MIDNIGHT
OIL: Work, Energy, War 1973‑1993
by the Midnight Notes Collective ($12, Autonomedia, POB 568 Williamsburg
Station, Brooklyn, NY 11211‑0568)
I was
reading Midnight Oil when the news was published in late January 1993 that Conoco, Amoco, Chevron
and Phillips had exclusive concessions to about two‑thirds of
Somalia's future oil and gas discoveries.
Conoco's headquarters, the only multinational corporate office
still open through Somalia's civil war, became the de facto American
embassy when the U.S. military moved in.
With this knowledge, the Somalian
“humanitarian” effort became more understandable, and strongly illustrates
the Midnight Notes Collective's thesis that recent history must be seen
from the working class point of view through the lens of petroleum.
The collective basically sees
economic crisis as capital's response to the working class movements
(working class defined as broadly as possible) of the late '60s and
early '70s, which managed to win major increases in wages and social
benefits. Oil price shocks in 1973‑74 ended the
post‑war “deal,” beginning the rollback of living standards. Later, after 1979, cheap oil was reimposed
as an attack on the heightened expectations of the people of oil‑producing
countries, with a subsequent explosion of international debt. This in
turn allowed (and still allows) capital to force down living standards
in nation after nation through “structural adjustment programs” imposed
by the IMF and World Bank. The need for continued high production demands
new investments, but capital is unwilling to invest when the proletariat
threatens to not work hard enough for little enough.
According to Midnight Oil and its very informative
and detailed account of the economy of the six million guest workers
in the Middle East, these many people and their expectations of sharing
the oil wealth were a major source of fear for international capital. Before capital would reinvest massively in
oil production in the Middle East, it had to be confident of its control
there and back in the major market, the U.S.
When Americans accepted the Persian Gulf War in the Middle East, both
ends were achieved, at least for the moment: the Middle East is completely
militarized and millions of potentially troublesome guest workers have
been sent back to Egypt, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. Meanwhile,
the “peace movement” and their antecedents in the anti‑nuke, pro‑alternative
technology crowd were rendered practically mute in the face of the onslaught.
(See also in Midnight Oil
“Strange Victories,” an essay included from the first issue of Midnight Notes in 1979, written by bolo'bolo author p.m., which examines
exactly who the anti‑nuke movement was in terms of class, race
and sociology). Oil companies
have been free to raise the price of oil over 30% in the past year in
the U.S., while there is no longer any public discussion about abolishing
the massive use of fossil fuels as soon as possible.
Military occupation of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and the maintenance
of a police state in Iraq, as well as the theocracy in Iran, all work
to hold down the people of those countries and preserve the extremes
of wealth and poverty.
Midnight
Oil incorporates
essays from Midnight Notes
during the '80s, including several from the recent “New Enclosures”
issue. A number of pieces from the original 1975 Zerowork are republished here and lay
out some of the theoretical foundations of the Midnight Notes
perspective. The opening 100 pages of the book are all new,
offering some of MN's best work ever once you get used to the emphasis
on working class composition, re‑composition and de‑composition
as explanatory concepts.
Midnight Notes' emphasis
on seeing things from the working class point of view provides a refreshing
reminder of the usefulness of some of Marx's original analyses about
the broader categories of capitalist society.
I have quibbled with my friends at MN for years over the semantic
emphasis on capital and the working class, as though there were two
clear entities making unified but opposed plans and taking action on
them. I occasionally feel like I'm hearing a crackpot
conspiracy theory. But Midnight Oil overcame
that with clear although abstract analysis. They still use language
that can sound silly and conspiratorial, not to mention a bit stodgy,
but given the real course of events during the past 20 years, it is
fascinating how their analysis parallels and predicts history. The next
time you want to go deeper than “Those Unfair Oil Companies!” or “No
Blood for Oil” or “Why is the Middle East so crazy?” get yourself a
copy of Midnight Oil
and settle in for an illuminating, challenging, and extremely informative
read.
—Chris
Carlsson
The
Art and Science of Dumpster Diving
by John Hoffman Copyright 1993 (Loompanics Unlimited, P.O.Box 1197,
Port Townsend, WA 98368 $12.95)
The Art & Science of
Dumpster Diving made me late for work twice
and almost miss my train stop once. I have a fragile stomach and it
turns over at the thought of diving into a dumpster or even reading
a book on the subject. I changed my mind at the sight of the bright
cover by Ace Backwords, a cartoonist oft published in these pages.
