--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our elected leaders treat us as children…" description: "\"“Our elected leaders treat us as children or consumers — ideally both, monstrous in our appetites, unable to discriminate between our wants and our nee..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/philip-connors-45776_children_our-elected-leaders-treat-us-as-children_2491140.jpg" --- # Our elected leaders treat us as children or consumers… ![“Our elected leaders treat us as children or consumers — ideally both, monstrous in our appetites, unable to discriminate between our wants and our needs.” quote by Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/philip-connors-45776_children_our-elected-leaders-treat-us-as-children_2491140.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/philip-connors-45776_children_our-elected-leaders-treat-us-as-children_2491140.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b09/philip-connors-45776_children_our-elected-leaders-treat-us-as-children_2491140.jpg) > ““Our elected leaders treat us as children or consumers — ideally both, monstrous in our appetites, unable to discriminate between our wants and our needs.”” [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques leaders who treat citizens as children or consumers, driven by unchecked appetites. **In simple terms:** Leaders treat people as children/consumers. Key Takeaway Demand accountable leadership. Themes leadership consumerism power Mood critical concerned Type political analytical When to use this quote - voting decisions - activism - policy analysis Key Concepts politics ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens demand better? - What role does consumer culture play? A Different Perspective Changing leaders is difficult; systemic inertia. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Consumers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consumers/) [Leadership](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leadership/) ## Related quotes > [“Effective leaders treat individuals differently but equally”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adair/effective-leaders-treat-individuals-differently-but-equally/) [John Adair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adair/) > [In real life, the most practical advice for leaders is not to treat pawns like pawns, nor princes like princes, but all persons like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-macgregor-burns/in-real-life-the-most-practical-advice-for-leaders-is-not-to-treat/) [James MacGregor Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-macgregor-burns/) > [Consumer wants can have bizarre, frivolous, or even immoral origins, and an admirable case can still be made for a society that seeks to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/consumer-wants-can-have-bizarre-frivolous-or-even-immoral-origins-and/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [Metaphor isn't just a fancy turn of speech. 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Imports create competition and keep domestic industry more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-grassley/i-ve-always-considered-making-it-legal-for-americans-to-import-their/) [Chuck Grassley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-grassley/) > [Eventually the consumer will come to appreciate the editorial point of view of every different brand. User-generated content without editorial oversight will simply be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eisner/eventually-the-consumer-will-come-to-appreciate-the-editorial-point/) [Michael Eisner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eisner/) > [One of the worst things to come out of the Consumer Protection Board's misleading claims is the impression that government resources are to hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-lesko/one-of-the-worst-things-to-come-out-of-the-consumer-protection-board/) [Matthew Lesko](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-lesko/) ## More by Philip Connors > [“What was shocking were the rewards my father's cousins had gathered in the intervening couple of decades. They farmed now on thousands of acres,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/what-was-shocking-were-the-rewards-my-father-s-cousins-had-gathered/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) > [One of the things about living in the shadow of a suicide is that everyone involved is going to have some guilt, is going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/one-of-the-things-about-living-in-the-shadow-of-a-suicide-is-that/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) > [I’ve always liked edges, places where one thing becomes another…… transition zones, boundaries and borderlands. I like the mixing that happens, the juxtapositions, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/i-ve-always-liked-edges-places-where-one-thing-becomes-another/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) > [It's the same things your whole life. 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Time to think or not think, read or not read, scribble or not scribble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/the-greatest-gift-of-life-on-the-mountain-is-time-time-to-think-or/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) > [“By being virtually useless in the calculations of the culture at large I become useful, at last, to myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/by-being-virtually-useless-in-the-calculations-of-the-culture-at/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) > [Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-connors/well-what-if-there-is-no-tomorrow-there-wasn-t-one-today/) [Philip Connors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) [Explore all 9 Philip Connors quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-connors/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. 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