Think of civil society and the state as joined in a marriage of necessity. You already know who the wife is, the one who is supposed to love, cherish and obey: that's civil society. Think of the state as the domineering husband who expects to have a monopoly on power, on violence, on planning and policymaking.
Rebecca SolnitAt a certain fork in the road of automatization, Europeans chose to have more time, and they work far less than we do and get much longer vacations. We chose to have more stuff, the stuff sold to us through those beckoning adjectives-bigger, better, faster: Jet Skis, extra cars, second homes, motor homes, towering slab TVs, if not the time to enjoy them or to enjoy less commodified pleasures.
Rebecca SolnitNo one is born a writer; literacy is a peculiar mode of being, but I was all about stories from a very early age, before reading.
Rebecca SolnitPain serves a purpose. Without it you are in danger. What you cannot feel you cannot take care of.
Rebecca SolnitViolence doesn't have a race, a class, a religion, or a nationality, but it does have a gender.
Rebecca Solnit