it really is too bad about the left, and the phrase 'neoliberal capitalism' is always a symptom of the fact that someone has, on principle, repudiated intellection. here's anthony alofsin, reviewing the international architecture biennale in venice fot the times literary supplement (oct 24). i think he's representing the views of rem koolhaas, who put the show together (this would be ironic given koolhaas's client list). 'Neo-liberalism has eroded the moral mission of architecture, sending the art from the public to the private sector.' sentences like that are so uncontroversial to alofsin's audience that they almost don't hear them as they slide by. 'public' obviously always just means 'state'. the assertion would be that architecture built for governments has been so much better than that built for other sorts of entities. could rem koolhaas or anthony alofsin really stare squarely at the utterly repulsive oppressive brutalism characteristic of more or less every government through the 20th century, and think that the state is the only legit client? nice pentagon, man, and auschwitz was a masterpiece. the greatest art is a concrete bunker, with a concrete plaza outside bestridden by a colossus of the mighty leader. the 'public' architecture of the twentieth century, i assert, was by a good long way the worst architecture ever built anywhere by anybody, with the very worst reasons to exist, good as nothing but a target, improved aesthetically by every act of vandalism. i think the implication of this approach is that not only should the state build more and more, it should be the only builder. i do not understand how you would stroll down this road without realizing that what you're advocating is ugly, evil and the complete destruction of your own profession. really it's as though you have never looked at anything, replacing your eyes with a set of slogans chanted in unison. maybe that's not what's best for art, overall.
so, leftish people. why are you leftish? because you believe in justice. because you believe in equality. because people shouldn't own people, and stuff. absolutely. exactly. alright, now you've got to start generating programs to pursue such goals which aren't obviously destructive of them. that is really how bad the mistake has been: the practical measures advocated to solve these problems have made them much worse, over and over again, obviously. to free people you advocate generating the most thorough mechanisms of oppression and elitism the world has ever known. so, stop placing quite so much emphasis on epistemic solidarity, on all saying the same things together, and start thinking independently about what you really want to achieve and what might realistically be expected to help bring that about. the first move cannot be to constitute a power capable of achieving justice and equality, for such a power has the opposite effect, always, every single time it has been tried, and by definition. it starts on the road to equality by imposing irresistible hierarchy. there is no reason to make this mistake, no excuse for making this mistake, even when everyone around you is making it together. the first step in helping people and stuff will be to dedelusion yourself.
