The Adventures of Unemployed Man ( Erich Origen and Gan Golan)

Erich Origen and Gan Golan

The Adventures of Unemployed Man

A comic book tale of neoliberalism whereby superheroes who have lost their job or are economic migrants are pushed into homelessness by the workings of a group of those who hold economic power and force deregulation of the workplace including reducing the ability of workers to act collectively (unions). It' brilliantly written and drawn (a variety of artists involved) and alongside the very serious message is a lot of humour much parodying traditional comic book heroes. Written in 2010 it is a response to the earlier market crashes whereby those at the very top of corporations got even richer and more powerful using the crash as a reason to push even more onerous restrictions on workers and to persuade governments to bail out the big banks putting taxpayer's money directly into the personal pockets of bank owners and top executives. All in a comic book.

Another aside as someone with a barely used economics degree. Adam Smith is much maligned as being the architect of neoliberalism and the concept of the "invisible hand" (used in the comic) that is used by the economically powerful to justify their version of the free market. Of course their version is all about trashing government regulation regarding their activities whilst using the same governments to repress workers combining to represent their interests. The free market we live in is anything but as corporations lobby governments to do their will, reduce their taxes and use the police and army to attack union activity. And of course to use the media to target the very vulnerable making them out as the cause of economic hardship most often using racism for this. Back to Adam Smith. He was writing in the 1700's when corporations didn't have the power that they have now across the globe. Yes some were forcing overseas markets to sell their goods cheaply and the slave trade was part of this. And back in the UK repressed workers rights as they started to combine. But Smith himself wrote that society and commerce could only operate with "mutual sympathy" or what we would call empathy. He saw commerce as a contract between producers (business) and workers and the buying public. See also Rousseau's The Social Contract although he and Smith definitely had major differences in opinion. Whilst Smith saw capitalism and the invisible hand (free market) the way to benefit all society he warned against having companies become too powerful and to break the "free" market by creating cartels and monopolies... or as he states "conspiracy against the public or in some other contrivance to raise prices."  Which is exactly the version of capitalism we have today.

To end with a few statistics...

Going into 2022 the top 1% of households in the United States held 30.9% of the country's wealth, while the bottom 50% held 2.6%.

Globally the richest 10% own 76% of all wealth; the poorest half just 2%.

Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys (Viv Albertine)

Viv Albertine
Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys

Another autobiography by someone who doesn't like them and justifies it with humour... "Anyone who writes an autobiography is either a twat or broke. I'm a bit of both". It sets the scene for Viv's extremely honest (I can only assume!) and laugh out loud / wince / become tearful story. The other scene setter is the first chapter "Masturbation". Recognising that some will want to skip to the juicy bits instead of reading nearly 400 pages Viv also has a "for those in a hurry" guide to pages with references to sex, drugs and punk rock. A good ploy as if you'd just picked this up in a book shop or library the dozen or so pages on each subject will make you want to read the whole book. The read is riotous for the 1st half being about youth and Viv's time in The Slits. Then gets more embroiled in life with responsibilities and serious relationships including parenthood. And out the other end. Some parts are extremely honest and Viv bares all her emotions. Of course you can never know how much is narrating what the teller wants the reader to think and it will have her slant to what she went through. Nevertheless a fascinating read and one that I wanted to read since reading her later book To Throw Away Unopened.

Revolutions : How Women Changed the World on Two Wheels (Hannah Ross)

Hannah Ross
Revolutions : How Women Changed the World on Two Wheels

Very readable account of the history of women cyclists from the very early days when practical clothing was a real issue (in general, let alone on 2 wheels) and the barriers that women had to fight against. This included physical violence. As a constant theme throughout the book whilst there are accounts of brave women who pushed against the barriers the conclusion is that there is still a lot of barriers to women cycling (take that to represent other forms of emancipation) across the world both very obvious in cultures where women cycling is banned through to less obvious (at least to a male cyclist like myself) where women are still heckled for cycling either simply that they shouldn't be on the road or sexist and sexual comments. As well as the battles women have to be recognised by cycling sports bodies and when they do officially participant the massive difference in support and pay compared to men cycling events. Having said that the book is largely celebratory and as well as those women who cycled for the joy of it and those who cycled to race there are accounts of those who cycled very long distances including around the world. The bravest must be those who used bikes as a means to an end such as suffragettes and those involved in resistance to occupation such as in World War 2. Well written by someone who obviously has a passion for cycling themselves and truly appreciates those who have gone before and those who are still pushing for equality. Hannah being one of them in my view.

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold (Stephen Fry)

Stephen Fry

Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold

Excellent retelling of various Greek myths with a modern twist and references. Takes us from the beginnings of the world indeed before the birth of what we (at least I and I suspect many others) usually think of as the first gods like Zeus and Hera. Goes through the creation of men, and then women, and links to other ancient stories such as the flood. Stephen tells the stories in a light hearted and comic way whilst at other times digs a bit deeper into why gods acted in the way that they did (they are certainly not perfect examples of well adjusted minds and characters) and links to what drives us humans. Very entertaining read covering quite a few stories that are commonly known (I take myself as the standard line here) and also quite a few others really giving an insight into the (mythical) character of the gods and leading into how humans became less reliant on them. A passage I loved follows and is typical of Stephen's comic yet serious take on the myths: Ouranos (also called Uranus) was the original sky god from which all others came and due to various family infighting (sound familiar?) is dispatched to the very core of the earth in a way that he will never be able to break free: "Brooding, simmering and raging in the ground, deep beneath the earth that once loved him, Ouranos compressed all his fury and divine energy into the very rock itself, hoping that one day some excavating creature somewhere would mine it and try to harness the immortal power that radiated from within. That could never happen, of course. It would be too dangerous. Surely the race had yet to be born that could be so foolish as to attempt to unleash the power of uranium?

The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography (Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah)

Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah
The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography

A very interesting and engaging book from Benjamin's challenging childhood and teenage years through his determination to make it as a poet (rather than end up in jail or dead) and his excellent work following success to help others whether supporting as artists or highlighting injustices around the world. I saw him I guess in the 80s and although I knew him through poetry (have a couple of his books of poems - his first bought back in the day and the vegan one) and somewhat musically I hadn't really realised the full breadth of his artistic creations and ability. I regret that I didn't follow him more for instance to see his plays. Like all autobiographies I read I find myself thinking that some of it is self aggrandising but I guess that's the point of them and I will certainly big myself up when I write mine. Joke! His introduction is typical of the sort of autobiographies that I read i.e. that the writer hates them... "I hate autobiographies. They are so fake". Well this one isn't it's warts and all. Timely too as unfortunately our dub poet passed away at a relatively early age last year. Well worth reading. And I love his dedication: "Dedicated to me. And why not?"  Sums up his no nonsense attitude. Not fake at all Benjamin - tell it like you want to!