--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are many issues, as everyone knows…" description: "\"There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United States on which public opinion leans very much to the left of elite policy, but that's because ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png" --- # There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United… ![“There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United States on which public opinion leans very much to the left of elite policy, but that's because public opinion hasn't been turned into a political force.” quote by Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png) > “There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United States on which public opinion leans very much to the left of elite policy, but that's because public opinion hasn't been turned into a political force.” [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Public sentiment is ignored by elites, preventing it from becoming a political force. **In simple terms:** People’s views are sidelined, limiting influence. Key Takeaway Mobilize public opinion into collective action. Themes politics public opinion elite power Mood critical hopeful Type analytical motivational When to use this quote - elections - grassroots campaigns - policy debates Key Concepts democracy social movements Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens convert opinion into power? - What barriers stop public sentiment from shaping policy? A Different Perspective Elite narratives can still dominate despite mobilization. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Elite Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/elite-policy-3150519/) [Leans Left](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leans-left-6040404/) [Opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) [Opinion Leans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion-leans-6040403/) [Policy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy/) [Policy Public](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/policy-public-3871810/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Public opinion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/public-opinion/) ## Related quotes > [There's no question that public opinion is changing, and if you're a person of the left, your goal is presumably to try to mobilize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-s-no-question-that-public-opinion-is-changing-and-if-you-re-a/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [To operate with the aspiration of color-blindness in a country whose central operating mechanism for centuries has been race belies the logic of race-neutral…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/to-operate-with-the-aspiration-of-color-blindness-in-a-country-whose/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [My measure of success is to walk into a restaurant and hear a table debating drug policy. Once the public start the conversation, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-branson/my-measure-of-success-is-to-walk-into-a-restaurant-and-hear-a-table/) [Sam Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-branson/) > [Avoid any specific discussion of public policy at public meetings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintus-tullius-cicero/avoid-any-specific-discussion-of-public-policy-at-public-meetings/) [Quintus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintus-tullius-cicero/) > [Public opinion in the United States has shifted significantly, not just outside but also within the Jewish community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/public-opinion-in-the-united-states-has-shifted-significantly-not/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [They've (Israel) lost the battle for public opinion. They claim it's because American Jews know too little.. I claim it's because they know too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/they-ve-israel-lost-the-battle-for-public-opinion-they-claim-it-s/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [I believe the role that people like myself have played in the transformation of public opinion has been by persistently presenting a different point…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milton-friedman/i-believe-the-role-that-people-like-myself-have-played-in-the/) [Milton Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milton-friedman/) > [When men exercise their reason coolly and freely, on a variety of distinct questions, they inevitably fall into different opinions, on some of them.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/when-men-exercise-their-reason-coolly-and-freely-on-a-variety-of/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [One of his officers, Henry Lee, summed up contemporary public opinion of Washington: First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/one-of-his-officers-henry-lee-summed-up-contemporary-public-opinion/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [The tyranny of public opinion (and what an opinion!) is as fatuous in the small towns of France as it is in the United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stendhal/the-tyranny-of-public-opinion-and-what-an-opinion-is-as-fatuous-in/) [Stendhal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stendhal/) > [The possibility of my presidential candidacy emerged spontaneously in public opinion polls. For my part, I noticed people's affection when I was doing work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-bachelet/the-possibility-of-my-presidential-candidacy-emerged-spontaneously-in/) [Michelle Bachelet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-bachelet/) > [Politicians, after all, are not over a year behind public opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-rogers/politicians-after-all-are-not-over-a-year-behind-public-opinion/) [Will Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-rogers/) > [Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum. (Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/nihil-est-incertius-vulgo-nihil-obscurius-voluntate-hominum-nihil/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared with our own private opinion. what a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/public-opinion-is-a-weak-tyrant-compared-with-our-own-private-opinion/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [In America there is not one single element of civilization that is not made to depend, in the end, upon public opinion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/in-america-there-is-not-one-single-element-of-civilization-that-is/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) ## More by Norman Finkelstein > [The whole purpose of annual reviews is to keep you abreast of whether or not you are fulfilling the requirements of tenure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/the-whole-purpose-of-annual-reviews-is-to-keep-you-abreast-of-whether/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [Public opinion in the United States has shifted significantly, not just outside but also within the Jewish community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/public-opinion-in-the-united-states-has-shifted-significantly-not/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [There is a fundamental principle. People have the right to defend their country from foreign occupiers, and people have the right to defend their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-is-a-fundamental-principle-people-have-the-right-to-defend/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [They used to say Palestinians fight like heroes, now they say heroes fight like Palestinians](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/they-used-to-say-palestinians-fight-like-heroes-now-they-say-heroes/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [Every year, the United Nations General Assembly votes on a resolution entitled 'Peaceful resolution of the Palestine conflict.' 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And we have to be honest about that. While…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/i-think-israel-as-a-number-of-commentators-pointed-out-is-becoming-an/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [Personal convictions are not politics. Personal convictions, if they become the subject of a group conviction, they become a cult.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/personal-convictions-are-not-politics-personal-convictions-if-they/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [I earn - I'm not - I don't want to claim I'm a scholar of great stature, but I have made a certain reputation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/i-earn-i-m-not-i-don-t-want-to-claim-i-m-a-scholar-of-great-stature/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [They've (Israel) lost the battle for public opinion. They claim it's because American Jews know too little.. I claim it's because they know too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/they-ve-israel-lost-the-battle-for-public-opinion-they-claim-it-s/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [I no longer say I'm unemployed. I say I'm unemployable. It's different. An unemployed suggests at a certain point in the future, you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/i-no-longer-say-i-m-unemployed-i-say-i-m-unemployable-it-s-different/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [Israel has been a stage on which American Jews have played out their fantasies of toughness - often from Martha's Vineyard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/israel-has-been-a-stage-on-which-american-jews-have-played-out-their/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [Mainstream Jewish intellectuals became 'pro'-Israel after the June 1967 war when Israel became the U.S.A.' s strategic asset in the Middle East, i.e., when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/mainstream-jewish-intellectuals-became-pro-israel-after-the-june-1967/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) > [As Israel becomes like South Africa, it's increasingly becoming a pariah state, being excluded from culture at large.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/as-israel-becomes-like-south-africa-it-s-increasingly-becoming-a/) [Norman Finkelstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) [Explore all 77 Norman Finkelstein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/) ## More Opinion quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [If you want to edit your photos and make yourself look different, go for it. 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Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) [Browse all 8,279 Opinion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opinion/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United States on which public opinion leans very much to the left of elite policy, but that's because public opinion hasn't been turned into a political force.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Norman Finkelstein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows-in-the-united-states-on-which/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Opinion" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows-in-the-united-states-on-which/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e01/norman-finkelstein-8854_opinion_there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows_2406022.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are many issues, as everyone knows, in the United States on which public opinion leans very much to…” — Norman Finkelstein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Norman Finkelstein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-finkelstein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are many issues, as everyone...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows-in-the-united-states-on-which/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-finkelstein/there-are-many-issues-as-everyone-knows-in-the-united-states-on-which/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```