Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s probably true of most book stores at this point.
Not really, margins on coffee are extremely high and a library-like environment can attract paying customers if you play it right.
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The death of east London's most radical bookshop
81–90 of 191 posts
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
>and they hadn't been paying attention when Ed Miliband had changed the voting rules and accidentally made Labour a democratic party. Great line. I think it's fair to say that both conservatives and labour have simply been riding on Margaret Thatchers coattails for the last 3 decades. If any of them have come up with any great original ideas of their own i haven't noticed. On the subject of democracy it has been very…
Fortunately, the status quo was bravely rescued by the Guardian's non-fact-based yet effective discovery of Corbyn's antisemitism. Gotta love such center-left newspapers.
Well Corbyns been hard at work proving them right. At least people should be pondering how making palestine a cornerstone of his political ideology would meaningfully help Britain. Unrelated but it's something George Galloway should think about. I accidently listened to about 30 seconds of him talking and he seems to be a captivating speaker.
Anyway what sunk corbyn wasn't his anti semitism, that was the excuse, but his socialism, which isn't at all what New Labour is about. Starmer is a centrist, which stems from his policy of having no position on anything. He is rightfully mistrustful of the left wing of his party. They would have lost in the elections.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#83> Since opening, the Scarlett Letters hadn’t made a month-by-month profit, but had been kept afloat by savings and a monthly donation of £10,000 from an anonymous “angel investor”. Sounds like it wasn't so much a business as a piece of performance art.
Non-profit's exist. And if we're judging whether or not something is a business based on how much profit it's making that would make Silicon Valley the global centre of performance art.
I think that the non-profits you are referring to are likely not-for-profits.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#84Performative 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.
What I wonder is how this didn't also happen to the right.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#85ah, it wasn't a collective. of course it failed.
in seattle's pike market, left bank books has been a collective operation for over fifty years now. it doubles as an event space and community center. and it's not just a static group of old comrades, many young people are involved.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#86Performative 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.
What I wonder is how this didn't also happen to the right.
Having a set of beliefs tethered to reality probably. Also as a general principle the right/centre don't believe the job of the government is to interfere in every aspect of peoples lives. This at least limits their ability to reproduce the empty gestures and moral lecturing of the left.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
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Holy shoehorn, Batman
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#88I know this is a tangent, but I just want to share this oddity. I am 38 years old, and I have been trying to buy Neuromancer since 1999. I have been in Santiago, Rome, London, Miami, Madrid, Bogota, live, in situ looking for the book on mainstream bookshops and I have never found a copy to buy. I know Neuromancer by heart but I have never been able to buy a copy of it. 38 Years.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#89I know this is a tangent, but I just want to share this oddity. I am 38 years old, and I have been trying to buy Neuromancer since 1999. I have been in Santiago, Rome, London, Miami, Madrid, Bogota, live, in situ looking for the book on mainstream bookshops and I have never found a copy to buy. I know Neuromancer by heart but I have never been able to buy a copy of it. 38 Years.
You could check it out from a library and just not bring it back. They'll charge you the MSRP.
Re: The death of east London's most radical bookshop
#90> Since opening, the Scarlett Letters hadn’t made a month-by-month profit, but had been kept afloat by savings and a monthly donation of £10,000 from an anonymous “angel investor”. Sounds like it wasn't so much a business as a piece of performance art.
A museum in my city closed because they were very unprofitable and couldn’t continue attracting more and more donations to handle their costs. A lot of people were angry and upset that it was closing, but whenever you pressed someone about it they would admit they hadn’t visited in a decade or more. Of those who had, the experience wasn’t very good. The museum had become more interested in poor digital displays and o…
Also true of favorite restaurants and childhood haunts. Things change and interests move on.