* polonomics

* cultucopia
* meme

april / 2011 / no. 2

stealing
cities
for songs
the
the cruel
cruel professor
professor kant
kant
left
left behind
behind with
with empty
empty words
words
the season of stress-tests

philosophy
philosophy of
of dog
dog
www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011

© www.catalinaphotography.com
 CONTENTS

* subverbum / 2

* polonomics
the season of stress tests / 3
left behind with empty words / 4

* cultucopia
stealing cities for songs / 5

* meme
the cruel professor kant / 6
philosophy of dog / 7

1 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011

 Ideas on subverbum are channelled into three
different sections. Polonomics gives space to
political and economic thought on issues from
the failures of government to international
conflict. From travel write-ups to literary
criticism, Cultucopia opens up an exchange
on matters related to the arts and culture.
Meme breeds exchange on philosophical
ideas as applied to life here and now.

* subverbum Subverbum is not a place for egoism.

Substance and anonymity is central: no

“ ”
Expression is critical in a world where the old
guard insist on maintaining the economic and
social status quo. Fear for jobs and wages
means that there is a ground swell, a hunger,
amongst those of the post-modern age to take
political progress into their own hands. But
there is no need to be bound by the old rules,
the old messages and the old interests that
dominate society. By mustering political,
cultural and philosophical tools the premise of
this status quo can be prised open to
uncover new realities and possibilities.
Looking for the “sub verbum” – or reading
between the lines - is a key way to progress
over the status quo.
idea on subverbum is attributed to any single
author. All of subverbum’s writers publish for
the sanctity of the humble idea and the
conviction that alternative ways of seeing the
world contribute to the general good.
Writers are approached for subverbum on the
condition that the espoused ideas say
something new and the author is willing to
remain anonymous.
www.subverbum.com
subverbum@gmail.com

But the political landscape is presently

congested. The post-modern world sees so
many different views vie for our attention in so
many ways. Ideas are bound up with self-
interest, compromising their authenticity and
jeopardising trust in the humbleness of
thought. Personal ego is taking precedence
over the substance of thinking, but ideas
humble.
should not be about celebrity or career
progression. Individual thought is key but it

subaltern.
should be subsumed in a broader societal
debate.

Subverbum offers a space where those

unsatisfied with the status quo can fight the
corner of progress. It is a place where frank
and intelligent ideas on politics, culture and
philosophy are thrust onto the world.
Subverbum projects the thoughts of the
subaltern species into a broader domain of
ideas as well as amongst likeminded spirits.
ideas.
2 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011
 the season
taxpayers.
of
frugal.
citizenship.
stress-tests
© toonpool.com
* polonomics
www.subverbum.com
It’s simple, don’t you see? When something
____ (insert: toxic assets/nuclear melt-down)
goes wrong you conduct a “stress-test” and all
is put right. Phew, I’m glad we got that one out
of the way. It all seems so obvious now. Judge
a risky institution or physical construct against
some measurable criteria and see if it passes.
If a bank is not sufficiently capitalised, conduct
a “stress-test”, and see to it that its house is
put in order.
That is what our regulators and politicians
have been doing on our behalf. In 2010 7 out
of the 91 European banks tested had failed:
passing the test in this instance would have
required capitalisation to the tune of € 3.5
billion. Similarly in the US, by the time
February 2011 came around, 14 banks had
failed similar tests and 3 were closed down. In
2010 157 banks failed US government stress-
tests.
But the obvious is plain to see. Failure or
success in financial stress-tests depends
on the criteria one uses. How many more
banks would have failed the test had the
capitalisation rate been set at € 4.5 billion or €
5.5 billion. The whole process feels a bit
amateurish. Shouldn’t regulators be focusing
much more effort on the types of investments
bound up in these banks? Just what exactly
are the criteria for judging “toxic assets”? Both
3 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011
the markets and citizens have been easily
pleased, like the words “stress-test” should fill
one with confidence.
The same holds true for the nuclear stress-
tests now underway. The problems in Japan
surely give us cause for concern, but shouldn’t
nuclear sites be in a constant process of
testing? It seems to me that, given the
catastrophic consequences of nuclear fall-out,
we should have been busying ourselves on an
hourly basis with testing. Furthermore, while
the Europeans have the luxury of testing and
closing sites can the same be said for
countries that lack the resources for such a
costly process?
In many ways it is a noble thing to be prudent
and to be in a constant process of self-
evaluation, but it is alarming that crisis needs
to be broached before stress-tests kick-in.
Had we all managed to keep an eye on toxic
assets – without becoming infatuated with the
easy financial gains they entailed – we may
have lessened the impact of the crisis. Just
imagine all those unknown areas of the virtual
and material economy that are yet to bloom
into crisis, areas which should be tested
sooner rather than later with criteria that move
beyond the simple reassurance of speculators
and the media in mind.
left There has been a significantly poor counter-argument
to the Europe-wide consensus on austerity and its
ideological underpinnings. The Left seems unable to
mount a credible attack on the basic foundations of the
drive to austerity. Sure, many of its leaders and

behind representatives – both at the national and European

level – have their hearts in the right place but they have
not grappled with the fundamental meaning of certain
words.

