The train comes into Liverpool Street Station, platform 17 with a metal on metal sound of wheels on rails, the sound of bombs bursting, machine guns, rockets crashing through the glass canopy, people screaming, playgrounds, maternity hospitals and system-built housing estates collapsing in the explosions and fires. Soldiers, conscripts, mercenaries, cheap flop house petty thiefContinue reading “Unconscious Collective”
Author Archives: DannyB
A Walk to the Shops
Money is integral to what we do and to some extent, who we are. Money determines where we live and how we live. But the psychology of money doesn’t get much attention. I’m going to return to reading the Grundrisse which attempts an explanation of money in great detail. It feels as if days haveContinue reading “A Walk to the Shops”
Nevzdáváme se – We Don’t Give in
I first met K – in the street. We would say hello as we passed each other with bags of shopping. She walks with a stick and often wears a red hat. And for about a year she always got my name wrong. ‘Are you Steve?’, she would say. I would laugh and explain thatContinue reading “Nevzdáváme se – We Don’t Give in”
Marxism and A Pattern Language
The preparation for the Radical EC1 Walk continues with the usual diversions and tangents and books being brought together without obvious connections. I’ve been reading Communitas by Percival and Paul Goodman, a lot of Christopher Alexander and the first chapter of the Grundrisse. I suspect I understand about 10 percent of what Alexander and MarxContinue reading “Marxism and A Pattern Language”
The Study of Consumption
There is no moral framework for production within capitalism. Nation states give priority to the production of nuclear missiles, chemical weapons, cluster bombs, police truncheons, tear gas, water cannon; feeding people and providing shelter, health services and education are secondary, or less. Even outside the arms industries there is plenty of immoral production; oil, builtContinue reading “The Study of Consumption”
The Problem of London- Prologue
It was possibly Patrick Keiller who first raised the question, ‘the problem of London’. As there are no money-making opportunities in answering this question it has been neglected. But it is surely one of the key questions, not an incidental one? London is a large city. The building and maintenance of London requires immense quantitiesContinue reading “The Problem of London- Prologue”
A day or two…
Marx’s Grundrisse is a set of notebooks. Sometimes the sentences themselves are merely short points, in the way we all make notes at times. There are digressions into detail which may be ignored. It is the substance which is of great interest and discovering how Marx worked out his ideas. There are moments while readingContinue reading “A day or two…”
The incidental dominance of exchange-value
A journey from reading the Grundrisse at 6am to a shopping centre and then EC1 at night. I spent a lot of time in a department store just watching the high definition televisions on display. It is as if the world is now a background which can be enhanced with film editing software, made brighter,Continue reading “The incidental dominance of exchange-value”
EC1 – A Primer
It seems so disjointed. A collection of buildings sharing space but little else; and not even sharing that space in a neighbourly way. The only underlying principle is profit. These buildings share built characteristics. They are all the products of the alchemy of human labour, labour power (as a commodity), machines, and raw materials. TheContinue reading “EC1 – A Primer”
Stratford City
There is so much to write about. Sleeping dreams, waking dreams, vague notions of reality and consciousness. I went for a drink after work with a friend and work colleague. I enjoyed the conversation, his company, the couple of pints, the atmosphere and more. After we parted I did something I haven’t done for aContinue reading “Stratford City”
Commodity Fetishism 