--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's…" description: "\"Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No matter whether these relatio..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/judith-butler-1374_entitlement_genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s_154387.jpg" --- # Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide… ![“Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No matter whether these relationships are very proximate or very distant, there is no entitlement to expunge a population or to demean its basic humanity.” quote by Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/judith-butler-1374_entitlement_genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s_154387.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/judith-butler-1374_entitlement_genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s_154387.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c1/judith-butler-1374_entitlement_genocide-is-not-a-legitimate-option-it-s_154387.jpg) > “Genocide is not a legitimate option. It's not ok to decide that an entire population has no right to live in the world. No matter whether these relationships are very proximate or very distant, there is no entitlement to expunge a population or to demean its basic humanity.” [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Genocide is immoral; no group has the right to be erased or dehumanized. **In simple terms:** Genocide is never justified; all lives matter equally. Key Takeaway Stand against any form of mass violence. Themes human rights ethics genocide justice solidarity Mood urgent compassionate Type ethical political When to use this quote - policy advocacy - education - community organizing - legal trials Key Concepts moral philosophy international law activism Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities do individuals have to prevent genocide? - How can societies heal after mass atrocities? A Different Perspective Complex geopolitics can complicate moral judgments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Entitlement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/entitlement/) [Genocide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genocide/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [This is one country. It has become one country because all of us and all the people who came here had an equal chance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/this-is-one-country-it-has-become-one-country-because-all-of-us-and/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I don't think there's anything, any threat out there today that anyone can point to, that justifies placing an entire population under mass surveillance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/i-don-t-think-there-s-anything-any-threat-out-there-today-that-anyone/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [Tyranny will make an entire population into readers of poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-brodsky/tyranny-will-make-an-entire-population-into-readers-of-poetry/) [Joseph Brodsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-brodsky/) > [Shouldn't everybody join hands to give the basic minimum - food, education and health - to the entire population?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charan-das-mahant/shouldn-t-everybody-join-hands-to-give-the-basic-minimum-food/) Charan Das Mahant > [Our fifty principal cities contain 39.3 per cent of our entire German population, and 45.8 per cent of the Irish. Our ten larger cities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josiah-strong/our-fifty-principal-cities-contain-39-3-per-cent-of-our-entire-german/) [Josiah Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josiah-strong/) > [The world produces enough food to feed the entire population. It's a travesty that anyone should go hungry anywhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donny-osmond/the-world-produces-enough-food-to-feed-the-entire-population-it-s-a/) [Donny Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donny-osmond/) > [“You will personally pledge this in front of the entire population of District Thirteen and the remainder of Twelve. Soon. Today. It will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/you-will-personally-pledge-this-in-front-of-the-entire-population-of/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [What does it mean then to live with one another? It can be unhappy, it can be wretched, it can be ambivalent, it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/what-does-it-mean-then-to-live-with-one-another-it-can-be-unhappy-it/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... 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I needed to adopt a steward's mentality toward the assets He had entrusted - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-alcorn/if-god-was-the-owner-i-was-the-manager-i-needed-to-adopt-a-steward-s/) [Randy Alcorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-alcorn/) > [When you're talking about long-term deficit reduction, $4 trillion worth, entitlement reform needs to be part of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-durbin/when-you-re-talking-about-long-term-deficit-reduction-4-trillion/) [Dick Durbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-durbin/) > [Nothing more guarantees the erosion of character than getting something for nothing. In the liberal welfare state, one develops an entitlement mentality. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-prager/nothing-more-guarantees-the-erosion-of-character-than-getting/) [Dennis Prager](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-prager/) ## More by Judith Butler > [I don't think we have to have a personal relation to a life lost to understand that something terrible has taken place, especially in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-don-t-think-we-have-to-have-a-personal-relation-to-a-life-lost-to/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [We need a legal and political understanding of the right of the refugee, whereby no solution for one group produces a new class of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/we-need-a-legal-and-political-understanding-of-the-right-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [When we say gender is performed, we usually mean that we've taken on a role or we're acting in some way and that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/when-we-say-gender-is-performed-we-usually-mean-that-we-ve-taken-on-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Cameras help to minimize collateral damage, and very often, without a camera a missile cannot fire. Certainly, without a camera a drone can't function,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/cameras-help-to-minimize-collateral-damage-and-very-often-without-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I would say that I'm a feminist theorist before I'm a queer theorist or a gay and lesbian theorist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-would-say-that-i-m-a-feminist-theorist-before-i-m-a-queer-theorist/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Very often, if you just get the question: "Well, are you a Zionist?" if you say no, it's assumed that you want the destruction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/very-often-if-you-just-get-the-question-well-are-you-a-zionist-if-you/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Sexual harassment law is very important. But I think it would be a mistake if the sexual harassment law movement is the only way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/sexual-harassment-law-is-very-important-but-i-think-it-would-be-a/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [“Let's face it. We're undone by each other. And if we're not, we're missing something. 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People need to be grieved; loss needs to be acknowledged publicly, because it helps to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/i-think-that-public-grieving-is-a-good-thing-people-need-to-be/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [Maybe we need to start with the rethinking of what is "west" and what is "non-west." It seems to me that there are any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/maybe-we-need-to-start-with-the-rethinking-of-what-is-west-and-what/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [It will not do to say that international law is the enemy of the Jewish people, since the Jewish people surely did not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-butler/it-will-not-do-to-say-that-international-law-is-the-enemy-of-the/) [Judith Butler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-butler/) > [I do think we need to allow for there to be room for subversive and ironic speech. 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I opposed the stimulus bill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/i-opposed-the-medicare-prescription-drug-entitlement-i-opposed-the/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [This strongly asserted but ill-defined license to kill without accountability is not an entitlement which the United States or other states can have without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-alston/this-strongly-asserted-but-ill-defined-license-to-kill-without/) Philip Alston > [“Entitlement, I have told them, is a matter of feeling like we rather than they.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/entitlement-i-have-told-them-is-a-matter-of-feeling-like-we-rather/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [So now that the illusion of infinite growth is being exposed, the corresponding ballooning entitlements that enticed the larger public to become complicit in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hugh-smith/so-now-that-the-illusion-of-infinite-growth-is-being-exposed-the/) [Charles Hugh Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hugh-smith/) > [I don't trust art that promises a 24-hour joyride. 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