--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The American government has been…" description: "\"The American government has been harvesting the Middle Eastern grapes of wrath for a generation and not making a secret of it, either. As lousy as the ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/nicholas-von-hoffman-32722_american-government_the-american-government-has-been-harvest_2854565.jpg" --- # The American government has been harvesting the Middle… ![“The American government has been harvesting the Middle Eastern grapes of wrath for a generation and not making a secret of it, either. As lousy as the mass media may be, there was enough news about what was transpiring, year after year, to get the gist of what was happening... No American can…” quote by Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/nicholas-von-hoffman-32722_american-government_the-american-government-has-been-harvest_2854565.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/nicholas-von-hoffman-32722_american-government_the-american-government-has-been-harvest_2854565.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/50f/nicholas-von-hoffman-32722_american-government_the-american-government-has-been-harvest_2854565.jpg) > “The American government has been harvesting the Middle Eastern grapes of wrath for a generation and not making a secret of it, either. As lousy as the mass media may be, there was enough news about what was transpiring, year after year, to get the gist of what was happening... No American can truthfully say that they could not find out what was going on.” [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote criticizes U.S. policy in the Middle East, suggesting deliberate exploitation and media complicity **In simple terms:** US policy exploits Middle East, media aware Key Takeaway Recognize and question foreign policy motives Themes politics media foreign policy ethics accountability Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - journalism - activism - policy analysis - academic study Key Concepts imperialism propaganda public awareness Questions to Reflect On - What evidence supports this view? - How can citizens demand transparency? A Different Perspective The claim may overgeneralize complex geopolitics ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-government/) [Eastern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eastern/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Generations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generations/) [Gist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gist/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government Harvesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-harvesting-3818175/) [Grapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes/) [Grapes Of Wrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes-of-wrath/) [Grapes Wrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grapes-wrath-335472/) [Happenings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happenings/) [Has beens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/has-beens/) [Mass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass/) [Mass media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mass-media/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [Middle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle/) [News](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news/) [News Transpiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/news-transpiring-3818174/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Secret](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret/) [Wrath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wrath/) [Years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/years/) ## Related quotes > [John Steinbeck's 'The Grapes of Wrath' also speaks urgently to today's concerns: the cratered trail of dreams for Mexican immigrants seeking a promised land…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-corliss/john-steinbeck-s-the-grapes-of-wrath-also-speaks-urgently-to-today-s/) [Richard Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-corliss/) > [“...and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-in-the-eyes-of-the-hungry-there-is-a-growing-wrath-in-the-souls/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Sometimes the sweetest wine is squeezed from the grapes of wrath”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-gallo/sometimes-the-sweetest-wine-is-squeezed-from-the-grapes-of-wrath/) [Jack Gallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-gallo/) > [Have you read 'The Grapes of Wrath?' That was my family. My dad was a sharecropper in western Oklahoma. When the dust storms came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-wayne-hughes/have-you-read-the-grapes-of-wrath-that-was-my-family-my-dad-was-a/) [B. Wayne Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-wayne-hughes/) > [“The way he talked about moving south reminded us of the Joads in Grapes of Wrath. He was a smart kid, but all he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-r-mitchell/the-way-he-talked-about-moving-south-reminded-us-of-the-joads-in/) [Robert R. Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-r-mitchell/) > [When you look at 'Grapes of Wrath,' the weakest moments are those in which Steinbeck is spouting a political idea directly at the reader.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philipp-meyer/when-you-look-at-grapes-of-wrath-the-weakest-moments-are-those-in/) [Philipp Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philipp-meyer/) > [“...and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/and-in-the-eyes-of-the-people-there-is-the-failure-and-in-the-eyes-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“Men who have created new fruits in the world cannot create a system whereby their fruits may be eaten. And the failure hangs over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/men-who-have-created-new-fruits-in-the-world-cannot-create-a-system-2/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I wrote The Grapes of Wrath in one hundred days, but many years of preparation preceded it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-wrote-the-grapes-of-wrath-in-one-hundred-days-but-many-years-of/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [When I closed THE GRAPES OF WRATH, I was a different man. It enriched my powers of thinking and discipline, and my relationships. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/when-i-closed-the-grapes-of-wrath-i-was-a-different-man-it-enriched/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/in-the-souls-of-the-people-the-grapes-of-wrath-are-filling-and/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“​There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/there-is-a-crime-here-that-goes-beyond-denunciation-there-is-a-sorrow-2/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Soviet moviegoers gazed enviously on the jalopy that took the Joads from Oklahoma to California. The message Russians took from 'The Grapes of Wrath':…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-corliss/soviet-moviegoers-gazed-enviously-on-the-jalopy-that-took-the-joads/) [Richard Corliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-corliss/) > [Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: / He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-ward-howe/mine-eyes-have-seen-the-glory-of-the-coming-of-the-lord-he-is/) [Julia Ward Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-ward-howe/) > [“In the souls of the people The Grapes of Wrath are Filling and Growing Heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." Happy 112th Birthday John…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/in-the-souls-of-the-people-the-grapes-of-wrath-are-filling-and-2/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) ## More by Nicholas von Hoffman > [Americans will quarrel over how, who, or what to rescue or save, but the idea that the nation ought to be off doing it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/americans-will-quarrel-over-how-who-or-what-to-rescue-or-save-but-the/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [We are the people are parents warned us against.