On the other hand...why was there always an “other hand”? - Justina Robson

Gritter thought it was about time the complacent louts at the top of the heap got to have a genuine red-hot poker up the ass.

I love to live vicariously, in a book or a holo, but I think I can stand one dose of reality before it’s my time.

You could try and breed territoriality out of the bone, but like a bad fairy it popped up again and again in all sorts of guises and from all kinds of DNA. As long as there was plenty, then everyone was happy to pay culture its due, but as soon as there was trouble—bang, out came the demonization memes and, lo and behold, they were back to the Dark Ages faster than you could say “mattock.”