UBIK! ‘the world is now gripped by the most widespread and severe capitalist recession to be witnessed since the thirties...’

on his way home horsemouth found a 1992 september/october copy of new left review. and once again,

 ‘the world is now gripped by the most widespread and severe capitalist recession to be witnessed since the thirties...’ 

now horsemouth was thinking about this era just a week or so ago when looking at one of his old physical diaries. 

he remembers this time as the great prosperity - the carnage of the thatcher years is over, rave has happened, a psychological corner has been turned. while horsemouth hasn’t (properly) re-entered the labour market yet (if indeed he ever does) he does have enough money to get on a plane and go to a foreign country once a year for a couple of weeks. it is possible that horsemouth remembers it this way because he was sufficiently far from the economy and his needs are so meager that he was not to be bothered by what it did (much). in any event it is all part of an upward trajectory in the conditions of people’s lives beginning (again) in 1945 probably ending some time in the 1970ies but that ending disguised by cheap credit and consumer goods. 

prosperity eventually came to horsemouth, he began to engage with the economy more, rent property, take foreign holidays and such. indeed with the collapse of the soviet union we entered that era of capitalist triumphalism called the end of history that will last (off and on and despite evidences to the contrary) all the way to 2008. 

what is the nlr’s solution to the 1992 capitalist recession? 

‘the world needs international coordination and planning as never before’ 

but this is blocked by danish refusal of the maastricht treaty, a treaty which also ‘not only prescribes austerity measures but also seeks to impose a secretive and unaccountable intergovernmental structure and european central bank in place of the democratic institutions of a federal europe.’ 

and here we are 30 years later, much of which horsemouth has worked (after his fashion). horsemouth gladly contemplates (if not actually plans) his exit from the economy. the european project trundles on (by stealth) despite being relentlessly torpedoed by various european electorates. the bubbles of credit and financialisation collapse and then reform again and again. time will tell if the airline/ holiday industry has collapsed (or is merely taking a holiday). 

and of course the scale of the crisis to come is very much greater than 1992 or 2008 (or any of the other crises of accumulation or political crises that have happened in horsemouth’s lifetime). horsemouth has less faith in these crises to drive positive change than he had before.

yesterday horsemouth traveled and worked and traveled back. which was knackering (so afterwards he slept). he enjoyed it, the sun was shining. it is however not safe (horsemouth will continue to keep his head down until such point as he has been vaccinated). over on facebook (boo & hiss) the ‘Write a note’ button is still there (under its new name ‘UBIK’).