"The tradition of the oppressed teaches us that the ‘state of emergency' in which we live is not the exception but the rule...There is no document of civilization which is not at the same time a document of barbarism. And just as such a document is not free of barbarism, barbarism taints also the manner in which it was transmitted from one owner to another. A historical materialist therefore dissociates himself from it as far as possible. He regards it as his task to brush history against the grain."
Walter Benjamin, "Theses on the Philosophy of History."