about doorhandles

Before the start of this academic year, I had to find a new place to stay. A situation in which I cautiously put myself into. I could as well have stayed in my previous place in a grand georgian terrace facing Regents Park, where I stayed in a students hall. OK, it had it's downsides. I had to share a room and despite the weekly room service, it was kind of filthy. On top of that Marylebone sucks, it is the second most boring place on earth. However I wanted to experience the real London situation. After looking into other options within my budged (I came across shoebox sized rooms in totally overrated East End and flea holes in miles away New Cross), I found a rather decently sized room in a 1950 red brick council estate. I really loved all the still original details. A little built in wardrobe, wooden sash windows and the carefully designed bathroom fittings of the time. The whole package included also included layers of grime and the debris of the past decades which I had to get rid of first and that is not rocket science either. I just liked the idea of living in a rather real utopia. The 50s created housing which still today is very attractive: Decently sized rooms, functional bathroom and separate toilet, everything well lit (even the toilet got a window: a luxury) and with all the necessary amenities and transport in close proximity. Not to speak of the successful social structures that were created, which today thanks to Thatcher and Blair don't exist anymore.

Their policies created an economic environment which on one side created cheap labour and on the other side changed from council housing to private sector housing. Council housing became social housing. And the houses became capitalist investment rather than social investment. The house I am living in still had copper(!) encased electrical wiring and the real wood doors with top lights and enamelled cast iron door handles. All you get today is cheap plastic. Looks good on the glossy brochures the developers produce. Not so good, if you have to use it daily. But that doesn't count – as long as the investment is successful i.e. creates the expected yield. 

the future is beginning to become a project again

The latest crisis, which this time happens to threaten our high octane and high protein lifestyle, is now dragging on since summer 2008. In New York, Madrid, Athens and next Saturday all around the world people are protesting against something quite accurately described as 'capitalist-parliamentarianism' by Alain Badiou. This crisis is possibly more challenging then earlier ones, but it certainly is nothing exceptional in the current system. Although it took a while, it starts to remind more and more of us that in capitalism everything is always in crisis (by definition of the term). Despite the current notion, capitalism itself is a quite stable system. 

Yesterday, Slavoj Zizek gave a speech on Liberty Plaza to the 'Occupy Wall Street' movement. He, who is supposed to be one of our current intellectual ellite, apart from picturing metaphoric anecdotes, and giving some encouragement to the protesters not to give up, is not telling us much. The same applies to Alain Badious text 'What is the Reality to Which this Crisis is Specatacle?' Rather than describing or speculating about such an alternative reality, he again provides us with a spot on and well illustrated description of the crisis. Really quite unsatisfying. Instead, they still seem to digest the eternal failure of such an alternative reality, when they seek to redefine the term communism or distinguish themselves from the so called existing communism. For me the real debate has to be about speculations on the role of the state. But at the moment there seems to be no broad propositional culture about future models (apart from some eco-fashistoid sustainability debates). 

Maybe it is capitalisms ability to incorporate any idea, even revolutionary ideas that aim to turn over capitalism (greenwashing), that prevents such a needed culture of utopian manifestos. Badiou therefore  suggests the only authors of a true alternative system can only be those who are and remain outside of the economic system. A couple of month ago (after 2005 in Paris) in Tottenham a bunch of kids showed us their take on the system as outsiders. In Middle and South America a whole culture of violence emerged among those excluded from the system. I hope for some reason those tendencies still belong to the end of the capitalist system and are not the dawn of a new era. Bearing that in mind and the fact, that we (students) are the bourgeoisie upper and middle class well integrated into the capitalist system, the badge on this years AA Prospectus 'The future is beginning to become a project again' offers quite a challenge.