--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Austerity is literally a matter of life…" description: "\"Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. Unless it is stopped, lives will continue to be unnecessarily shortened.\" — Owen Jones" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/owen-jones-3992_austerity_austerity-is-literally-a-matter-of-life_2080058.png" --- # Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. Unless… ![“Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. Unless it is stopped, lives will continue to be unnecessarily shortened.” quote by Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/owen-jones-3992_austerity_austerity-is-literally-a-matter-of-life_2080058.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/owen-jones-3992_austerity_austerity-is-literally-a-matter-of-life_2080058.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/386/owen-jones-3992_austerity_austerity-is-literally-a-matter-of-life_2080058.png) > “Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. Unless it is stopped, lives will continue to be unnecessarily shortened.” [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Austerity policies can directly threaten lives, making them a matter of life and death unless halted. **In simple terms:** Austerity can cause premature deaths. Key Takeaway Advocate against harmful austerity measures. Themes economics policy health Mood urgent concerned Type political activist When to use this quote - public health - social justice - budget planning Key Concepts social welfare government spending Questions to Reflect On - What alternatives exist to protect vulnerable populations? - How can societies balance budgets without endangering lives? A Different Perspective Economic constraints may be necessary for fiscal stability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Austerity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life and death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-and-death/) [Matter Of Life And Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter-of-life-and-death/) ## Related quotes > [“But how can the devil be stopped when he lives inside you?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-elliott/but-how-can-the-devil-be-stopped-when-he-lives-inside-you/) Patricia Elliott > [“Kittens HAVE to be drowned, I admit, or the world would be overrun. But no decent, grown-up cat should be done to death --…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-maud-montgomery/kittens-have-to-be-drowned-i-admit-or-the-world-would-be-overrun-but/) [Lucy Maud Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-maud-montgomery/) > [We cannot conceive death as anything else than the afterlife because we cannot comprehend death unless we live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sorin-cerin/we-cannot-conceive-death-as-anything-else-than-the-afterlife-because/) [Sorin Cerin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sorin-cerin/) > [It is not a matter of life and death. It is not that important. But it is a reflection of life, and so the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-alliss/it-is-not-a-matter-of-life-and-death-it-is-not-that-important-but-it/) [Peter Alliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-alliss/) > [“When a situation feels like a matter of life and death the deep self is close at hand and it already carries inner medicine…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-meade/when-a-situation-feels-like-a-matter-of-life-and-death-the-deep-self/) [Michael Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-meade/) > [Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-shankly/some-people-think-football-is-a-matter-of-life-and-death-i-assure-you/) [Bill Shankly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-shankly/) > [“You don't hear heroes say that a lot. Quick, Boy Wonder! To the pottery studio! But Alex's tone left no doubt it was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/you-don-t-hear-heroes-say-that-a-lot-quick-boy-wonder-to-the-pottery/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [They say Football's a matter of life and death - but it's more important than that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-shankly/they-say-football-s-a-matter-of-life-and-death-but-it-s-more/) [Bill Shankly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-shankly/) > [Nothing is a matter of life and death except life and death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-carter/nothing-is-a-matter-of-life-and-death-except-life-and-death/) [Angela Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-carter/) > [“It is a matter of life and death for us; for the lead we gain by day on ships and railways is lost each…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/it-is-a-matter-of-life-and-death-for-us-for-the-lead-we-gain-by-day/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [For decades, life expectancy steadily rose in Britain: and then, suddenly, just as the Tories took power and imposed austerity, this improvement ground to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/for-decades-life-expectancy-steadily-rose-in-britain-and-then/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [“Because loners are born everywhere, we end up living everywhere. We do not, have not, tended to single ourselves out as special, elite, requiring…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anneli-rufus/because-loners-are-born-everywhere-we-end-up-living-everywhere-we-do/) [Anneli Rufus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anneli-rufus/) > [“Yes, there is death in this business of whaling—a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then? Methinks we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/yes-there-is-death-in-this-business-of-whaling-a-speechlessly-quick/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) > [“You young people treat love like it’s an accessory, not a matter of life and death. You’re amused by it, in love with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarryn-fisher/you-young-people-treat-love-like-it-s-an-accessory-not-a-matter-of/) [Tarryn Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarryn-fisher/) > [“…the war about the genocide was truly a postmodern war: a battle between those who believed that because the realities we inhabit are constructs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-gourevitch/the-war-about-the-genocide-was-truly-a-postmodern-war-a-battle/) [Philip Gourevitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-gourevitch/) ## More by Owen Jones > [We live in a country where there is a lot of animosity. If your politics is radical it antagonises. People might think I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-live-in-a-country-where-there-is-a-lot-of-animosity-if-your/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [“May you always look as beautiful as this last time I saw you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/may-you-always-look-as-beautiful-as-this-last-time-i-saw-you/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [A society should be judged by how it treats its children. A country that fails to invest in its children is imperilling its future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/a-society-should-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-children-a-country/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [From a very young age, boys are taught that real men get into fights, say demeaning things about girls and women, show extraordinary athletic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/from-a-very-young-age-boys-are-taught-that-real-men-get-into-fights/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [Dieting is long-haul. Many rapid weight loss programs actually only squeeze the water out of you. Just like a wet sponge. But a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/dieting-is-long-haul-many-rapid-weight-loss-programs-actually-only/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [The vast majority of people back higher taxes on the rich. Yet these are fringe ideas within most of the mainstream media, which