The transitions are a bit ropey - naff, even, but it was about time I knocked up a video for Paddy 'Prefab Sprout' McAloon's 'Meet the New Mozart':
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The 10 Best Films About Mental Illness
A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
Spider (2002)
Family Life (1971)
Clean, Shaven (1995)
An Angel at My Table (1990)
Van Gogh (1991)
Keane (2004)
Repulsion (1965)
Images (1972)
Sybil (1977)
Images (1972)
Sybil (1977)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Fifty Sprouts and a Desert Island
All The World Loves Lovers
Andromeda Heights
Angel Of Love
Appetite
Bonny
Cars And Girls
Cornfield Ablaze
Couldn’t Bear To Be Special
Cowboy Dreams
Cruel
Dandy of The Danube
Desire As (Acoustic)
Donna Summer
Don’t Sing
Doo Wop In Harlem
Dragons
Dublin
Earth: The Story So Far
Electric Guitars
Goodbye Lucille #1
Faron Young
Girl, I’m Here
Green Isaac
Here On The Eerie
If You Don’t Love Me (String Driven Thing)
I’m 49
I Never Play Basketball Now
I Remember That
I Trawl The Megahertz
Jesse James Bolero
Jordan: The Comeback
Last Of The Great Romantics
Life Of Surprises
Lions In My Own Garden
Meet The New Mozart
Moondog
Moving The River
Music Is A Princess
Nightingales
Pearly Gates
Rebel Land
Sleeping Rough
Sweet Gospel Music
Technique
The Ice Maiden
The Venus of The Soup Kitchen
‘Til The Cows Come Home
We Let The Stars Go
When Love Breaks Down
Wild Horses
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
New Waits DVD
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tom-Waits-Under-Influence-DVD/dp/B00376AWE8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1268218039&sr=1-5
Documentary examines Waits' legendary genius through exclusive interviews, rare and often previously unseen footage and contributions from many of his fellow musicians, historians and critics.
This documentary film examines, dissects and all but lobotomises the wealth of music, literature, theatre and film that have assisted in creating Waits' legendary genius and, results in hand, reviews the life and career of Tom Waits from this fascinating and rarely identified viewpoint. With exclusive interviews, rare and often previously unseen footage and contributions from; Tom's legendary producer Bones Howe; Moris Tepper and John French from Captain Beefheart's Magic Band; and occasional TW collaborator, Ken Nordine; Harry Partch associates David Dunn and Dean Drummond; BBC's head of music Chris Ingham; Beat-era scholar John Tytell plus Tom Waits historians, music academics, and respected writers. Also features numerous seldom seen photographs, much archive film and a host of other features which all at once make for an educational, inspiring and joyous celebration of Tom Waits and those he holds close to his heart.
Bonus Materials
- Illustrated contributor biographies
- 'John French spills the beans'; 'The World of Ken Nordine'; 'The Other Lord Buckley Live In Paris'
- Beyond DVD gallery and more
Friday, March 05, 2010
'Los Bastardos': Andrew Cox's brilliant response to my "Reflections on Beckettian 'Buddy Narratives'"
Amat Escalante's 'Los Bastardos' (2008), which I had the pleasure of seeing at the Tate Modern in December 2009, also fits into the existential ‘buddy narrative’ of films/plays like ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ and Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’. The long opening shot is of a desolate urban landscape on the outskirts of Los Angeles, and shows two wandering figures in the far background. Escalante sets the scene for the film and introduces us to the broader social predicaments of the characters, who are illegal Mexican labourers in the United States.
'Los Bastardos' opens slowly and the two main protagonists, Jesus and Fausto, don't come to the fore till at least halfway into the film. They have been contracted to kill an American woman. The woman's life is portrayed as rather drab. She lives with an uncommunicative and awkward adolescent son, with whom she can barely hold a conversation, and she seeks solace in drugs.
When Jesus and Fausto break into the woman’s home is where the narrative begins to unfold. ‘Los Bastardos’ is very similar, stylistically, to the German director, Michael Haneke’s ‘Funny Games’ (1989) - Jesus demands food from the woman and she is constantly watched over with a shotgun. Whilst Haneke’s film is very much a modern, dystopian fairy tale, with a nice family being tortured and imprisoned by two sadistic sociopaths from no particular place, Escalante portrays believable characters in Jesus and Fausto.
