The Best of Ms. Roy

Some days when I feel the fire in my belly which propelled me halfway across the world has gone out, I read Arundhati Roy. Nothing inspires socially conscious rage like this precious gem of a writer from South India. It's true. If you're not angry, you're not paying attention.

Some of my favorites from her latest collection of essays.



Empire is paranoid because it has a soft underbelly.

-From Instant-Mix Imperial Democracy



What does peace mean to the poor who are being actively robbed of their resources and for whom everyday life is a grim battle for water, shelter, survival, and above all, some semblance of dignity? For them, peace is war.

-From Peace and The New Corporate Liberation Theology



Successful fascism takes hard work. And so does creating a good investment climate.

-From How Deep Shall We Dig?


It's odd how those who dismiss the peace movement as utopian don't hesitate to proffer the most absurdly dreamy reasons for going to war: to stamp out terrorism, install democracy, eliminate fascism, and most entertainingly, to 'rid the world of evil-doers.'

-From An Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire



In the era of corporate globalization, poverty is a crime and protesting against further impoverishment is terrorism.

-From Peace is War