'on march 26th the paris commune was elected...'

 

'... on march 28th it was proclaimed.'

grey morning. today horsemouth works (twice). thereafter who knows we are into the great poverty. (well maybe not. maybe they'll furlough him again. maybe they'll find him more work). 

we have the two months of the commune and then the bloody week of its fall and the fate of the prisoners. horsemouth read a little of engels' scene setting and marx's two addresses to the general council of the international workingmen's association. 

here we see king crimson playing a small gig in bath. this kind of playing was very influential on the young horsemouth. he bought the record in a boots or a wollies near oxford circus sometime in late 1981/ early 82. probably together with some stanley clarke cassettes. 

in a recent podcast david runciman and helen thompson talk to chris bickerton about how technocracy and populism have come together (new labour to macron’s en marche, from dominic cummings to five star). they discuss the fusion that is technopopulism. at the level of technology the voter targeting profoundly changes the ability of political elites to roll and skew elections and this is new but it must work with the material that the population gives it. the plaint of MAGA is about jobs and work as much as it is about gun ownership and Qanon.