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This is a Jean Merrill/The Pushcart War appreciation post, because that book is amazing.
First of all, the central metaphor is perfect. It's not just the obvious "might makes right" part, although that is important, but read it now. There's fake victimhood, there's "the economy," there's the importance of fighting back and of finding the right tactics.
But the book is also super sharp on political speech, on the way small and biased information sources can push their agendas into mainstream news sources, on mutual aid. Formally it's beautifully constructed, as well.
It is 100% social science-fiction! It is set in the future, a future that recedes with subsequent editions. Altho I hope some day, when we do away with fossil fuel vehicles, the pushcart war will be allowed to fade into the past, even as the book remains relevant and reprinted.
Also
I think I'm going to assign it in my predictive fictions class. Because I'm a professor and I get to do that.
