--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: After the collapse of socialism…" description: "\"After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gunter-grass-3046_belief_after-the-collapse-of-socialism-capitali_385511.png" --- # After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained… ![“After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. The belief is now that everything - and everyone - is fair game.” quote by Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gunter-grass-3046_belief_after-the-collapse-of-socialism-capitali_385511.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gunter-grass-3046_belief_after-the-collapse-of-socialism-capitali_385511.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f53/gunter-grass-3046_belief_after-the-collapse-of-socialism-capitali_385511.png) > “After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. The belief is now that everything - and everyone - is fair game.” [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He argues that after socialism fell, capitalism faced no competition, leading to unchecked greed and self‑destructive behavior, treating everything as a fair game. **In simple terms:** Capitalism, unchecked, becomes greedy and reckless. Key Takeaway Recognize and curb excesses in free markets. Themes economics politics ethics power competition Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy making - business regulation - social movements - economic forecasting Key Concepts capitalism ideology greed self‑destruction Questions to Reflect On - What checks can prevent capitalist excess? - How does competition shape societal values? A Different Perspective Overlooks potential reforms and alternative systems. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collapse/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Games](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/games/) [Rivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivals/) [Socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/socialism/) ## Related quotes > [The situation is that in Germany capitalism has remained, classes and class struggle have remained which all the same will break into the open,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/the-situation-is-that-in-germany-capitalism-has-remained-classes-and/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Our sense of the free market is variable, shifting from a more welfare-oriented model after the Great Depression to a capital-driven market after the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/our-sense-of-the-free-market-is-variable-shifting-from-a-more-welfare/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [. . I think the Adam Smith role was played in this cycle i.e. the late twentieth century collapse of socialism in which the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-think-the-adam-smith-role-was-played-in-this-cycle-i-e-the-late/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [Different people rise to the top under socialism than under capitalism. The higher on the socialist hierarchy you look, the more you will find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hans-hermann-hoppe/different-people-rise-to-the-top-under-socialism-than-under/) [Hans-Hermann Hoppe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hans-hermann-hoppe/) > [While I have questions about the language used in describing the two economic systems, I think people have fairly good gut sense of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/while-i-have-questions-about-the-language-used-in-describing-the-two/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [A Jesuit once wrote a note to Father Arrupe, his superior general, asking him about the relative value of communism, socialism and capitalism. Father…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-de-mello/a-jesuit-once-wrote-a-note-to-father-arrupe-his-superior-general/) [Anthony de Mello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-de-mello/) > [A new poll out taken by a Republican group that shows most Democrats prefer socialism to capitalism. Those terms don't mean what they did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-matthews/a-new-poll-out-taken-by-a-republican-group-that-shows-most-democrats/) [Chris Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-matthews/) > [“Authoritarian socialism and capitalism share strong tendencies toward centralizing (one in the hands of the state, the other in the hands of corporations). They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/authoritarian-socialism-and-capitalism-share-strong-tendencies-toward/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [“Socialism and capitalism are not mutually exclusive. They can — and should — be used in tandem. Either alone is death by overdose. Balance.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-kirk/socialism-and-capitalism-are-not-mutually-exclusive-they-can-and/) [T.J. Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-kirk/) > [It will take a long period to decide the issue in the ideological struggle between socialism and capitalism in our country. The reason is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/it-will-take-a-long-period-to-decide-the-issue-in-the-ideological/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) > [The vicissitudes of history, however, have not dissuaded them from their earnest search for a "third way" between socialism and capitalism, namely socialism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-john-neuhaus/the-vicissitudes-of-history-however-have-not-dissuaded-them-from/) [Richard John Neuhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-john-neuhaus/) > [Less than seventy-five years after it officially began, the contest between capitalism and socialism is over: capitalism has won.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heilbroner/less-than-seventy-five-years-after-it-officially-began-the-contest/) [Robert Heilbroner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heilbroner/) > [Socialism is nothing but the capitalism of the lower classes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oswald-spengler/socialism-is-nothing-but-the-capitalism-of-the-lower-classes/) [Oswald Spengler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oswald-spengler/) > [For the West, the enemy was not "socialism" but capitalism. How to tame and subdue the polar bear, how to take over the talent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-chossudovsky/for-the-west-the-enemy-was-not-socialism-but-capitalism-how-to-tame/) [Michel Chossudovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-chossudovsky/) > [In China the struggle to consolidate the socialist system, the struggle to decide whether socialism or capitalism will prevail, will still take a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mao-zedong/in-china-the-struggle-to-consolidate-the-socialist-system-the/) [Mao Zedong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mao-zedong/) ## More