-quantum-death-of-philip-seymour-hoffman-24-hours-before-he-was/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) > [“The Devil fights from behind barricades of linguistic complexity, but the war of words will be won by those armed only with simplistic truths”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/the-devil-fights-from-behind-barricades-of-linguistic-complexity-but/) [Dean Cavanagh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) [Explore all 132 Dean Cavanagh quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/) ## More Consumerism quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [if we center our lives on BMWs, RVs, VCRs, PCs and the other acronyms of consumerism, we cannot expect our children to do otherwise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/if-we-center-our-lives-on-bmws-rvs-vcrs-pcs-and-the-other-acronyms-of/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [“Salesmanship is usually the art of making it the prospect’s problem, the salesperson’s need or desire to earn money.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/salesmanship-is-usually-the-art-of-making-it-the-prospect-s-problem/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [A lot of times, my work is looked at very much on the surface. It's very easy to just want to put something in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-koons/a-lot-of-times-my-work-is-looked-at-very-much-on-the-surface-it-s/) [Jeff Koons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-koons/) > [I think that consumerism is intrinsically a pretty flawed social system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-elkington/i-think-that-consumerism-is-intrinsically-a-pretty-flawed-social/) [John Elkington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-elkington/) > [America always put forth this phony melting pot theory, but it's a reality now. They couldn't accomplish the melting pot economically; they couldn't accomplish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-means/america-always-put-forth-this-phony-melting-pot-theory-but-it-s-a/) [Russell Means](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-means/) > [“Fifty years ago, people went without clothes in order to eat. Today, people gladly go without food in order to buy clothes. And they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-dumontais/fifty-years-ago-people-went-without-clothes-in-order-to-eat-today/) Sinclair Dumontais > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [“In my view, dissatisfaction is implicit in the fabric of consumerism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-bruno/in-my-view-dissatisfaction-is-implicit-in-the-fabric-of-consumerism/) [Dave Bruno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-bruno/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Logograms pose a more difficult question. An increasing number of persons and institutions, from archy and mehitabel to PostScript and TrueType, come to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bringhurst/logograms-pose-a-more-difficult-question-an-increasing-number-of/) [Robert Bringhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bringhurst/) > [One of the problems with industrialism is that it's based on the premise of more and more. It has to keep expanding to keep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dora-russell/one-of-the-problems-with-industrialism-is-that-it-s-based-on-the/) [Dora Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dora-russell/) > [Never buy what you do not want, because it is cheap; it will be dear to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/never-buy-what-you-do-not-want-because-it-is-cheap-it-will-be-dear-to/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The pharma pricing system was not built on the idea of consumer engagement. It was built... on market efficiencies. It was not built on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-bresch/the-pharma-pricing-system-was-not-built-on-the-idea-of-consumer/) [Heather Bresch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-bresch/) > [“We consumer and become exactly what we create. In all times.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/we-consumer-and-become-exactly-what-we-create-in-all-times/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) [Browse all 628 Consumerism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumerism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put need before desire will we escape the prison of neo-liberalism”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dean Cavanagh" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-only-when-we-put-need-before/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Consumerism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-only-when-we-put-need-before/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/177/dean-cavanagh-3359_consumerism_we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-o_1170429.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We buy our chains from our jailers and only when we put need before desire will we escape the prison of…” — Dean Cavanagh", "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": "Dean Cavanagh", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-cavanagh/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“We buy our chains from our...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-only-when-we-put-need-before/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-cavanagh/we-buy-our-chains-from-our-jailers-and-only-when-we-put-need-before/#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 } } ] } ```