If I wrote fiction...

I would re-write Voltaire’s ‘Candide’. It’s a great little book – Voltaire’s writing in the 18th century (I think). The opening scene has this professor Pangloss explaining how everything is for the best and that this world is the best of all possible worlds. Then the main character, Candide, undergoes a series of disasters that were all quite routine for people at that time.

I think a re-write of such a book would be quite appropriate. Candidates for Pangloss abound, from Francis Fukuyama to any of the more upbeat right-wing types in the US. And think of all the disasters the modern Candide could undergo? You don’t need to use your imagination. In fact, Jonathan Schwarz has put together an absurdly tragic story of an Iranian family who just lost their jobs. That’s at Under the Same Sun. Check the cartoon too.