--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Nobody ever rioted for austerity." description: "\"Nobody ever rioted for austerity.\" — George Monbiot" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/george-monbiot-2762_austerity_nobody-ever-rioted-for-austerity-1147977_1147977.png" --- # Nobody ever rioted for austerity. ![“Nobody ever rioted for austerity.” quote by George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/george-monbiot-2762_austerity_nobody-ever-rioted-for-austerity-1147977_1147977.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/george-monbiot-2762_austerity_nobody-ever-rioted-for-austerity-1147977_1147977.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7b0/george-monbiot-2762_austerity_nobody-ever-rioted-for-austerity-1147977_1147977.png) > “Nobody ever rioted for austerity.” [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People protest when freedoms are threatened, not for austerity, highlighting that activism targets oppression, not scarcity. **In simple terms:** Protests fight oppression, not austerity. Key Takeaway Focus activism on protecting freedoms. Themes activism freedom politics Mood critical analytical Type political social commentary When to use this quote - environmental policy - economic policy Key Concepts social movements human rights Questions to Reflect On - Why do people protest against austerity? - What freedoms are most at risk? A Different Perspective Austerity can also spark protest when it harms livelihoods. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Austerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) ## Related quotes > [Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Stepanakert, capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region, rioted over much needed spelling reform in the Soviet Union.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/armenians-and-azerbaijanis-in-stepanakert-capital-of-the-nagorno/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [It is a campaign not for abundance but for austerity. It is a campaign not for more freedom but for less. 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In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. 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Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) ## More by George Monbiot > [If we want to prevent both climate and ecological catastrophes, the key task is to minimise the amount of land we use to feed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/if-we-want-to-prevent-both-climate-and-ecological-catastrophes-the/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [“The wealth creators of neoliberal mythology are some of the most effective wealth destroyers the world has ever seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-wealth-creators-of-neoliberal-mythology-are-some-of-the-most/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [The schedules are crammed with shows urging us to travel further, drive faster, build bigger, buy more, yet none of them are deemed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-schedules-are-crammed-with-shows-urging-us-to-travel-further/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [The ideology of consumption is so prevalent that it has become invisible: it is the plastic soup in which we swim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-ideology-of-consumption-is-so-prevalent-that-it-has-become/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [I might find myself standing, transfixed, by the roadside, watching a sparrowhawk hunting among the bushes, astonished that other people could ignore it. 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Despite the great evil which runs it, it is more companionable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/people-believe-loose-change-because-it-proposes-a-closed-world/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [David Cameron's government criminalised squatting in empty homes. This too was previously a civil matter. Thousands of homeless people found themselves on the wrong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/david-cameron-s-government-criminalised-squatting-in-empty-homes-this/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [If I could turn back the clock, magically deleting my prostate cancer, the surgery I needed and its complications, would I do so? It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/if-i-could-turn-back-the-clock-magically-deleting-my-prostate-cancer/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [The grim truth is that the rich are able to live as they do only because others are poor: there is neither the physical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/the-grim-truth-is-that-the-rich-are-able-to-live-as-they-do-only/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [Technological change is essential, but to a natural historian it often feels cold and distancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/technological-change-is-essential-but-to-a-natural-historian-it-often/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) > [Yes, the car is still useful - for a few people it's essential. It would make a good servant. But it has become our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-monbiot/yes-the-car-is-still-useful-for-a-few-people-it-s-essential-it-would/) [George Monbiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) [Explore all 151 George Monbiot quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-monbiot/) ## More Austerity quotes > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. 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Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? 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