--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We should certainly not be perpetuating…" description: "\"We should certainly not be perpetuating further harm to others or to the environment. Suppose that workers at ExxonMobil are trying to unionize. We hav..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa7/noam-chomsky-42_choices_we-should-certainly-not-be-perpetuating_990234.jpg" --- # We should certainly not be perpetuating further harm to… ![“We should certainly not be perpetuating further harm to others or to the environment. Suppose that workers at ExxonMobil are trying to unionize. We have two choices: to help them improve their lives, or to keep away so that their lives will be worse. Neither choice has any effect on use of fossil…” quote by Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa7/noam-chomsky-42_choices_we-should-certainly-not-be-perpetuating_990234.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa7/noam-chomsky-42_choices_we-should-certainly-not-be-perpetuating_990234.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa7/noam-chomsky-42_choices_we-should-certainly-not-be-perpetuating_990234.jpg) > “We should certainly not be perpetuating further harm to others or to the environment. Suppose that workers at ExxonMobil are trying to unionize. We have two choices: to help them improve their lives, or to keep away so that their lives will be worse. Neither choice has any effect on use of fossil fuels. So radical organizers can both help them unionize and improve their lives, and convince them to find a different way to survive and work for ending the use of fossil fuels.” [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. The speaker argues that supporting workers’ rights can coexist with climate activism, urging systemic change rather than false choices. **In simple terms:** Helping workers and fighting climate change can happen together. Key Takeaway Combine labor solidarity with environmental action. Themes solidarity environment justice Mood urgent hopeful Type activist political When to use this quote - union organizing - climate protests - policy advocacy Key Concepts Intersectionality systemic change Questions to Reflect On - Can we design economies that serve both workers and the planet? - What barriers prevent joint labor‑climate movements? A Different Perspective Choosing one cause over the other is a false dilemma. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) [Climate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/climate/) [Convince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/convince/) [Different](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different/) [Different ways](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-ways/) [Effects](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/effects/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Fossil fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuel/) [Fossil fuels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossil-fuels/) [Fossils](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fossils/) [Fuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuel/) [Fuels Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fuels-radical-2021976/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Harm Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm-environment-2021975/) [Helping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/helping/) [Organizer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organizer/) [Perpetuating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetuating/) [Radical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/radical/) [Should](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/should/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) [Two choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two-choices/) [Unionize Choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unionize-choices-2021978/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) [Workers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workers/) [Workers Exxonmobil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/workers-exxonmobil-2021977/) ## Related quotes > [Every credible scientist on earth says your products harm the environment. 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There is ethanol, for instance, which actually nets out with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/i-m-not-guaranteeing-what-we-come-up-with-will-be-better-for-the/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [ When \[Bill\] Clinton came along, it sort of moderated a little bit, but Clinton had a different device for breaking unions called NAFTA \[North… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/when-bill-clinton-came-along-it-sort-of-moderated-a-little-bit-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ \[My father\] came over as an immigrant and didn't know any English. He went to work at a sweat shop in Baltimore. He told… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/my-father-came-over-as-an-immigrant-and-didn-t-know-any-english-he/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ The community itself didn't support the union. 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Just because I say it doesn't make it true. So check it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-first-thing-you-ought-to-do-is-verify-what-i-present-just-because/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [ I wrote an article about the marine landing \[in Haiti\] right away, but barely mentioned the oil, because my article would come out two… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-wrote-an-article-about-the-marine-landing-in-haiti-right-away-but/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Discovery is the ability to be puzzled by simple things. Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/discovery-is-the-ability-to-be-puzzled-by-simple-things-noam-chomsky/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's an interesting book about that called The Third Reich and the Ivory Tower, written by Stephen H. Norwood. It has a long discussion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-an-interesting-book-about-that-called-the-third-reich-and-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [This is class war on an international scale, and power is in the hands of those who control the international economic system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/this-is-class-war-on-an-international-scale-and-power-is-in-the-hands/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There are big, extremely irrational parts of the society, and they have now been mobilized politically by the Republican establishment, hoping that these people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-are-big-extremely-irrational-parts-of-the-society-and-they-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [There's plenty to criticize about the mass media, but they are the source of regular information about a wide range of topics. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/there-s-plenty-to-criticize-about-the-mass-media-but-they-are-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [The 50,000 Korean mercenaries we had in Vietnam were professional killers and just massacred people outright. And the American army did plenty of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-50-000-korean-mercenaries-we-had-in-vietnam-were-professional/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) [Explore all 2,129 Noam Chomsky quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) ## More Choices quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Don’t allow anyone to pressure you into taking a job in a field that doesn’t feel right in your gut. You are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-james/don-t-allow-anyone-to-pressure-you-into-taking-a-job-in-a-field-that/) [Alison James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-james/) > [When you have a choice, choose happy!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pancho-barnes/when-you-have-a-choice-choose-happy/) [Pancho Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pancho-barnes/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Movies have power. Power to impact society and the choices we make. 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When things have settled a bit, we really must discuss you choice in pets..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/clarissa-he-said-here-with-the-vampire-i-see-when-things-have-settled/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-proctor/change-is-inevitable-but-personal-growth-is-a-choice/) [Bob Proctor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-proctor/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [If you choose to draw from the inner well of free will, then you can make choices that are outside your current karmic patterns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/if-you-choose-to-draw-from-the-inner-well-of-free-will-then-you-can/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Act always so as to increase the number of choices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinz-von-foerster/act-always-so-as-to-increase-the-number-of-choices/) [Heinz von Foerster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinz-von-foerster/) > [Give me a platter of choice finnan haddie, freshly cooked in its bath of water and milk, add melted butter, a slice or two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-claiborne/give-me-a-platter-of-choice-finnan-haddie-freshly-cooked-in-its-bath/) [Craig Claiborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-claiborne/) > [I don't know that any woman could ever not think about that at some point - even making the choice not to do it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/i-don-t-know-that-any-woman-could-ever-not-think-about-that-at-some/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) [Browse all 11,466 Choices quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/choices/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We should certainly not be perpetuating further harm to others or to the environment. 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