with Take the word “fairness”, for example. This is

something which rolls off the tongue quite easily, and it
has indeed rolled off the tongue of many a socialist
recently. But scratch the surface beyond the mere
rhetoric and you will find little in the way of a definition.

empty © danielhg.blogspot.com
What does “fairness” mean in concrete terms and
policy output? Without clearly identifying what is meant
by such words, the outcome is that the Left turns to
populism. Obscurely treated concepts such as fairness

words * polonomics are designed to be misunderstood and they usually are;

www.subverbum.com possibly only rendering short term gains at the ballot
box.

The Left should be made to seriously answer the question: fairness for whom? Does fairness not imply some
degree of equality, and does equality spontaneously arise without some political contestation? The Left are
assuming that fairness will heal the great moral problem of capitalism wrought by the crisis, when a
peaceful transition to a fairer society may increasingly become more difficult in Europe. Now is the ideal time to
explain the real costs of a capitalist system and what can be done to alter future shocks, without hesitating
about the message given for fear of electoral defeats.
The Left should show that it is candid and sincere about fixing the market economy, and even if political trust
may come it does take time to accrue. The moment the public get a whiff of political self-promotion by any
single politician, or of the party being put before citizens, then the task is finished. Progressive politics is all
about working with people over the longer-term, even if this results in years in the wilderness without the
chance to govern.
Sure, the Left has gone for the scalps of bankers by ramping up pressure on a financial transaction tax but this
is only the tip of the iceberg. What the Left has singularly overlooked is that this is a small price to pay for the
financial industry in the grand scheme of things. For bankers a financial tax could be seen as a buy-off from the
political pressure thrown up by the economic crisis: the Left are being bought off by capitalism’s predators and
few see this irony.
Good social democrats need to work much harder. If they truly are the go between capitalism and the
social model then empty words such as “fairness” will just not do. Why has the Left not made more of a point
about the financiarisation of economies in Europe? Not only are they weary of launching a fierce attack on

the left.
capitalism for fear of the markets’ response and inevitably their own electoral success, but they have in many
instances been complicit in letting the said financiarisation take place precisely because of the markets and
electoral pressures.
The Left may have better success in becoming more economically conservative. A strange proposition indeed,
but a necessary one. Why has there not been more engagement with the issue of easy credit and loans -

capital’s lady.
something which is creeping back – or responsible government spending. The Right have been able to build
the structures for decades of harsh austerity as a result of the foundations laid by successive irresponsible
Leftist governments.
But the real difficulty for the Left today is the unwillingness to engage in arguments over the capitalist system
as a whole. This is the reason why words such as “fairness” seem hollow: they are merely attempting to plug

populism.
a system the size of the Three Gorges Dam with chewing gum. Social democracy will always find itself
caught between the demands of capitalism and labour, and this ensures that it will never offer innovative
solutions to alter the capitalist system. Not unless it is brave enough to prove itself wrong.

4 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011

 stealing
tealing city.
unterwelten
unterwelten.
cities
ities for
formula
formula.
songs
* cultucopia
www.subverbum.com
Of course it’s just sheer laziness. What were
the Editors and the Black Rebel Motorcycle
Club thinking of naming songs after
German cities? So you write a half decent
track and you’re looking for a name, so you
choose the name of the city you wrote it in. A
very original strategy. It’s the same thing
those deranged celebrities do when trying to
pick a name for their children by borrowing
the name of the city of conception.
But what these dark knights of indie have
pulled-off is far more superior. You see, when
you need a dose of melancholic industrial
in
smog to lend subterranean meaning to your
track there are only a handful of options.
They could have gone for “Coventry
Coventry” or
“Valenciennes”, and they would have been
nearer the industrial ideal they were pursuing,
but “Munich” and “Berlin” sound d so
undisputedly cool. They have it all as cities,
the historical significance and cultural cache,
the lot.
5 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011
© www.catalinaphotography.com
The Editors and BRMC understand that
coolness is an admixture
ure of underground chic
and the seriousness of Joy Division.
Divis Coldplay
missed the boat on n this formula by calling one
of their tracks “Amsterdam”: there is nothing
meaningful aboutt the Dutch capital,
capital it just
exists and is devoid of any form of mythology.
I suppose one could argue that this makes it
well-suited
suited to the Coldplay track in question.
questio
But why should Berlin’s perceived industro-
industro
grime strike
ike the right chords and
Amsterdam’s sterility not?
not It’s all about
perception. Berlin still has the parks, just like
any other city, but it also has the grey
tradition of the unterwelten.
unterwelten This is
significant.
nificant. A history of industrial dominance,
fascist and communist rivalries, bunkers and
clinical uniformities has ensured that Berlin
retains its subterranean force. This is just the
shot in the arm a mediocre track needs.
the cruel professor kant
* meme
www.subverbum.com