marginalises…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/the-vast-majority-of-people-back-higher-taxes-on-the-rich-yet-these/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [David Cameron set impossible targets and relentlessly portrayed immigration as a social burden while pursuing an economic strategy that suppressed wages. It did not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/david-cameron-set-impossible-targets-and-relentlessly-portrayed/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [The liberation of workers from excessive work was one of the pioneering demands of the labour movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/the-liberation-of-workers-from-excessive-work-was-one-of-the/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [If you've never lived outside London, and if you've always had a car, it's difficult to understand how dire bus services undermine your standard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/if-you-ve-never-lived-outside-london-and-if-you-ve-always-had-a-car/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [If only Brexit would go away. It sucks the political oxygen away from the issues we should all be discussing: like low wages, insecure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/if-only-brexit-would-go-away-it-sucks-the-political-oxygen-away-from/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We recognise that, like us, other humans have insecurities and ambitions; we fall in love and have relationships that end in heartbreak; we worry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-recognise-that-like-us-other-humans-have-insecurities-and/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We live in an age where in politics, people can't disagree with each other without good faith being questioned, there is always an ulterior…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-live-in-an-age-where-in-politics-people-can-t-disagree-with-each/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [In the 00s, it was often claimed that political apathy had replaced political participation. Membership of political parties and electoral turnout were both said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/in-the-00s-it-was-often-claimed-that-political-apathy-had-replaced/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [Donald Trump's mini-me, Boris Johnson, is in the ascendant: the Tory crown is his to lose. But his colleagues know he's an incompetent, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/donald-trump-s-mini-me-boris-johnson-is-in-the-ascendant-the-tory/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) > [We should all expect to be able to die with comfort, dignity and love. Our society does not lack the wealth to realise this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/owen-jones/we-should-all-expect-to-be-able-to-die-with-comfort-dignity-and-love/) [Owen Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) [Explore all 118 Owen Jones quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/owen-jones/) ## More Austerity quotes > [Mainstream economic theories popular in the last several decades have tended to downplay the government's role in markets and to increase skepticism about even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/mainstream-economic-theories-popular-in-the-last-several-decades-have/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [“It was my good fortune to be linked with Mme. Curie through twenty years of sublime and unclouded friendship. I came to admire her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/it-was-my-good-fortune-to-be-linked-with-mme-curie-through-twenty/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I believe that if we are able to, obviously we need to ensure that we have a robust budget that's balanced, but there's no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jagmeet-singh/i-believe-that-if-we-are-able-to-obviously-we-need-to-ensure-that-we/) [Jagmeet Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jagmeet-singh/) > [“South of Larissa the landscape began to change. Jude watched an irrigation machine like a giant stick insect creeping over a field, and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-alkazraji/south-of-larissa-the-landscape-began-to-change-jude-watched-an/) [Paul Alkazraji](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-alkazraji/) > [Too many politicians seem to reach for 'infrastructure' as the default answer to investment, as if roads and bridges were the answer to everything.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mariana-mazzucato/too-many-politicians-seem-to-reach-for-infrastructure-as-the-default/) [Mariana Mazzucato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mariana-mazzucato/) > [The flaw in, say, austerity, is that its success is predicated on the relative exactitude of math rather than the shifting, liquid imperfection of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-weber/the-flaw-in-say-austerity-is-that-its-success-is-predicated-on-the/) [Steven Weber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-weber/) > [You can be creative only when there is abandonment-which means, really, there is no sense of compulsion, no fear of not being, of not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/you-can-be-creative-only-when-there-is-abandonment-which-means-really/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [It is opposition to economic orthodoxy that leads us into austerity and cuts. But it is also a thirst for something more communal, more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-corbyn/it-is-opposition-to-economic-orthodoxy-that-leads-us-into-austerity/) [Jeremy Corbyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-corbyn/) > [When people are running up more and more debt for housing, they call that "real wealth." It exposes what's wrong in the mainstream economics…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-hudson/when-people-are-running-up-more-and-more-debt-for-housing-they-call/) [Michael Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-hudson/) > [“If the surprise outcome of the recent UK referendum - on whether to leave or remain in the European Union - teaches us anything,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morritt/if-the-surprise-outcome-of-the-recent-uk-referendum-on-whether-to/) [Alex Morritt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morritt/) > [The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-spitzer/the-world-has-conducted-a-massive-macro-economic-experiment-since-the/) [Eliot Spitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-spitzer/) > [We used to be one of the richest countries in the world, but we are now on a path towards under-development. This austerity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marine-le-pen/we-used-to-be-one-of-the-richest-countries-in-the-world-but-we-are/) [Marine Le Pen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marine-le-pen/) > [The emphasis so far on fiscal austerity, while to a degree necessary for the countries facing market funding difficulties, is excessive when carried out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dallara/the-emphasis-so-far-on-fiscal-austerity-while-to-a-degree-necessary/) [Charles Dallara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dallara/) > [And what if we’d been utterly open? Made jokes about the first wife? What if we’d been that kind of family? Well, I would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-miller/and-what-if-we-d-been-utterly-open-made-jokes-about-the-first-wife/) [Sue Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-miller/) > [Extreme concupiscence may be found under extreme austerity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-of-valois/extreme-concupiscence-may-be-found-under-extreme-austerity/) [Margaret of Valois](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-of-valois/) [Browse all 194 Austerity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/austerity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Austerity is literally a matter of life and death. 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