--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reagan was extreme. Beginning of his…" description: "\"Reagan was extreme. Beginning of his administration, one of the first things was to call in scabs - hadn't been done for a long time, and it's illegal ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/noam-chomsky-42_administration_reagan-was-extreme-beginning-of-his-admi_475839.jpg" --- # Reagan was extreme. Beginning of his administration, one… ![“Reagan was extreme. Beginning of his administration, one of the first things was to call in scabs - hadn't been done for a long time, and it's illegal in most countries - in the air controller strike.” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/noam-chomsky-42_administration_reagan-was-extreme-beginning-of-his-admi_475839.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/noam-chomsky-42_administration_reagan-was-extreme-beginning-of-his-admi_475839.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c26/noam-chomsky-42_administration_reagan-was-extreme-beginning-of-his-admi_475839.jpg) > “Reagan was extreme. Beginning of his administration, one of the first things was to call in scabs - hadn't been done for a long time, and it's illegal in most countries - in the air controller strike.” [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reagan’s early use of scabs during a strike highlighted a controversial, illegal tactic that challenged labor rights and set a precedent for aggressive anti‑union actions. **In simple terms:** Using illegal strikebreakers challenged labor rights. Key Takeaway Question labor rights and legal limits. Themes labor politics law rights government Mood critical analytical historical Type analysis commentary When to use this quote - union negotiations - policy debates - public protests - legal analysis Key Concepts political science labor law history ethics Questions to Reflect On - Are aggressive anti‑union tactics justified? - What are the long‑term impacts on labor relations? A Different Perspective Such tactics can erode democratic norms and worker protections. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Administration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/administration/) [Beginning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginning/) [Countries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/countries/) [Country](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/country/) [Extremes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremes/) [First things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-things/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [Caterpillar was quite important because that was the first manufacturing industry that used Reaganite strike-breaking techniques. They illegally called in scabs to break a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/caterpillar-was-quite-important-because-that-was-the-first/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ \[Ronald\] Reagan bitterly hated unions and wanted them destroyed. This began with the air controllers' strike and went on from there. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/ronald-reagan-bitterly-hated-unions-and-wanted-them-destroyed-this/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [In the humanities and social sciences, and in fields like journalism and economics and so on, people have to be trained to be managers,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/in-the-humanities-and-social-sciences-and-in-fields-like-journalism/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Pride is a wound and vanity is the scab on it. One's life picks at the scab to open that wound again and again.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-ayrton/pride-is-a-wound-and-vanity-is-the-scab-on-it-one-s-life-picks-at-the/) [Michael Ayrton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-ayrton/) > [Beneath this mask of selfish tranquility nothing exists except bitterness and boredom. I am one of those whom suffering has made empty and frivilous:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cyril-connolly/beneath-this-mask-of-selfish-tranquility-nothing-exists-except/) [Cyril Connolly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cyril-connolly/) > [Old or new, the only sign I always try to rid my books of (usually with little success) is the price-sticker that malignant booksellers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alberto-manguel/old-or-new-the-only-sign-i-always-try-to-rid-my-books-of-usually-with/) [Alberto Manguel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alberto-manguel/) > [A scab'd horse cannot abide the comb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/a-scab-d-horse-cannot-abide-the-comb/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [I think we're all wounded, but some of us, when we experience the healing of those wounds, that they scar and scab over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lecrae/i-think-we-re-all-wounded-but-some-of-us-when-we-experience-the/) [LeCrae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lecrae/) > [I tried on 250 bathing suits in one afternoon and ended up havinglittle scabs up and down my thighs, probably from some of those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-crawford/i-tried-on-250-bathing-suits-in-one-afternoon-and-ended-up/) [Cindy Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-crawford/) > [If you keep picking a scab it will bleed and never heal. If you keep dragging the pain of the past up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-you-keep-picking-a-scab-it-will-bleed-and-never-heal-if-you-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The whole world is a scab. The point is to pick it constructively.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-beard/the-whole-world-is-a-scab-the-point-is-to-pick-it-constructively/) [Peter Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-beard/) > [“Rubbing the poor itch of your opinion, you make yourselves scabs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/rubbing-the-poor-itch-of-your-opinion-you-make-yourselves-scabs/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Your art is most alive and dangerous when you use it against yourself. That's why I pick at my scabs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-shields/your-art-is-most-alive-and-dangerous-when-you-use-it-against-yourself/) [David Shields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-shields/) > [Pulled the scabs off of regrets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-brock/pulled-the-scabs-off-of-regrets/) [Isaac Brock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-brock/) > [The U.S.-Mexican border es un herida abierta where the Third World grates against the first and bleeds. And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) ## More by Noam Chomsky > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It’s a shameful moment for U.S. media when it insists on being subservient to the grotesque propaganda agencies of a violent, aggressive state.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/it-s-a-shameful-moment-for-u-s-media-when-it-insists-on-being/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are questions as to whether it should even exist. 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