Jesus and Fausto are not ‘natural’ friends – Jesus is in his 30s, while Fausto is an awkward and reticent teenager. They are two people thrown together by their own social and economic deracination – neither of them can speak English; they are illegal aliens; and the very thing that has driven them to cross the US border – namely, money – is something they can only acquire in any substantial amount through killing another human being, whom they know nothing about.
The incarceration of the woman is gruesome and harrowing to follow. Though the two Mexicans are not brutal to the woman, she is still their prisoner and when she is told to strip down to her underwear to go swimming with the two Mexicans, she takes on a clown-like character and adds an ‘absurdist’ element to the drama. The woman cannot speak enough Spanish to plead or bargain with her kidnappers, and they take advantage of the woman’s home comforts such as food, swimming pool and TV while they are holding her. Escalante could be mocking passivity and consumerism when showing the kidnappers aimlessly lounging around in their victim’s home indifferent to her basic humanity, but on the other hand they could be seen as taking advantage of what little comfort is available to them both in America and their home country.
The narrative of ‘Los Bastardos’ in many ways becomes larger than the sum of its parts. Whilst a writer like Samuel Beckett was seen as hinting at the existential, philosophical alienation and deracination of post-war Europe in ‘Waiting for Godot’, Escalante’s film opens up channels of discussion about the very real human and existential void created by irrational preoccupations in the Western world with issues such as illegal immigration and the notion of the ‘economic migrant’. The United States is so determined to keep Latinos out that it is prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on border security and perimeter walls. The inhuman consequences of these policies result in Latin Americans seeking even more dangerous routes, such as through desert, to get across the border leading to tragic consequences for those who perish at the cruel hands of nature.
There is no proper debate about immigration in America or Europe. The real human issues are ignored and immigration is reduced to a merely economic and technical problem – albeit, a very expensive one in terms of the social and financial expenditure required to contain it. The ingenuity of Escalante’s film is that makes us think about what is happening in front of us. He avoids endowing the film with an explicit social message, but you can’t watch and fully appreciate a film like ‘Los Bastardos’ if it doesn’t make you question why these things happen to people, and why it is wrong.
'Los Bastardos' opens slowly and the two main protagonists, Jesus and Fausto, don't come to the fore till at least halfway into the film. They have been contracted to kill an American woman. The woman's life is portrayed as rather drab. She lives with an uncommunicative and awkward adolescent son, with whom she can barely hold a conversation, and she seeks solace in drugs.
When Jesus and Fausto break into the woman’s home is where the narrative begins to unfold. ‘Los Bastardos’ is very similar, stylistically, to the German director, Michael Haneke’s ‘Funny Games’ (1989) - Jesus demands food from the woman and she is constantly watched over with a shotgun. Whilst Haneke’s film is very much a modern, dystopian fairy tale, with a nice family being tortured and imprisoned by two sadistic sociopaths from no particular place, Escalante portrays believable characters in Jesus and Fausto.
Jesus and Fausto are not ‘natural’ friends – Jesus is in his 30s, while Fausto is an awkward and reticent teenager. They are two people thrown together by their own social and economic deracination – neither of them can speak English; they are illegal aliens; and the very thing that has driven them to cross the US border – namely, money – is something they can only acquire in any substantial amount through killing another human being, whom they know nothing about.
The incarceration of the woman is gruesome and harrowing to follow. Though the two Mexicans are not brutal to the woman, she is still their prisoner and when she is told to strip down to her underwear to go swimming with the two Mexicans, she takes on a clown-like character and adds an ‘absurdist’ element to the drama. The woman cannot speak enough Spanish to plead or bargain with her kidnappers, and they take advantage of the woman’s home comforts such as food, swimming pool and TV while they are holding her. Escalante could be mocking passivity and consumerism when showing the kidnappers aimlessly lounging around in their victim’s home indifferent to her basic humanity, but on the other hand they could be seen as taking advantage of what little comfort is available to them both in America and their home country.
The narrative of ‘Los Bastardos’ in many ways becomes larger than the sum of its parts. Whilst a writer like Samuel Beckett was seen as hinting at the existential, philosophical alienation and deracination of post-war Europe in ‘Waiting for Godot’, Escalante’s film opens up channels of discussion about the very real human and existential void created by irrational preoccupations in the Western world with issues such as illegal immigration and the notion of the ‘economic migrant’. The United States is so determined to keep Latinos out that it is prepared to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on border security and perimeter walls. The inhuman consequences of these policies result in Latin Americans seeking even more dangerous routes, such as through desert, to get across the border leading to tragic consequences for those who perish at the cruel hands of nature.
