𝔯𝔞𝔟𝔟𝔦𝔱 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔯𝔱𝔢𝔡

"The capitalist subject constantly experiences its failure to belong, which is why the recurring fantasy within capitalism is that of attaining some degree of authentic belonging (in a romantic relationship, in a group of friends, in the nation, and so on). Though capitalism spawns this type of fantasy, it constantly militates against the fantasy's realization. Capitalism offers the promise of belonging with every commodity and with the commodity as such, but the subject can never buy the perfect commodity, or enough of them, to unlock the secret of belonging. Unlike the subject of a particular culture, the capitalist subject does not have a place that offers a sense of identity. There is only a lack of place that spawns the search for a place through the process of constant enrichment, a process that serves only to augment the subject's lack of place and identity. The only identity the capitalist subject has lies in its absence of any identity."

“The exercise of imagination is dangerous to those who profit from the way things are because it has the power to show that the way things are is not permanent, not universal, not necessary. Having that real though limited power to put established institutions into question, imaginative literature has also the responsibility of power. The storyteller is the truthteller.”

“I have never had the joy of being a child. The terrible torments which I suffered disturbed the tranquility there must be in being a child, having things in one’s own hands, being occupied, etc., delighting one’s father; for my inner unrest meant that I was always, always, outside myself.”