Beka > Beka's Quotes

“Most Americans know the Dutch founded what is now Greater New York City. Few realize that their influence is largely the reason New York is New York, the most vibrant and powerful city on the continent, and one with a culture and identity unlike that of anyplace else in the United States.”
― Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

“The goal of the Deep Southern oligarchy has been consistent for over four centuries: to control and maintain a one-party state with a colonial-style economy based on large-scale agriculture and the extraction of primary resources by a compliant, poorly educated, low-wage workforce with as few labor, workplace safety, health care, and environmental regulations as possible.”
― Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

“A state is a sovereign political entity like the United Kingdom, Kenya, Panama, or New Zealand, eligible for membership in the United Nations and inclusion on the maps produced by Rand McNally or the National Geographic Society. A nation is a group of people who share—or believe they share—a common culture, ethnic origin, language, historical experience, artifacts, and symbols.”
― Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

“The Midland Midwest would develop as a center of moderation and tolerance, where people of many faiths and ethnicities lived side by side, largely minding their own business.”
― Colin Woodard, American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America

“Isn't this the purpose of education, to learn the nature of your own gifts and how to use them for good in the world?”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants

“Women tend to sit further forward than men when driving. This is because we are on average shorter. Our legs need to be closer to reach the pedals, and we need to sit more upright to see clearly over the dashboard.49 This is not, however, the ‘standard seating position’. Women are ‘out of position’ drivers.50 And our wilful deviation from the norm means that we are at greater risk of internal injury on frontal collisions.51”
― Caroline Criado Perez, Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men