Holding Back

I remember, historically speaking, a time when there was no state because I grew up in a society where literally there wasn’t a state, at least in its centralized, coercive form.

The state embodies a static concept. When controlled by a class, it is an instrument for holding back society—holding back creativity, art, movement, change, renewal.

—Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kikuyu author

Total Chaos

They were good looking. And they knew how to fight.
Life had slipped through their fingers, faster than money.

--Total Chaos by Jean-Claude Izzo

Zulu

"Have you read the newspapers?"
"Some."
"They're all saying the same thing."
"They all belong to the same people."

--Zulu by Caryl Ferey