[dead]
The death of east London's most radical bookshop
11–20 of 191 posts
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#12> To Parker’s mind, for a project started with the aim of platforming sex workers [...] to have reached such a point was mortifying. How had things gotten so bad?
I’m intentionally omitting all the objectives that actually make sense for a book store to have, in order to highlight what apparently was the main one...
This was a remarkable story. I’m sensing a pattern. When people of certain ideologies band together under ostensibly noble causes (cue all the aims previously omitted above) they tend to implode rather quick. Often, the objectors feel as though it's the responsibility of the other side (usually the leadership) to afford them with some sort of power of their own.
Also I'm a bit let down it never disclosed how Blaise Agüera y Arcas wound up there. If a Google employee is introduced in the beginning of a story it must be explained as to why. But if I was watching my competitors face legal issues for supposed illicit processing of intellectual property, I’d definitely send my guys out to embattled book stores to get their stock for the cheap.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#13Performative radicalism that freaks out wider society instead of slow steady progress has led to the near complete irrelevance of the left in the west, especially the anglosphere. I mean, UK Labor is a centrist pro-capital party now. It's over.
"Performative radicalism" is a problem left and right
Look at UKIP, blaming the cluster fuck of the Brittish economy on immigrants, who are weak, other and easy to blame for damage caused by making taxpayers pay for banker's misfortune and Brexit
I am in New Zealand and we have the same problems, on the left and the right.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#14These frequently happen among these people. I'm reminded of the Current Affairs episode and my favorite since it was so irrelevant: Matt Yglesias getting lambasted because he dared suggest hiring cleaners for the Vox office.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#15Performative radicalism that freaks out wider society instead of slow steady progress has led to the near complete irrelevance of the left in the west, especially the anglosphere. I mean, UK Labor is a centrist pro-capital party now. It's over.
Labour has been "Blairite" ("centrist pro-capital," or just say neoliberal) since the SDP sabotage and the endless, worthless reign of Kinnock. This happened at the same time the New Democrats were stomping the Rainbow Coalition into the ground to finalize the transformation of the US Democrats into the exact same thing.
UK Labour has been a "centrist, pro-capital party" for probably your entire life (or at least most of it.) The only reason Corbyn even ended up in front is that a bunch of centrists nominated him as a joke candidate, and they hadn't been paying attention when Ed Miliband had changed the voting rules and accidentally made Labour a democratic party. Of course the membership voted for Corbyn, everybody else was garbage.
Same reason why Trump won the Republican primary in the US - the Tea Party had forced the voting process to be democratic. Unlike the Democratic party, which doesn't even have a vaguely democratic process, culminating in them having absolutely no process in the last election. I still insist that if Sanders had run as a Republican in 2016, he would have been president.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#16> To Parker’s mind, for a project started with the aim of platforming sex workers [...] to have reached such a point was mortifying. How had things gotten so bad? I’m intentionally omitting all the objectives that actually make sense for a book store to have, in order to highlight what apparently was the main one... This was a remarkable story. I’m sensing a pattern. When people of certain ideologies band together un…
> Also I'm a bit let down it never disclosed how Blaise Agüera y Arcas wound up there.
I'm assuming the article forgot to mention (or weren't certain) that they were the angel investor, given that it was heavily implied.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#17People who enjoyed this may also enjoy the Blocked and Reported podcast's episode about Glasgow's Pink Peacock cafe, "the only queer Yiddish anarchist vegan pay-what-you-can café in the world". If I remember it right, it closed among similar drama, also specifically involving issues with the building's toilet. I have to admit to finding these things hugely entertaining. But for balance I'll point out that Housmans ha…
https://old.reddit.com/r/glasgow/comments/142etak/heartbroke...
> The owners of the Pink Peacock Cafe faced an uphill battle against prejudice, discrimination, and hatred, making it nearly impossible for them to continue their noble mission of creating a safe space for everyone.
Top comment:
> Your place was an absolute fucking disgrace. You displayed more hatred and bigotry than any of the folk you are accusing. You didn't fall because of 'the system', you failed because you are a pseudo-intellectual circle jerk with staff who are abusive. Fuck off and good riddance.
Also:
> You failed because opening whenever you could be bothered while selling piss-poor coffee and average food in a cafe which often resembled a messy student's bedroom isn't going to bring the punters in.
> And be honest here, you're closing because you can't afford to fix the disabled toilet. You'll all be fine though. You've got trust funds and wealthy parents who'll help fund your next doomed to fail venture but those poor wee sods that did rely upon you will be let down by nobody but you.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#18> To Parker’s mind, for a project started with the aim of platforming sex workers [...] to have reached such a point was mortifying. How had things gotten so bad? I’m intentionally omitting all the objectives that actually make sense for a book store to have, in order to highlight what apparently was the main one... This was a remarkable story. I’m sensing a pattern. When people of certain ideologies band together un…
> Also I'm a bit let down it never disclosed how Blaise Agüera y Arcas wound up there. I'm assuming the article forgot to mention (or weren't certain) that they were the angel investor, given that it was heavily implied.
Ah, missed that paragraph. Far more interesting than what I speculated.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#19This reminds of this discussion about the closure of a 'cooperative' bookshop in New York: https://x.com/narrenhut/status/1970884747833585690
Perhaps they just "didn't feel like being customer-servicey" often enough:
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#20Performative radicalism that freaks out wider society instead of slow steady progress has led to the near complete irrelevance of the left in the west, especially the anglosphere. I mean, UK Labor is a centrist pro-capital party now. It's over.
Sure fascism is getting some power, but not because of left radicalism.
It got powerful because millionaire CEO sponsored them, due to them loving the idea of techno feudalism. And by being enabled by those who said "ignore them they are just trolls". And by support from Russia.