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Ursula Le Guin on Capitalism

I think hard times are coming, when we will be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, and can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies, to other ways of being. And even imagine some real grounds for hope. We will need writers who can remember freedom: poets, visionaries— the realists of a larger reality . Right now, I think we need writers who know the difference between production of a market commodity and the practice of an art. The profit motive is often in conflict with the aims of art.  We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable; so did the divine right of kings.  … Power can be resisted and changed by human beings; resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art—the art of words. I’ve had a long career and a good one, in good company, and here, at the end of it, I really don’t want to watch American literature get sold down the river. ...  The name of our beautiful reward is ...
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Who Are The Chosen People?

Different interpretations aside. The Quran says: "You [Muslims] are the best ummah [nation] brought out for Mankind.”  [3:110]. The Jews believe that they are the ‘chosen people’. The Torah says: “ Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me from all the peoples, for all the earth is mine.” Exodus 19:5. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair: “ The British are special. The world knows it. In our innermost thoughts we know it. This is the greatest nation on earth.” Resignation speech , May 2007 The richest 1% alone capture nearly 25% of world GDP, according to the World Inequality Database.  That’s more than the GDP of 169 countries combined , including Norway, Argentina, all of the Middle East and the entire continent of Africa.  They are THE CHOSEN PEOPLE .
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A Passage Speaking on Behalf of Many Westerners Today

Ariz and Fielding: "Why can't we be friends now?" said the other, holding him affectionately. ·'It's what I want. It's what you want."  But the horses didn't want it-they swerved apart; the earth didn't want it, sending up rocks through which riders must pass single file; the temples, the tank, the jail, the palace, the birds, the carrion, the Guest House, that came into view as they issued from the gap. and saw Mau beneath: they didn't want it, they said in their hundred voices, " No, not yet," and the sky said, "No, not there." — E. M. Forster, A Passage to India , New York, Har­court, Brace & Co., 1952, p. 322.
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The Gig Economy Celebrates …

“At the root of this is the American obsession with self-reliance, which makes it more acceptable to applaud an individual for working himself to death than to argue that an individual working himself to death is evidence of a flawed economic system.” … Working yourself to death
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Heroes or Parasites

“Language is politics and politics is power. This is why the misuse of language is particularly disturbing, especially when the innocent and vulnerable pay the price.“ Europe’s self-serving politics on refugees
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A Continuum of Intervention

“The question is: if humanity is to be defended, who must do the defending, how, and with which consequences? Beyond humanity, if life on earth is to thrive or survive, who or what must take responsibility for what appears to be an impending catastrophe?” The logic of humanitarian intervention
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