There is no proper debate about immigration in America or Europe. The real human issues are ignored and immigration is reduced to a merely economic and technical problem – albeit, a very expensive one in terms of the social and financial expenditure required to contain it. The ingenuity of Escalante’s film is that makes us think about what is happening in front of us. He avoids endowing the film with an explicit social message, but you can’t watch and fully appreciate a film like ‘Los Bastardos’ if it doesn’t make you question why these things happen to people, and why it is wrong.
Quote of the Day
Anvil drummer Rob Reiner's response to a British lawyer who asks why heavy metal stalwarts Anvil aren't playing in front of at least 1000 punters each night: "I could answer that in one word.. two words.. three words: we haven't got good management." Priceless.
'Withnail and I' et al.: Reflections on Beckettian 'Buddy Narratives'
Two peripheral characters ponder and wander aimlessly, for want of a purposeful existence. This would be my one-line synopsis for Stoppard's wonderful Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but it seems to me that it might just as well describe some other cast-iron favourites of mine, whether it's Withnail and I (Withnail and Marwood), Sideways (Miles and Jack), or (with rather less wandering about), Waiting for Godot (Vladimir and Estragon).
I could wax lyrical about the sublime Sideways, and, among friends, strangers and 'friends-to-be', casual references to W & I are a kind of communicative currency, a reminder that we're all comedy fans 'in the know'. But it's the pathos and poignancy of these narratives that resonate most of all. On a personal level, I can identify with the 'not-quite-friendship' of, in particular, Marwood and Withnail (pronounced 'Withnul', as the more pedantic fans, such as myself, like to point out). It recalls more than one episode in my life. It captures that fraught realm between the love and resentment we feel towards the people we find ourselves drawn to, inexorably, but wherein, at the same time, the reality of frustrated ambitions is amplified.
And, for me, the comic catharthis and emotional punch of Withnail and I and Sideways act as a kind of imaginative bridge to and from Beckett's and Stoppard's plays and the weightier philosophical questions they embody.
Finally, not least because Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson co-starred in the 1991 West End production of Waiting for Godot, surely Bottom's Richard Richard and Eddie Hitler deserve a mention too? Then again, perhaps not.
I could wax lyrical about the sublime Sideways, and, among friends, strangers and 'friends-to-be', casual references to W & I are a kind of communicative currency, a reminder that we're all comedy fans 'in the know'. But it's the pathos and poignancy of these narratives that resonate most of all. On a personal level, I can identify with the 'not-quite-friendship' of, in particular, Marwood and Withnail (pronounced 'Withnul', as the more pedantic fans, such as myself, like to point out). It recalls more than one episode in my life. It captures that fraught realm between the love and resentment we feel towards the people we find ourselves drawn to, inexorably, but wherein, at the same time, the reality of frustrated ambitions is amplified.
And, for me, the comic catharthis and emotional punch of Withnail and I and Sideways act as a kind of imaginative bridge to and from Beckett's and Stoppard's plays and the weightier philosophical questions they embody.
Finally, not least because Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson co-starred in the 1991 West End production of Waiting for Godot, surely Bottom's Richard Richard and Eddie Hitler deserve a mention too? Then again, perhaps not.
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Dear Employer...
I am a recently qualified mental health nurse eager to pursue a career as a psychological therapist. My clinical training has provided me with the communication, assessment, teamwork and therapeutic skills vital to effective mental health interventions. Empathic, motivated and adaptable I want to enhance my strengths by gaining expertise in non-pharmacological, psychological therapies. As such, I am confident that this new, challenging career opportunity will allow me to build on my proven aptitude for establishing therapeutic relationships with clients experiencing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems.
I have experienced a variety of mental health treatment settings, including community psychiatric nursing (adult and elderly), older people’s assessment, substance misuse, neuropsychiatry, acute admissions/assessment, psychiatric triage and a mental health resource centre. Throughout my training, I worked with representatives from a range of other disciplines, professions and agencies, including social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, general practitioners, police officers, and others.