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/we-are-the-people-are-parents-warned-us-against/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [ ... Don \[Hewitt, 60 Minutes exec producer\] told me, "You have set broadcast journalism back 20 years." Naturally, I was both proud and elated… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/don-hewitt-60-minutes-exec-producer-told-me-you-have-set-broadcast/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [Taken as a whole the mass media seldom rises to the level of deplorable trash, but it is also true that there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/taken-as-a-whole-the-mass-media-seldom-rises-to-the-level-of/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [To its committed members (the Democratic Party) was still the party of heart, humanity, and justice, but to those removed a few paces it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/to-its-committed-members-the-democratic-party-was-still-the-party-of/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [Tens of billions ... are going into the pockets of tens of thousands of tax preparers who ... love complexity as much as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/tens-of-billions-are-going-into-the-pockets-of-tens-of-thousands-of/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [The blame for the maddening complications of the federal tax system goes to the people with the most money](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/the-blame-for-the-maddening-complications-of-the-federal-tax-system/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [Foreign aid has been perfected so that it subsidizes corporate U.S. agriculture while preventing poor countries from developing profitable agriculture or feeding themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/foreign-aid-has-been-perfected-so-that-it-subsidizes-corporate-u-s/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [What the computer can do in art and design has turned aesthetics on its head... with the computer, things are not so much created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/what-the-computer-can-do-in-art-and-design-has-turned-aesthetics-on/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [In one of his puckish moods Saul talked the president of a university into letting him anonymously take an examination being administered to candidates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/in-one-of-his-puckish-moods-saul-talked-the-president-of-a-university/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [But if not Kelso, then something else, because a free people must own the nation they live in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/but-if-not-kelso-then-something-else-because-a-free-people-must-own/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [We preach free enterprise capitalism. We believe in it, we give our lives in war for it, but the closest most of us come…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/we-preach-free-enterprise-capitalism-we-believe-in-it-we-give-our/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [Kelso's proposals do promise to free us from our morbid dependency on economic health through armament manufacture; they promise a way out of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/kelso-s-proposals-do-promise-to-free-us-from-our-morbid-dependency-on/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) > [Some flag waving is good, a lot of flag waving is tolerable, incessant flag waving is crazy and dangerous and easily manipulated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-von-hoffman/some-flag-waving-is-good-a-lot-of-flag-waving-is-tolerable-incessant/) [Nicholas von Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) [Explore all 15 Nicholas von Hoffman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-von-hoffman/) ## More American government quotes > [“For the same reason , the American government has invented a completely new juridical category , that of 'illegal enemy combatants'. In general, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tzvetan-todorov/for-the-same-reason-the-american-government-has-invented-a-completely/) [Tzvetan Todorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tzvetan-todorov/) > [“vividly revealed the arms industry’s ‘constant tendency towards bribery, and the playing off of one country against another to sell arms’. It also exposed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-feinstein/vividly-revealed-the-arms-industry-s-constant-tendency-towards/) [Andrew Feinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-feinstein/) > [“Are they a secret part of the American government or a powerful private corporation? Is there a difference? To me, it doesn’t matter. It’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nnedi-okorafor/are-they-a-secret-part-of-the-american-government-or-a-powerful/) [Nnedi Okorafor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nnedi-okorafor/) > [“When we examine, not the language of the propaganda, but the witness of the combatants themselves, religion does not occupy the first place. Their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tzvetan-todorov/when-we-examine-not-the-language-of-the-propaganda-but-the-witness-of/) [Tzvetan Todorov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tzvetan-todorov/) > [I'm an American. Why would I not go with my government?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-hardy/i-m-an-american-why-would-i-not-go-with-my-government/) [Greg Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-hardy/) > [I am opposed to any form of tyranny over the mind of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/i-am-opposed-to-any-form-of-tyranny-over-the-mind-of-man/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [ With almost no time to decide, \[your loved ones\] gave the entire country an incalculable gift. They saved the Capitol from attack. They saved… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/with-almost-no-time-to-decide-your-loved-ones-gave-the-entire-country/) [William J. 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The Whiskey Rebellion had been suppressed, the country's finances…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/whatever-his-disappointments-hamilton-forty-must-have-left/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [“American breweries preexisted American government; some of the breweries’ staunchest supporters were also the leaders of the new nation. In colonial America, the alehouse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-nachel/american-breweries-preexisted-american-government-some-of-the/) [Marty Nachel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-nachel/) > [I know these days it sounds a little odd, but American governments are very fearful of European reaction. 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I am thinking of the terrible tariff walls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knut-hamsun/so-we-europeans-are-shocked-by-the-blind-uncomprehending-hard/) [Knut Hamsun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knut-hamsun/) > [“Those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilford-woodruff/those-men-who-laid-the-foundation-of-this-american-government-and/) [Wilford Woodruff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilford-woodruff/) [Browse all 189 American government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-government/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The American government has been harvesting the Middle Eastern grapes of wrath for a generation and not making a secret of it, either. 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