--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We have for years been building a society…" description: "\"We have for years been building a society in which everybody plunders everybody, and while we are weary of being plundered, we enjoy the plunder.\" — Je..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/jerry-pournelle-10851_building_we-have-for-years-been-building-a-societ_362269.jpg" --- # We have for years been building a society in which… ![“We have for years been building a society in which everybody plunders everybody, and while we are weary of being plundered, we enjoy the plunder.” quote by Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/jerry-pournelle-10851_building_we-have-for-years-been-building-a-societ_362269.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/jerry-pournelle-10851_building_we-have-for-years-been-building-a-societ_362269.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/071/jerry-pournelle-10851_building_we-have-for-years-been-building-a-societ_362269.jpg) > “We have for years been building a society in which everybody plunders everybody, and while we are weary of being plundered, we enjoy the plunder.” [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques a culture of mutual exploitation where people both plunder and are plundered. **In simple terms:** Society thrives on mutual plunder despite fatigue. Key Takeaway Recognize and address exploitative cycles. Themes ethics economics trust Mood cynical serious Type political philosophical When to use this quote - business negotiations - political reforms - community projects Key Concepts mutual exploitation social contracts resource allocation Questions to Reflect On - What incentives sustain plunder? - How can fairness be restored? A Different Perspective Change requires systemic shifts, not just awareness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) ## Related quotes > [COMMERCE, n. A kind of transaction in which A plunders from B the goods of C, and for compensation B picks the pocket of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/commerce-n-a-kind-of-transaction-in-which-a-plunders-from-b-the-goods/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [The Indian who fells the tree that he may gather the fruit, and the Arab who plunders the caravans of commerce are actuated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/the-indian-who-fells-the-tree-that-he-may-gather-the-fruit-and-the/) [Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/) > [It is a mean thief or a successful author that plunders the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-o-malley/it-is-a-mean-thief-or-a-successful-author-that-plunders-the-dead/) [Austin O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-o-malley/) > [“The character of Moses, as stated in the Bible, is the most horrid that can be imagined. If those accounts be true, he was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-character-of-moses-as-stated-in-the-bible-is-the-most-horrid-that/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [There are people who think that plunder loses all its immorality as soon as it becomes legal. Personally, I cannot imagine a more alarming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/there-are-people-who-think-that-plunder-loses-all-its-immorality-as/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [The business of obscuring language is a mask behind which stands the much bigger business of plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-business-of-obscuring-language-is-a-mask-behind-which-stands-the/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“Private property based on the labour of the small proprietor, free competition, democracy, i.e., all the catchwords with which the capitalists and their press…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/private-property-based-on-the-labour-of-the-small-proprietor-free/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [Why, I say, that to tax the community for the advantage of a class is not protection; it is plunder, and I entirely disclaim…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-disraeli/why-i-say-that-to-tax-the-community-for-the-advantage-of-a-class-is/) [Benjamin Disraeli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-disraeli/) > [Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. 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They're counting on you to be standing at attention with your hand over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-moyers/they-re-counting-on-your-patriotism-to-distract-you-from-their/) [Bill Moyers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-moyers/) > [The greatest of all crimes are the wars that are carried on by governments, to plunder, enslave, and destroy mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lysander-spooner/the-greatest-of-all-crimes-are-the-wars-that-are-carried-on-by/) [Lysander Spooner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lysander-spooner/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [Africa, being the major target of colonial plunder, therefore becomes a major source of conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-horne/africa-being-the-major-target-of-colonial-plunder-therefore-becomes-a/) [Gerald Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-horne/) ## More by Jerry Pournelle > [I think it takes about a million words to make a writer. I mean that you're going to throw away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/i-think-it-takes-about-a-million-words-to-make-a-writer-i-mean-that/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [The American way of war is to build an army, then another, then a third, while building fleets. If the war is still on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/the-american-way-of-war-is-to-build-an-army-then-another-then-a-third/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [You see, I used to do a certain amount of market research by going to the local drugstore and seeing what the truck drivers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/you-see-i-used-to-do-a-certain-amount-of-market-research-by-going-to/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [What man has done, man can aspire to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/what-man-has-done-man-can-aspire-to-do/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [A Dark Age is not just a period in which people no longer know how to do things. 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If you can make something run at all, get it out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/gates-has-always-understood-moore-s-law-better-than-anyone-else-in/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [“Funny thing about this world,” Adams said carefully. “Legally, a sovereign government can protect its interests pretty well as long as it doesn’t start…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/funny-thing-about-this-world-adams-said-carefully-legally-a-sovereign/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control, and those dedicated to the goals the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/in-any-bureaucracy-the-people-devoted-to-the-benefit-of-the/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [If you submit a search of the following phrase on Google, you get over four hundred returns, and they are often very strange ones:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-pournelle/if-you-submit-a-search-of-the-following-phrase-on-google-you-get-over/) [Jerry Pournelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-pournelle/) > [The hard part of writing at all is sitting your ass down in a chair and writing it. 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