In all of these environments I have sought to ensure that my understanding of the role of comprehensive mental health and risk assessments, research methods, evidence-based practice and the administration of psychotropic drugs have been applied in a critically reflective and self-reflective manner. A combination of clinical supervision and academic study has also given me a solid grounding on which to properly integrate theory and practice.
My training has provided me with a very good understanding of depression and anxiety, and I have also gained insights from wide-ranging work and personal experience, including: teaching in adult and higher education, working with adults with physical and learning disabilities, support work in the voluntary mental health sector, and providing long-term support to a close friend with mental health needs.
I have a good understanding of the Mental Health Act (1983), the National Service Framework for Mental Health, and the Care Programme Approach, and have paid close attention to modifications and amendments to the standards and legislation they represent. I assisted, for example, the North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust’s Assertive Outreach Team in its first use of a community treatment order.
During my training, as well as acquiring first-hand knowledge of psychotropic medication, I became increasingly aware of the importance of advocacy, the recovery model and psychological therapies, and am committed to incorporating these techniques and approaches into my work as a mental health practitioner.
I have acquired a working knowledge of the applications of cognitive behavioural therapy, and have taken into consideration the impact of work on mental health (in relation to low job control; understanding of employee role; organisational culture; and workplace relationships) and the need for evidence-based practice (in relation to overcoming the research-practice gap; supporting the justification for current working practices; meeting the demand for accountability; and cost-effectiveness). I look forward to further demonstrating my commitment to ongoing training and development in this field.
For my final placement I elected to be placed with the Single Point of Access nurse and social worker-led psychiatric triage team in Stoke-on-Trent. Because it provides the central point of access to mental wellbeing/psychological services in the area SPA afforded me the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in assessing people’s mental health needs, in anticipation of a career as a psychological therapist.
One example of a guided self-help CBT-type intervention I employed involved a socially isolated, self-harming young woman, with whom I developed a strong therapeutic rapport through initial and generic assessments and follow-up phone calls. The client agreed to keep a Dysfunctional Thoughts Diary, in which to record her feelings about, and reactions to, self-harming thoughts and anxiety-inducing situations. She acknowledged that my support helped her to attain the confidence to apply for voluntary work and to take part in a ‘Changes Young People 16-25 Years’ mutual help group.
Working in multidisciplinary environments has also helped me to obtain a greater practical understanding of the different pressures faced by primary and secondary healthcare services, and the need to maintain and develop links between the two. At the Single Point of Access service, for example, I was ideally placed to gain an appreciation of how depression and anxiety can present in Primary Care. Regular contact with general practitioners confirmed, in particular, that patients with depression or anxiety frequently present with physical or somatic symptoms, which can obscure a psychiatric diagnosis.
During this placement I took the opportunity to manage my own caseload, which was a responsibility I carried out with both enthusiasm and effective use of my time management skills. I also demonstrated my ability to work on my own initiative by identifying appropriate referrals, levels of assessment and suitable points of contact within other agencies.
I also enjoy and appreciate the importance of team-working, which I have found to be mutually beneficial in ensuring that essential tasks are completed effectively. I am comfortable ‘taking the lead’ when working with distressed and difficult clients, but am very much aware that effective communication between colleagues will help to ensure appropriate interventions.
I am strongly aware of the importance of client confidentiality and informed consent, and have sought to uphold NMC guidelines in this and other areas relating to standards of conduct, performance and ethics.
My clear and confident interaction with nursing and medical staff, patients, families, students and tutors, together with my record keeping and academic achievements, testify to my exemplary oral and written communication skills. These skills also ensured that I was entrusted with submitting a report regarding a professional dispute between a colleague and a member of another clinical team. Senior staff and the management team praised the report for its clear and balanced tone and used it as evidence in their attempt to settle the dispute.
I am proficient in the use of Word, PowerPoint, E-mail and the Internet. Furthermore, as well as being the Student Representative for my Diploma cohort I was selected by Keele University to attend the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Students’ Day at St Thomas’ Hospital, in May, due to my ‘outstanding academic scores’. My postgraduate studies, which focused on debates about cultural differences and equal opportunities, together with my support for third world development charities and anti-racist campaigns, also reflect my sensitivity towards the needs and values of individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds. This is a quality that I believe could be of great benefit to your service.
