Culture

Part 1: Leisure and the Foundation of an Egalitarian Society

Morning Comrades.

For some of you that have been part of this 20 year long journey of Black Lodges you will have noticed that one aspect of it all has significantly disappeared, mainly the illustration and merch part to this communal creative endeavor. There is a plethora of reasons for this, but predominately it is, surprise, surprise: money. As much as I enjoyed and felt fulfilled drawing and making whatever my heart contended it simply did not align with the capitalist realities we all face: food, care, shelter and fuck knows what else they are charging us for these days. Hence, having learned a trade and working full-time as a Chef. It is not something I regret, on the contrary but I do miss spending my time as I wish, doing whatever pleased my fancy. We all would. Wage Labour is one of the most insidious and destructive capitalist realities and one of the main pillars of fascism. Don’t mistake this for not wanting to work, on the contrary, I am firm believer in work, and there is always work that needs doing, just not for the destruction of our planet and the enrichment of some fascist pig.

All of this had me thinking about culture, on a larger scale. For one, we are purposely led to understand consumption for culture, which it isn’t and much of what we falsely understand as culture is anything but culture. That is not to shit on anyone that enjoys XYZ - I am happily old, I have no idea whats consumable cool these days - but we do have to think about culture, as it forms an integral part of what can and does do for a potential egalitarian society. In capitalist societies, culture is often perceived as a domain separate from material life — an aesthetic sphere occupied by the privileged or an entertainment industry for the masses. Yet from a Marxist standpoint, culture is not a detached superstructure but a material expression of social relations, rooted in the historical and economic conditions of human existence.

Central among these conditions is leisure: the surplus of time freed from the direct compulsion of survival labour.

This 2 part dispatch argues that leisure is the historical and material basis of culture. Drawing on contemporary. Furthermore, it contends that in any project aiming for an egalitarian society, the universalisation of leisure — and the decommodification of culture — must be central. Only then can human beings collectively participate in cultural creation, self-development, and the building of an emancipated society. On Friday we will dig a little deeper to critique existing "cultural socialism" theories (like those of Gramsci and Raymond Williams) and contrast them with a materialist leisure-centred view. Every sword has two sides, and culture as we have to relearn and remake is one of these sides.