26+ Michael Yates Quotes On Education, Success And Labor

Michael Yates is an American economist who specializes in labor economics, economic inequality, and social class. He is a professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of several books on labor and economic inequality. He is also a contributing editor for Monthly Review and the editor of the journal Working USA: The Journal of Labor and Society. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Michael Yates on leadership, education, success.

Top 10 Michael Yates Quotes

1. You have to get out in the world and meet folks on their own turf, something which a lot of urban radical intellectuals seldom do.
2. Most people in this country, while they might not be happy about things, also are woefully ignorant about many things. Sometimes people can learn, but other times they have to be confronted.
3. Capitalism is, in Mao's language, the main contradiction in the world today and so our efforts have to be focused on ending this system and making a new one.
4. What needs to be grasped is that the system itself is the cause of all of the misery in the world. This is a simple but powerful idea.
5. We are all, after all, just human beings, and most of us have a lot in common.
6. I think the two issues, racism and chauvinism, are linked. Look at how much weaker was support for U.S. actions in Iraq among black people.
7. Racism is the most divisive force in our society, so until it is dealt with we cannot hope for much.
8. Without an understanding of the issue of race and a willingness to confront it head on, the working class will not build its strength.
9. The main dividing line is still race. This is the issue that must be focused upon in all working class organizations.
10. Most young people are or will soon enough be workers. They can help to energize and radicalize the workers' movement. And what revolution has ever succeeded without youth?

Michael Yates Famous Quotes And Sayings

Not many academics do labor education. Why not? The need is great. This is where the youth are so important. If faculty were as engaged as young students are in anti sweatshop campaigns, prison campaigns, etc., it would be a good thing. — Michael Yates

We must not forget either that some of the system's resilience is due to its ability to coopt people with money and prestige. It is easy to get sucked right in. Those who grasp the system are also likely to be talented and capable of doing well within the system. Who will turn down a lot of money? Who doesn't have an ego? A compromise here, another one there, and pretty soon, you are sucked right in. — Michael Yates

The Vietnam War was so obviously evil and bore down most heavily upon working class youth that it made me think about things more deeply than I had before. It disillusioned me completely and forever about the government. And it made me aware that the media and the government lied almost as a matter of course. But it also opened my eyes to what was really going on in America. — Michael Yates

Of course we can talk about the radical potential of youth. But in the U.S. it is still the case that most youth are conservative and not very sympathetic to the working class. — Michael Yates

Many activists don't want to hear about some grand narrative, one that could unify all of our struggles. So the major issue that needs to be addressed is how to get people to see that there is indeed a grand narrative which just happens to be true. — Michael Yates

I still believe that workers must be the basic force which must organize and eventually transform society (along with peasants in poor countries). This is because they are the source of the profits which make capitalism what it is. They can shut the system down, and at the same time they possess the unique knowledge needed to make it work in everyone's interests. — Michael Yates

You can't take the view of some of the sectarian parties that hard issues can't be confronted when dealing with workers. If you don't confront these issues, what will ever change? — Michael Yates

We know form past experience that when you put women's issues or face issues on the back burner, they never get dealt with. So all struggles have to be dealt with simultaneously, but within an anti-capitalist framework. A monumental task, but nothing less will do. — Michael Yates

You have to consider all workers as your equals and speak matter of factly about things. People do want to understand things and respect you if you know what they do not know. And you have to respect what they know that you do not. — Michael Yates

We should assume that we all have a lot in common. Speak as if our views are the only sensible ones. This resonates with ordinary people, as long as we speak ordinary language and don't come across as elitists. — Michael Yates

All of the youth ferment on campuses is a very good thing. Lots of people are being permanently transformed and will do good thing throughout their lives. However, young people must be careful not to be coopted, even by labor unions and the like. They must keep their eye on a radical transformation of society. — Michael Yates

With respect to teaching, I couldn't make sense of mainstream economics when I had to teach it to college students. At the same time, I could see at the school that there was a whole lot of hypocrisy. Not much real respect for the "higher learning." — Michael Yates

If you do keep the faith and continue to be radical, very bad things can and do happen to you. At the very least you will be marginalized. Same if you are poor and strike out. Prison awaits you in the USA. — Michael Yates

Capitalism is a powerful producer of output, crisis-mongering on the left notwithstanding, and this too makes the system seem to have a lot of promise. This is why it is so important to agitate against the system in good times and bad. We can't depend on some super crisis to get folks thinking but instead have to focus on all of the contradictions of the system which cannot be ultimately resolved by it. — Michael Yates

Young people are more likely to be idealistic and think that radical change is both necessary and possible. They may not yet be stuck in the routinized and sterile life that work and age often bring, nor stuck in any kind of rigid way of thinking. They have great energy and can get things done. — Michael Yates

National chauvinism is a very tough nut to crack, since a vast propaganda network is in place to keep the workers whipped up into a patriotic frenzy. Maybe this will change, but I doubt it unless it is addressed. — Michael Yates

Life Lessons by Michael Yates

1. Michael Yates's work emphasizes the importance of understanding the economic realities of working-class people and the need to create economic policies that benefit them.
2. He has shown that the economic system is unfair to the working class and that it is important to fight for economic justice.
3. He has highlighted the role of unions in providing economic security and protecting workers from exploitation.