By the divine power invested in me I officially certify this image as ‘Banging’ and it shall be forevermore referred to forthwith as such, 'A Banger".

I need to reread The Dispossessed.

I am a little drunk. But this reminds me of something I was thinking about, and something reading Le Guin’s writings has also made me feel.

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed, and by extension mythology and storytelling are the singing of songs of hope. When the revolution comes, they become war cries. And when the revolution is won, they become jubilant songs of victory.

That’s why I love socialist art and writing. If any of you get a chance, check out Quilapayun’s El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido: https://www.marxists.org/subject/art/music/lyrics/es/el-pueblo.htm

I want to sing these lines in truth one day:

Arise, fight

the people are going to win.

The life to come

will be better.

To conquer

our happiness.

and a clamor

of a thousand fighting voices will rise,

speaking

a song of freedom.

I heard this during my first protest, and it really did hit the same mental notes as religion did in my younger days when that mattered to me