--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This illustrates an important point: then…" description: "\"“This illustrates an important point: then as now, Americans tend to think about issues like macroeconomic policy or foreign affairs only when things g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/thomas-m-nichols-8933_foreign-affairs_this-illustrates-an-important-point-then_1485664.jpg" --- # This illustrates an important point: then as now… ![“This illustrates an important point: then as now, Americans tend to think about issues like macroeconomic policy or foreign affairs only when things go wrong. The rest of the time, they remain happily unaware of the policies and processes that function well everyday while the nation goes about its…” quote by Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/thomas-m-nichols-8933_foreign-affairs_this-illustrates-an-important-point-then_1485664.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/thomas-m-nichols-8933_foreign-affairs_this-illustrates-an-important-point-then_1485664.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbe/thomas-m-nichols-8933_foreign-affairs_this-illustrates-an-important-point-then_1485664.jpg) > ““This illustrates an important point: then as now, Americans tend to think about issues like macroeconomic policy or foreign affairs only when things go wrong. The rest of the time, they remain happily unaware of the policies and processes that function well everyday while the nation goes about its business.”” [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Americans usually notice government only during crises, ignoring the steady, effective policies that run daily life. **In simple terms:** People ignore normal governance until problems appear. Key Takeaway Pay attention to everyday policies, not just emergencies. Themes civic awareness government media public perception policy Mood reflective critical inquisitive Type observational analytical cautious When to use this quote - voting decisions - community discussions - policy analysis - media consumption Key Concepts political science civic engagement media bias Questions to Reflect On - How can citizens stay informed about routine governance? - What mechanisms keep effective policies invisible? A Different Perspective Overlooks the role of routine oversight and the difficulty of sustaining interest without a crisis. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Foreign affairs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/foreign-affairs/) ## Related quotes > [President Obama seems completely unaware of how many of the policies he is trying to impose have been tried before, in many times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/president-obama-seems-completely-unaware-of-how-many-of-the-policies/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [The problem in Peru is not so much poverty - it is inequality. 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We are as careless with our personal resources as we are with the resources of nature,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-crook-de-camp/we-americans-tend-to-be-a-prodigal-lot-we-are-as-careless-with-our/) [Catherine Crook de Camp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-crook-de-camp/) ## More by Thomas M. Nichols > [“Conspiracy theorists manipulate all tangible evidence to fit their explanation, but worse, they will also point to the absence of evidence as even stronger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/conspiracy-theorists-manipulate-all-tangible-evidence-to-fit-their/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Today, by contrast, students explode over imagined slights that are not even remotely in the same category as fighting for civil rights or being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/today-by-contrast-students-explode-over-imagined-slights-that-are-not/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“And when voters lose control of these important decisions, they risk the hijacking of their democracy by ignorant demagogues, or the more quiet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/and-when-voters-lose-control-of-these-important-decisions-they-risk/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“As the economic writer Ben Casselman pointed out in 2016, most college applicants “never have to write a college entrance essay, pad a résumé…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/as-the-economic-writer-ben-casselman-pointed-out-in-2016-most-college/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“People do not come to the Internet so that their bad information can be corrected or their cherished theories disproven. Rather, they ask the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/people-do-not-come-to-the-internet-so-that-their-bad-information-can/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“If the public has no idea about the substance of an issue, and will vote based on who they like rather than what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/if-the-public-has-no-idea-about-the-substance-of-an-issue-and-will/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“The issue is not indifference to established knowledge; it’s the emergence of a positive hostility to such knowledge. This is new in American culture,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/the-issue-is-not-indifference-to-established-knowledge-it-s-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“At the root of all this is an inability among laypeople to understand that experts being wrong on occasion about certain issues is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/at-the-root-of-all-this-is-an-inability-among-laypeople-to-understand/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“The requirements of a degree in a STEM field (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), a demanding foreign language, or a rigorous degree in the humanities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/the-requirements-of-a-degree-in-a-stem-field-science-technology/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“In 2015, a Massachusetts accountant named Stephen Pasceri lost his seventy-eight-year-old mother to cardiovascular disease. 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Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Americans no longer distinguish the phrase “you’re wrong” from the phrase “you’re stupid.” To disagree is to disrespect. To correct another is to insult.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/americans-no-longer-distinguish-the-phrase-you-re-wrong-from-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“There aren’t enough pages in this or any other book to catalog the amount of bad information on the Internet. Miracle cures, conspiracy theories,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/there-aren-t-enough-pages-in-this-or-any-other-book-to-catalog-the/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) > [“Populism actually reinforces this elitism, because the celebration of ignorance cannot launch communications satellites, negotiate the rights of US citizens overseas, or provide for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-m-nichols/populism-actually-reinforces-this-elitism-because-the-celebration-of/) [Thomas M. Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) [Explore all 76 Thomas M. Nichols quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-m-nichols/) ## More Foreign affairs quotes > [I don't believe I'll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn't go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-don-t-believe-i-ll-ever-get-credit-for-anything-i-do-in-foreign/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [German predominance is not all-encompassing. 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I just say, 'I've had a few.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolly-parton/people-are-always-asking-me-in-interviews-what-do-you-think-of/) [Dolly Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolly-parton/) > [“Thomas Friedman, the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, in his typical fashion, trivialized—and did much to popularize—the “dictator’s dilemma” fallacy by coining a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evgeny-morozov/thomas-friedman-the-new-york-times-foreign-affairs-columnist-in-his/) [Evgeny Morozov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evgeny-morozov/) > [As a former Assistant Secretary of State, Senior Director on the National Security Council, and Washington Director for Human Rights Watch, I hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/as-a-former-assistant-secretary-of-state-senior-director-on-the/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [Neville Chamberlain looked at foreign affairs through the wrong end of a municipal drainpipe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/neville-chamberlain-looked-at-foreign-affairs-through-the-wrong-end/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [The House Foreign Affairs Committee can and should become the principal institution in Washington exercising foreign policy oversight and serving as an alternative voice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-malinowski/the-house-foreign-affairs-committee-can-and-should-become-the/) [Tom Malinowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-malinowski/) > [I studied political science and international relations and had the intention of becoming a journalist or work in foreign affairs. 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