Quotes / People's Republic of Tyranny

Film — Live-Action

"Oh Horn of Plenty!
A Horn of Plenty for us all!
And when we raised the cry,
The brave did heed the call,
And we shall never falter"

—Panem Anthem, The Hunger Games

"This is the land of opportunity. The opportunity to turn yourself in."

—Gen. William Devereaux, The Siege

"Every faction in Africa calls themselves by these noble names: Liberation-this, Patriotic-that, Democratic Republic of something-or-other. I guess they can't own up to what they usually are: "Federation of Worse Oppressors Than the Last Bunch of Oppressors."

— Yuri Orlov, Lord of War

"Good morning, honorable Members of the Council, esteemed visitors, Mr. Leader of the Opposition...
[cut to shot of a hanged person]"

— The Mayor of Sodom, This Is Sodom

Literature

Ankh-Morpork had dallied with many forms of government and had ended up with that form of democracy known as One Man, One Vote. The Patrician was the Man; he had the Vote.

— Mort

Korell is that frequent phenomenon in history: the republic whose ruler has every attribute of the absolute monarch but the name. It therefore enjoyed the usual despotism unrestrained even by those two moderating influences in the legitimate monarchies: regal 'honor' and court etiquette.

—The Merchant Princes

Sub-Saharan Africa's largest nation has grown more oppressive over the decades, and its name has kept pace.

Congo. Lies in name: 0. Oppression level: bloody.
Republic of the Congo. Lies in name: 1. Oppression level: sadistic.
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lies in name: 2. Oppression level: inhuman.
People's Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lies in name: 3. Oppression level: genocidal.
Shiny Happy People's Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lies in name: 5. Oppression level: hide.

— America (The Book)

The old Baron had decreed a meridian-to-meridian rest from labors, and effort had been spent in the family city of Harko to create the illusion of gaiety: banners flew from buildings, new paint had been splashed on the walls along Court Way. But off the main way, Count Fenring and his lady noted the rubbish heaps, the scabrous brown walls reflected in the dark puddles of the streets, and the furtive scurrying of the people.

—Dune

Watzman: If the uprising were successful and the Palestinians received their state, what kind of government would it have?

PFLP Members: A democracy.

Watzman: All the signs are that if elections were held today, Arafat's Fatah party would win.

PFLP: That's fine, if that's what the people decide.

Watzman: Okay, Fatah wins. A few years later, there's another election, and you guys win. What happens then?

PFLP: If that is what the people decide, welcome.

Watzman: Then a few years later, you have another election—

PFLP: Oh no, then there won't be any more elections.

Watzman: Why not?

PFLP: Because once the people have chosen correctly, there's no need for elections anymore.

— Company C, an autobiography by Israeli soldier Haim Watzman

Live-Action TV

(Discussing the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

Jimmy Carr: Anything with "Democratic" in the name tends not to be at all, as a rule.

Stephen Fry: Absolutely. Same with "People's Republic".

Jimmy Carr: If they were going to call it the "Fascist Junta of"...

Stephen Fry: You'd respect them, wouldn't you? Truth-telling.

Jimmy Carr: You would! I'd let them in the UN!

— QI ("Arthropods")

"'Coalition.' 'Alliance.' It all sounds so reasonable, but what you've described is the behaviour of urban street thugs."

—Capt. Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation ("Legacy")

Music

But somehow it is strange to hear the State Department say
You are living in the free world, in the free world you must stay

—Phil Ochs, "Ballad of William Worthy"

Theatre

"Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign
Your children have waited to see!
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs to me!"

—Cabaret, "Tomorrow Belongs to Me"

Web Video

Now let's stroll through the heavens like aristo-mo-crats
To the sound of white supremacists in fancy blue hats
Yes, the segregated toilets, how they shine like the sun
Ain't freedom grand? Ain't we got fun?

—brentalfloss, "The Bioshock Infinite Song"

Real Life

As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except Negroes." When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except Negroes, foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.

—Abraham Lincoln

I had seen little evidence that the USSR was progressing towards anything that one could truly call Socialism. On the contrary, I was struck by clear signs of its transformation into a hierarchical society, in which the rulers have no more reason to give up their power than any other ruling class.

—George Orwell

The spade is your pen, the rice field your paper.

—Maoist slogan appropriated by the Khmer Rouge

Citizens shall have freedom of speech, press, assembly, demonstration, and association. The state shall guarantee conditions for the free activities of democratic political parties and social organizations.

—Article 67, Chapter VII of the Constitution of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea

...North Korea is trying to build up its tourism by showcasing its "natural beauty". Considering the nation's near total lack of development, it has many natural wonders.

—Rational Wiki

"Well, you know, I've always thought that the PLO is the most corrupt and incompetent Third World movement I've ever seen. I mean, they've always presented themselves as revolutionaries waving around guns, Marx, etc.—but they're basically conservative nationalists, and they always were conservative nationalists. The rest was all pretense."

—Noam Chomsky on Yasser Arafat, Understanding Power

"The difference between a republic and a people's republic is a lot like the difference between a jacket and a straitjacket."

— Ronald Reagan

---