by Gunter Grass > [Melancholy has ceased to be an individual phenomenon, an exception. It has become the class privilege of the wage earner, a mass state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/melancholy-has-ceased-to-be-an-individual-phenomenon-an-exception-it/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Melancholy and utopia are heads and tails of the same coin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/melancholy-and-utopia-are-heads-and-tails-of-the-same-coin/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [If work and leisure are soon to be subordinated to this one utopian principle - absolute busyness - then utopia and melancholy will come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/if-work-and-leisure-are-soon-to-be-subordinated-to-this-one-utopian/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [I have often supported Israel, I have often visited the country and want the country to exist and at last find peace with its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/i-have-often-supported-israel-i-have-often-visited-the-country-and/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Whenever there has been talk of exterminating rats, others, who were not rats, have been exterminated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/whenever-there-has-been-talk-of-exterminating-rats-others-who-were/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“You can begin a story in the middle and create confusion by striking out boldly, backward and forward. 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And so I started writing and drawing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/often-i-had-to-imagine-the-things-i-needed-i-learned-very-early-to/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Art is hard for a puritan to understand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/art-is-hard-for-a-puritan-to-understand/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [What does a river like the Vistula carry away with it? Everything that goes to pieces: wood, glass, pencils, pacts ... chairs, bones, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/what-does-a-river-like-the-vistula-carry-away-with-it-everything-that/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [Love That’s it: The cashless commerce. The blanket always too short. The loose connexion. To search behind the horizon. To brush fallen leaves with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/love-that-s-it-the-cashless-commerce-the-blanket-always-too-short-the/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“They had tried doing it by themselves in her room with a cheap onion, but it wasn't the same. You needed an audience. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/they-had-tried-doing-it-by-themselves-in-her-room-with-a-cheap-onion/) [Günter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [ \[To be an artist,\] this desire to conquer all with images. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/to-be-an-artist-this-desire-to-conquer-all-with-images/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [“Suppose you're teaching math. You assume that parallel lines meet at infinity. You'll admit that adds up to something like transcendence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/suppose-you-re-teaching-math-you-assume-that-parallel-lines-meet-at/) [Günter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) > [I have seen and drawn dying, poisoned worlds. I published a book of drawings called 'Death of Wood' about one such world, on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gunter-grass/i-have-seen-and-drawn-dying-poisoned-worlds-i-published-a-book-of/) [Gunter Grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) [Explore all 128 Gunter Grass quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gunter-grass/) ## More Belief quotes > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“MIND & GRIND Self-belief and hard work can propel you past more talented peers”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamil-ali/mind-grind-self-belief-and-hard-work-can-propel-you-past-more/) [Kamil Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamil-ali/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [It took me 20 years of hard training to get the physique I have today. what you need is what i had - BELIEF…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/branch-warren/it-took-me-20-years-of-hard-training-to-get-the-physique-i-have-today/) [Branch Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/branch-warren/) > [“Here is a fundamental difference between the man of faith and the man of unbelief. The unbeliever is 'of the world', judges everything by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-w-pink/here-is-a-fundamental-difference-between-the-man-of-faith-and-the-man/) [Arthur W. Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-w-pink/) > [“She herself vacillated when it came to belief. She did not particularly believe in God. Or, rather, she didn't believe in a particular God.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allegra-goodman/she-herself-vacillated-when-it-came-to-belief-she-did-not/) [Allegra Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allegra-goodman/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [“Rigid traditions capture souls prisons of spiritual thought man’s religion has captured a god grown too small and very weak.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-w-earle/rigid-traditions-capture-souls-prisons-of-spiritual-thought-man-s/) [David W Earle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-w-earle/) > [We can find common qualities and common values that have made Britain the country it is. Our belief in tolerance and liberty which shines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-brown/we-can-find-common-qualities-and-common-values-that-have-made-britain/) [Gordon Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-brown/) > [The inner defenses are unconscious. They consist of a kind of magic aura which the mind builds around cherished belief. Arguments which penetrate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-koestler/the-inner-defenses-are-unconscious-they-consist-of-a-kind-of-magic/) [Arthur Koestler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-koestler/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) > [There's no greatest moment in the arts. It's a life; it's a continuity thing. You can't have a great moment because it's spiritual. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/there-s-no-greatest-moment-in-the-arts-it-s-a-life-it-s-a-continuity/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) [Browse all 10,268 Belief quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "After the collapse of socialism, capitalism remained without a rival. This unusual situation unleashed its greedy and - above all - its suicidal power. 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