Double standard Quote by Noam Chomsky
![“I heard Steven Solarz [former Democratic congressman from Brooklyn] on the BBC. He said the world has a double standard: 700,000 Yemenis were expelled from Saudi Arabia and no one said a word (which is true); 415 Palestinians get expelled from Gaza and the West Bank and everybody’s screaming…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/89f/noam-chomsky-42_double-standard_i-heard-steven-solarz-former-democratic_861215.jpg)
““I heard Steven Solarz [former Democratic congressman from Brooklyn] on the BBC. He said the world has a double standard: 700,000 Yemenis were expelled from Saudi Arabia and no one said a word (which is true); 415 Palestinians get expelled from Gaza and the West Bank and everybody’s screaming. Every Stalinist said the same thing: “We sent Sakharov into exile and everyone was screaming. What about this or that other atrocity—which is worse?” There is always somebody who has committed a worse atrocity. For a Stalinist mimic like Solarz, why not use the same line? Incidentally, there is a difference—the Yemenis were deported to their country, the Palestinians from their country. Would Solarz claim that we all should be silent if he and his family were dumped into a desert in Mexico?””
About This Quote
Source Speech: Interview on BBC, 2005
The quote highlights double standards in media and public reaction to different humanitarian crises, urging consistency in moral outrage.
In simple terms: People react differently to similar tragedies based on politics.
Key Takeaway
Apply equal empathy to all suffering.
Themes
justice
media bias
human rights
politics
double standards
Mood
critical
concerned
Type
political
ethical
When to use this quote
- humanitarian advocacy
- media analysis
- policy debate
- public discourse
Key Concepts
moral relativism
selective outrage
propaganda
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we ensure consistent moral standards?
- What biases shape our empathy?
A Different Perspective
Critics argue that context and scale affect moral judgments.
![“I wrote an article about the marine landing [in Haiti] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two months later and I assumed by then, "of course, everybody knows." Nobody knew. There was a news report in the Wall Street Journal, in the petroleum journals, and…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/dc5/noam-chomsky-42_articles_i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-land_13341.jpg)