Being trained in partnership with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, whose reorganisation in 2002 was driven largely by service improvement and clinical governance targets, has made me very much aware of the need to achieve tangible results in alleviating the enormous personal, social and economic costs of mental illness. And I feel strongly that my special interest in working with people suffering from depression and/or anxiety would be best served through assisting in the delivery of IAPT services.
I believe I am well-suited and well prepared to support your organisation deliver on its commitment to extending the availability of psychological therapies. I hope that therefore you will be able to look favourably upon my application.
I very much look forward to hearing from you.
I have experienced a variety of mental health treatment settings, including community psychiatric nursing (adult and elderly), older people’s assessment, substance misuse, neuropsychiatry, acute admissions/assessment, psychiatric triage and a mental health resource centre. Throughout my training, I worked with representatives from a range of other disciplines, professions and agencies, including social workers, occupational therapists, psychologists, general practitioners, police officers, and others.
In all of these environments I have sought to ensure that my understanding of the role of comprehensive mental health and risk assessments, research methods, evidence-based practice and the administration of psychotropic drugs have been applied in a critically reflective and self-reflective manner. A combination of clinical supervision and academic study has also given me a solid grounding on which to properly integrate theory and practice.
My training has provided me with a very good understanding of depression and anxiety, and I have also gained insights from wide-ranging work and personal experience, including: teaching in adult and higher education, working with adults with physical and learning disabilities, support work in the voluntary mental health sector, and providing long-term support to a close friend with mental health needs.
I have a good understanding of the Mental Health Act (1983), the National Service Framework for Mental Health, and the Care Programme Approach, and have paid close attention to modifications and amendments to the standards and legislation they represent. I assisted, for example, the North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust’s Assertive Outreach Team in its first use of a community treatment order.
During my training, as well as acquiring first-hand knowledge of psychotropic medication, I became increasingly aware of the importance of advocacy, the recovery model and psychological therapies, and am committed to incorporating these techniques and approaches into my work as a mental health practitioner.
I have acquired a working knowledge of the applications of cognitive behavioural therapy, and have taken into consideration the impact of work on mental health (in relation to low job control; understanding of employee role; organisational culture; and workplace relationships) and the need for evidence-based practice (in relation to overcoming the research-practice gap; supporting the justification for current working practices; meeting the demand for accountability; and cost-effectiveness). I look forward to further demonstrating my commitment to ongoing training and development in this field.
For my final placement I elected to be placed with the Single Point of Access nurse and social worker-led psychiatric triage team in Stoke-on-Trent. Because it provides the central point of access to mental wellbeing/psychological services in the area SPA afforded me the opportunity to gain invaluable experience in assessing people’s mental health needs, in anticipation of a career as a psychological therapist.
One example of a guided self-help CBT-type intervention I employed involved a socially isolated, self-harming young woman, with whom I developed a strong therapeutic rapport through initial and generic assessments and follow-up phone calls. The client agreed to keep a Dysfunctional Thoughts Diary, in which to record her feelings about, and reactions to, self-harming thoughts and anxiety-inducing situations. She acknowledged that my support helped her to attain the confidence to apply for voluntary work and to take part in a ‘Changes Young People 16-25 Years’ mutual help group.
Working in multidisciplinary environments has also helped me to obtain a greater practical understanding of the different pressures faced by primary and secondary healthcare services, and the need to maintain and develop links between the two. At the Single Point of Access service, for example, I was ideally placed to gain an appreciation of how depression and anxiety can present in Primary Care. Regular contact with general practitioners confirmed, in particular, that patients with depression or anxiety frequently present with physical or somatic symptoms, which can obscure a psychiatric diagnosis.
During this placement I took the opportunity to manage my own caseload, which was a responsibility I carried out with both enthusiasm and effective use of my time management skills. I also demonstrated my ability to work on my own initiative by identifying appropriate referrals, levels of assessment and suitable points of contact within other agencies.
I also enjoy and appreciate the importance of team-working, which I have found to be mutually beneficial in ensuring that essential tasks are completed effectively. I am comfortable ‘taking the lead’ when working with distressed and difficult clients, but am very much aware that effective communication between colleagues will help to ensure appropriate interventions.
I am strongly aware of the importance of client confidentiality and informed consent, and have sought to uphold NMC guidelines in this and other areas relating to standards of conduct, performance and ethics.
