S S

“It’s the end of the world. That’s what it is. At least, it’s the end of the century. Here we are, months away from a new era, and what do we find? We have been cheated. Weren’t we promised everything? That fancy exhibition ten years ago, and now they will have another one, and what do we see? The electric light, the wonders of machinery, the wonders of science, technology and medicine, where are these things for the likes of you and me? When I retire I will be lucky to make ends meet. No motor cars for me, no luxuries. And here we are, the end of the century coming, and we have been cheated. That is what underlies this angst, my boy; it is anger and fear. Anger at what we do not have and fear that when the clock strikes twelve on the 31st of December, we will find that, lo and behold, we are no better off than we were in the previous century. Anger and fear, my boy. Anger and fear.”
― Marcus Sedgwick, Mister Memory

“I am a phantom trapped in a soulless, mechanical world.”
― Baalu Girma, Oromay

“Life is never easy,” I told him. “There are different kinds of difficult, and one must choose between them.“
“Some lives are considerably easier than others, inspector.“
“Perhaps. Such things are never discernible from the outside, however. Only the one living the life can judge.”
― Sophie Hannah (author), Hercule Poirot's Silent Night

“There are three reasons why this is dangerous. First, incompetent leaders will band together, united by their shared knowledge that they’re unqualified for their posts: ‘I know you, you know me, we cannot advance by merit, so instead let’s scratch each other’s backs.’ But running a country is no game, and incompetence can bring it all to a halt.
Second, this creates a new class of opportunitists, greedy reactionaries. Milovan Djilas predicted this in Yugoslavia. This new class will grant themselves special privileges because of their administrative monopoly.
Third, power always corrupts. We can no longer feel superior to others based on personal wealth, based on our bourgeois lifestyles. The Revolution eliminated those things, but it hasn’t eliminated the desire for them. So what do people do to satisfy their desire for a comfortable life? They do whatever it takes to get the quick promotion, exaggerate their experience, pretend they have the skills. Being rational and honest won’t get you that powerful position. Once they get power, they can abuse it to obtain personal luxuries. The black market thrives that way. Our unfortunate history of corrupt officials is returning, despite the Revolution.”
― Baalu Girma, Oromay