The earnestness and aptness of this book is fascinating
in these fragile times . Here is the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime
practice of dumpster diving as both a means of survival and an art form.
There is advice about what to wear, look for, avoid and how to behave
with people you encounter diving such as competitors, residents, cops
and building managers. And watch out for glass and beware of bio‑hazards
such as red pouched “sharps” in hospital waste bins.
Raucous happiness underscores his every description of people
engaging in economic activities such as dumpstering that deny the taxman
and various local profiteers any gain. Beyond mere physical survival,
the spirit of diving gives “Hoffmanville” its identity as a collective
endeavor. Hoffman conveys well the individual and shared joys, learning
and discoveries of these forays.
Hoffman points out that grassroots trash recyclers re‑inject
wealth into the economy and save a lot of dump site space. But too little
and too late. Recycling works well only when discards are sorted at
the household level. If your neighbors are as subhuman as mine are,
good luck getting the work done! Local laws, locked dumpster areas (garbage
is precious private property!) and trash compactors are used to frustrate
the whole dumpster underground economy and should be actively fought
(see “W.O.R.C. will make you free” on page 119, that's “War On Refuse
Compactors”.) In truth, I recycle, that means sort, my garbage and do
not care who takes it. This is controversial in places where people
think the city or half‑assed non‑profit organization should
make a buck at it. Not so in this book:
“Think about the stupidity!
Dumpster divers and small recyclers are working efficiently, recycling
things and injecting money into the economy. The waste recovery plant
lives off tax money like a junkie, sucking the local economy dry. Who
gets blamed? The dumpster diver of course! And when he stops picking
through the trash, the facility still doesn't make any money. And it
will never make money because the whole idea is flawed from the start,
based upon an irrational fear of garbage.” (page 125)
There is more here than dumpster
diving techniques and wilted vegie recipes, etiquette and fashion. There's
the Loompanics libertarian I‑Love‑Guns persona with amazing
Inalienable American Rights to bear arms and constitutionally topple
any iniquitous government. But stay away from the cops, they're nothing
but trouble:
“Cops piss me off. They come
at you with an attitude that you are guilty and they are going to get
you to admit it with a few verbal tricks. Just once, I'd like to meet
a pig with an attitude like I have a shining aura of civil rights around
my body and possessions. Criminals with guns and badges, that's all
they are.” (page 58).
It's indeed lamentably obvious
that cops are trained in harassment techniques and lack concern for
the remnants of civic liberties. At least in my adopted hometown, Berkeley.
No People's Republic but Pig Sty Supreme. “'Nuff said”.
Hoffman convinced me that there
is hidden treasure in the bins, that dumspter diving is a respectable
occupation and even better, a subversion of the consumer society. He
has a predisposition for what he calls “post‑apocalyptic” landscapes
and attitudes. I personally don't twig to apocalyptic visions, especially
when they are combined with the closing of the second christian millennium.
But I appreciate the images
Hoffman evokes and his way of living off the plentiful discards and
discords of our consumer society.
There's lots of juicy stuff on
the art of putting “found information” to good use, and bushels of illegal
possibilities should the reader be half a jailbird at heart. The worst
story was garbage mail being used by a “church lady” and her group to
close an abortion clinic. The enemy is using this found shit and so
should you. That's the book talking, not me... really, Officer.
The best stories were on how to make your local legislator
look bad in the press through a careful read of his discarded info.
Police mail is the best.
Sexy pictures from neighbors or high school classmates aren't
bad either. And the future is now:
“In the last few years, I
have seen an amazing dumpster phenomenon. People are discarding floppy
disks and computer related material by the ton.... Finding a floppy
disk is like finding a cabinet full of papers
—but in a compact, easy‑to‑use format. Once, I actually
found the famous PLO virus. No wonder they threw it away.” (page
139)
There is a somewhat didactic
tone which can annoy the reader. But hey! Hoffman is a survivalist (without
the vengeance, which he deplores as common amongst that group ).