My clear and confident interaction with nursing and medical staff, patients, families, students and tutors, together with my record keeping and academic achievements, testify to my exemplary oral and written communication skills. These skills also ensured that I was entrusted with submitting a report regarding a professional dispute between a colleague and a member of another clinical team. Senior staff and the management team praised the report for its clear and balanced tone and used it as evidence in their attempt to settle the dispute.
I am proficient in the use of Word, PowerPoint, E-mail and the Internet. Furthermore, as well as being the Student Representative for my Diploma cohort I was selected by Keele University to attend the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Students’ Day at St Thomas’ Hospital, in May, due to my ‘outstanding academic scores’. My postgraduate studies, which focused on debates about cultural differences and equal opportunities, together with my support for third world development charities and anti-racist campaigns, also reflect my sensitivity towards the needs and values of individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds. This is a quality that I believe could be of great benefit to your service.
Being trained in partnership with North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust, whose reorganisation in 2002 was driven largely by service improvement and clinical governance targets, has made me very much aware of the need to achieve tangible results in alleviating the enormous personal, social and economic costs of mental illness. And I feel strongly that my special interest in working with people suffering from depression and/or anxiety would be best served through assisting in the delivery of IAPT services.
I believe I am well-suited and well prepared to support your organisation deliver on its commitment to extending the availability of psychological therapies. I hope that therefore you will be able to look favourably upon my application.
I very much look forward to hearing from you.
So, what was that about Marx, Dr Pod?
I am a radical humanist, libertarian Marxist and anti-imperialist through and through, and yet I recognise that today's 'anti-capitalist' and environmentalist movements are backward ideological expressions of production in retreat ("Stop the World! I Wanna Get Off!"). On close inspection, the current world recession reveals the subjective retreat of the capitalist class from industrial growth*. It is therefore essential today to emphasise the need for continued economic growth, while holding to neither the sectionalism of capitalism nor the relativism of the left.
While I'm of 'Marxist extraction' I consider it a disservice to Marxism to call oneself a 'communist' or a 'socialist' today. It's axiomatic in the revolutionary Marxist tradition that communists cannot create a working class movement of their own volition. Rather it was their role was to give it conscious direction. At the present conjuncture, where the working class exists sociologically, but not politically, there is no concrete movement in society that can give expression to the abstract idea of 'social revolution' (indeed the very idea invites blank incomprehension).
Marx sought to liberate capitalism's progressive trends towards economic growth from the restrictions it places on that growth. It is because 'left', 'right' and 'centre' today are preoccupied with the destructiveness of capitalism that production (the well-spring of our humanity) and progress have been demonised, pushing social change off the agenda. The goal of surpassing capitalism has been passed over for retreating from it. Thus, to be 'radical' today is to believe that capitalism has gone 'too far', when, in reality, capitalism is unable to go 'far enough'.
The world needs development, not 'sustainable development'. The former is the pre-condition for human liberation, the latter a recipe for ensuring that majority of the world's population remains 'closer to nature' (i.e closer to death).
http://www.metamute.org/en/print/13124
(James Heartfield, 'A crisis of under-accumulation')*
While I'm of 'Marxist extraction' I consider it a disservice to Marxism to call oneself a 'communist' or a 'socialist' today. It's axiomatic in the revolutionary Marxist tradition that communists cannot create a working class movement of their own volition. Rather it was their role was to give it conscious direction. At the present conjuncture, where the working class exists sociologically, but not politically, there is no concrete movement in society that can give expression to the abstract idea of 'social revolution' (indeed the very idea invites blank incomprehension).
Marx sought to liberate capitalism's progressive trends towards economic growth from the restrictions it places on that growth. It is because 'left', 'right' and 'centre' today are preoccupied with the destructiveness of capitalism that production (the well-spring of our humanity) and progress have been demonised, pushing social change off the agenda. The goal of surpassing capitalism has been passed over for retreating from it. Thus, to be 'radical' today is to believe that capitalism has gone 'too far', when, in reality, capitalism is unable to go 'far enough'.
The world needs development, not 'sustainable development'. The former is the pre-condition for human liberation, the latter a recipe for ensuring that majority of the world's population remains 'closer to nature' (i.e closer to death).
http://www.metamute.org/en/print/13124
(James Heartfield, 'A crisis of under-accumulation')*
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