The biggest share of U.S. military expenditure goes to preparing for war with another world power—specifically, Russia or China... Both have much to lose and nothing to gain from starting a 20th century-style conventional war with the United States... They are aware such a war would have devastating consequences for all—worst of all if it involved nuclear weapons. Our problem is not that we and our allies are spending too little on war, but that we are spending far too much.... When two corrupt parties control the political system, debating which is the more corrupt simply diverts attention away from addressing the source of the corruption. In this case, the source is extreme inequality combined with a system of law that allows for a virtually unlimited concentration of corporate power...The corporate establishment has been winning this battle for decades by keeping us divided between those who place the blame on business and the market and those who place the blame on government... United we stand, divided we fall is a rallying cry for our time. We must do this together." - Meaning and context.">
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Irrespective of where we fall on the political spectrum, a great many of us don’t trust our own political system. Nor should we: It represents power that is captive to interests quite at odds with our own.
The biggest share of U.S. military expenditure goes to preparing for war with another world power—specifically, Russia or China... Both have much to lose and nothing to gain from starting a 20th century-style conventional war with the United States... They are aware such a war would have devastating consequences for all—worst of all if it involved nuclear weapons. Our problem is not that we and our allies are spending too little on war, but that we are spending far too much.... When two corrupt parties control the political system, debating which is the more corrupt simply diverts attention away from addressing the source of the corruption. In this case, the source is extreme inequality combined with a system of law that allows for a virtually unlimited concentration of corporate power...The corporate establishment has been winning this battle for decades by keeping us divided between those who place the blame on business and the market and those who place the blame on government... United we stand, divided we fall is a rallying cry for our time. We must do this together.

— David Korten

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Irrespective of where we fall on the political spectrum, a great many of us don’t trust our own political system. Nor should we: It represents power that is captive to interests quite at odds with our own.
The biggest share of U.S. military expenditure goes to preparing for war with another world power—specifically, Russia or China... Both have much to lose and nothing to gain from starting a 20th century-style conventional war with the United States... They are aware such a war would have devastating consequences for all—worst of all if it involved nuclear weapons. Our problem is not that we and our allies are spending too little on war, but that we are spending far too much.... When two corrupt parties control the political system, debating which is the more corrupt simply diverts attention away from addressing the source of the corruption. In this case, the source is extreme inequality combined with a system of law that allows for a virtually unlimited concentration of corporate power...The corporate establishment has been winning this battle for decades by keeping us divided between those who place the blame on business and the market and those who place the blame on government... United we stand, divided we fall is a rallying cry for our time. We must do this together." in the context of "Who Represents Us When Our Political Parties Represent Only Corporations?, Yes Magazine,(23 July 2018)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "David Korten" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
David Korten

About David Korten

David Korten (born 1937) is an American author, former professor of the Harvard Business School, political activist and prominent critic of corporate globalization.