Walking on the Far Left

  Yesterday would have been Marilyn Monroe's 100th birthday. It is in tribute to the great feminist icon (who shares my love for bright red lipstick!) that I will write this post observing the many ways she shaped the last century's fashion, popular culture, and film, and, most of all, the way that women's presence in society could be regarded, surpassing all kinds of stereotypical ideation demonstrated through the presence of the male gaze, and other huge chauvinist attitudes that were apparent in the film industry in the US during this period. We can thus very clearly consider her as way more than just the perennial stereotype of the heavily sexualised glossy pop icon that she has for too long been portrayed as, and even go so far as to view her as, in her own rights, a true revolutionary and a good comrade. When reflecting on the ways in which the stereotype of subservience, submission and reliance on men has been considered as an integral aspect of her character, howeve...

It’s taking me a long time to get round to writing my next post. In the meantime, here’s a something else to add some humour variety to this blog: caricatures of Lenin and Trotsky drawn by me. Despite having limited artistic experience, I don’t think I have done a bad job. The Russian phrases are: “nothing to lose but our chains” (top) and “abolish class struggle, unity between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks”.

  The Storming of the Bastille- French Revolution painting by Jean-Baptiste Lallemand (1789). Something that never ceases to amaze me is how a supposedly people centric and class conscious set of communitarian and socialist economic principles can somehow ironically be responsible for the development of some of the most inegalitarian societies that have existed globally. This can be reflected through observing the case of France at the time of the French Revolution during the mid to late 18th century (and even still, to some degree, in more recent times). This was, arguably, the point in time by which the greatest reconstruction and reformation of the social and political dimension of Europe took place, its ever present and significant imprint continuing to be felt throughout the centuries that followed.    While Mao presented the need for the “true” people, as in the workers and peasants, to rebuild society, this was achieved through undemocratic and authoritarian means ...

 This weekend, I made my metaphorical pilgrimage to London to visit all the significant places in Marx's life, starting with his first home in London, and ending at Highgate Cemetery, where he was buried. It was through this trip that (along with having walked through three London boroughs and been introduced to parts of the city that I had never seen) I got to appreciate Marx's legacy and respect him as, once upon a time, a London resident who studied in the library, drank at pubs, and shopped in high streets like I do. The feeling gained from walking down the same streets and trying to visualise him living, working, rallying and resting offered a whole other dimension to the socialist movement and truly brought it to life. In this post, I will present photographs and provide commentary on the places I visited that hold significance for Karl Marx. Now a restaurant, 28 Dean Street in Soho was Marx's London home. His blue plaque, erected in 1967, can be seen on the wall. He ...

In what world is the injustice globally not frowned upon but saying the word "fuck" is? is a question that the  conservative snowflake brigade  (who shrink back in fright at any radical proposals or hints at social progress yet remain emotionless in discussing the problems with the world's inequality, corruption and violence) struggle to find an answer to. The underrepresentation of Kurt von Meier when discussing modern art and the last century's political movements proves to highlight exactly this.                                                                         Von Meier in 1966 Kurt von Meier was a Californian professor lecturing in art history at a variety of universities within the US, Australia and New Zealand. He is also the author of several critical and historical publications on art ...