He preaches his stuff with plenty
of religious fervor and admonitions to have fun at it, get back at
the enemy (power companies, taxman, retail industries, banks...), use
your imagination and thrive in the cracks of a dying capitalist economic
web. There is a downplayed survivalist anti‑abortion stance perhaps
because the more (armed survivalists) the merrier? Women have the inalienable
right to their body at all times in my script. Hoffman's bias also shows
in the statement that businesses are a front for government:
“If the government demanded
all persons buying books show proper ID, K‑Mart would slavishly
obey the edict. Don't pity the ”poor businessman", he's a whore
for the government. You might as well be shopping at the IRS store..."
(page 100)
I used to think that governments
were a front for businesses, then I grew up. Now I know it is a two‑headed
Cerebus. Don't hesitate to use the singular: BIZGOV.
The most basic advice works regardless
of your ideological leanings. Don't pay full price if you don't have
to, mattresses being the sole exception according to the author. I know
a lot of people whose predilection favors flea markets above malls for
the thrill and challenge of barter and that's what Hoffman pushes: free
thrills. And a cash bonus to boot. “THAR'S GOLD IN THEM THAR DUMPSTERS!” He claims it's better than bill posting or spray painting because
it furthers family interests. Well, to each her cup of tea.
In the meantime and as times
do get mean (have been getting meaner forever really), Hoffman does
his part in sharing his way to get from under the heavy economic boot
of the “best system in the world”, well known for
its recurrent crashes, depressions, recessions, etc. So if you have
a steady nose, go hound out those treasures. It could be a fun hunt.
The book certainly is a fun read.
—Pétra Leuze
THE
LONDON HANGED: Crime and Civil Society in 18th Century England
by Peter Linebaugh (Cambridge University Press, New York: 1992) $25
Midnight Notes contributor Peter Linebaugh, once a student of reknowned
British labor historian E.P. Thompson, has fulfilled the promise of
that apprenticeship by publishing an incredibly detailed account of
the use of capital punishment in London from the late 17th century through
the 18th century. This is a
long, very serious book, that microscopically covers the daily lives
of London's working class during the crucial century in which contemporary
work and property relations became firmly established. As Linebaugh
shows, these relations were often enforced with the gallows. In an era
when history is increasingly absent, denied, and manipulated, this book
stands out as a beacon of clear, engaging historical writing.
Linebaugh's analysis of the establishment of capital punishment
for property crimes, the ebb and flow of the death penalty with changing
labor needs, and the rise of wage‑slavery and factory work sheds
interesting light on the current resurgence of capital punishment in
the United States. 20th‑century work and property relations
are more precarious than ever thanks to new technologies, and new forms
of resistance and refusal. Perhaps most compellingly, using work as
a measure of social wealth makes less and less sense when capital itself
is systematically reducing the use of human labor in most areas of production.
The ultimate punishment is making a comeback as society descends into
criminal chaos and as desperate poverty becomes more widespread. The
London Hanged helps us see the social processes and decisions
that make reliance on the death penalty “natural” and “obvious” and
confronts us with their absurdity as reflected in a similar but vastly
different moment in history, a history as much ours as Londoners'.
Check it out!
—Chris Carlsson
REAL
GIRL: The Sex Comik for all genders and orientations...
by cartoonists who are good in bed! Edited by Angela Bocage. (Fantagraphics Books,
7563 Lake City Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115) $2.95
Real
Girl is real good. Cowgirls make horns at the blues. Maybe the
sometimes beautiful and sometimes not too aesthetic genitalia would
scare your mother. That's not
the raison d'être for this diverse collection of cartoons. The philosophy
here is of exploration and acceptance. It's so varied in scope that
anyone can find a romantic soft touch or g‑spot to hook on to.
It is amazingly moral in essence.
I passed it to my favorite teenagers
(it's restricted as in not for sale to minors) and the favorite story from Real Girl #3 was “Signed Sister
Ende” by Chula Smith, a historical
dream sequence of sorts, in which a 20th century woman teacher introduces
the religious illuminations of a 13th century woman painter. She signed
her work “Ende Pintrix, Dei Autrix”: Ende, Woman Painter & servant
of god. In the background, modern school kids practice jungle war on
each other.
That just shows it's not about sex only. Everything is acceptable
so long as it promulgates understanding and acceptance. I'd recommend
it for all those pesky teenagers still in your life or soon to be. But
if I were you I'd grab it first, 'coz it's a great read. Make this comix required reading in all high
schools!
—Pétra Leuze