Maria von Herbert had it coming. She

should never have told that lie in the first
ethics.
place. Just what was she thinking of when
she hid a small matter of secrecy between
friends to her fiancé? She now
contemplates suicide and is a nervous
imperative.
wreck following her fiancé’s learning of the
incidence and his admonishing of her: he
has now even retracted his love. “Live
according to moral duty no matter what!”
“Think not of the consequences of your
entrapment.
actions but strive to maintain that
categorical imperative; that rule of moral © iStockphoto/Manuel Jung
perfection to which all should subscribe”.
“Do not become an ethical serf by lying to your neighbours or lovers”. “Even if you cause outright emotional
anguish, the truth will out for the benefit of humankind”.
Poor girl nothing! She did the right thing in telling her fiancé, albeit she perhaps told him a little too late. Just
think of the battering her moral character sustained with every passing second of the deceit. Now her sorrow
and anguish is a great symbol of her coming right, of her realignment with the cosmos, of her reintegration
back into the ethical spirit of humankind. Her personal sadness turned the joy of the world! Oh what a wonder
to indeed behold.
But for all her naiveté in following that stifling, conniving, categorical imperative, Maria is not doing well. There
is no telling what she will do now. You see, her Prussian counsellor had told her to be steadfast, that society
would understand her plight and forgive her for coming clean. The only problem is that her former fiancé has
gone around town talking of her moral impurity. People shun her in public and she has little chance of finding
another fiancé. The opposite of ethical justice has taken root; she is alone in a world of ethical authoritarianism
aimed at her.

subverbum: “Surely Professor Kant can help?”

Maria: “No, he’s done enough damage!”
subverbum: “Well he got you into this mess, maybe he can help you out of it.”
subverbum: “So, Kant, what should young Maria do?”
Kant: “Well now, the girl is clearly hysterical and she should really get a grip, you know, let her reason
top her passion and all that”.
subverbum: “Yes, but it was her ‘reason’ in adhering to your categorical imperative that led to her ‘passion’
and social downfall.”
Maria: “I think I’m going to leave town, and start life somewhere else”
Kant: “But wait, you should be proud of your moral superiority!”
Maria: “I think I’ll end it all, that’ll end this metaphysical nightmare”
Kant: “You can’t do that, that’s even more immoral than keeping a secret! Have you learnt nothing
from me?!””
Maria: “Do you mean I’m stuck in this quandary for the rest of my natural life?”
Kant: “Well, that is your duty... and duty is absolute regardless of what you think dear.”
Subverbum: “Wait a minute; is there really nothing Maria can do?”
Kant: “Not as long as I say so...”

6 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011

philosophyexistential.
of
dog
* meme
www.subverbum.com
You can never be too sure. Is he looking at
you out of love or does he just want more
food? There is something suspiciously
depressing about the authenticity of a dog’s
intentions. The rudimentary elements of life
colour their dispositions, and one is left
wondering what this all means. Is it possible
that we are relied upon as humans only to
offer victuals and fluids, are we not supposed
to give more than this? Affection is only
appreciated by us, and is really only for us, so
does this mean that interaction with our
natural environment is simply reduced to
husbandry and stewardship?
That’s the thing about our intrinsic human ego.
It is thoroughly unsatisfying to learn that we
are merely “the providers” in the eyes of dogs.
Don’t let them fool you for one measly
second. You see, they have been bred
strategically to elicit what they need from us
through the knowing shift of an eye, the
puffed-up chest, the slightest of whines and
that licentious lick of the lips. Dogs are
ingeniously engineered to take us for a ride,
their proven philosophy more effective and
“perfect” than any developed by say a Kant or
a Schopenhauer.
7 www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011
dog.
philosophy.
© www.houndstoothphotography.com
But they don’t just take do they? That’s the
problem. In a more profound sense they force
us inwards to a cavernous place where we
must confront our own reaction to such a
display of elementary yearnings. Philosophy of
dog becomes in an instant psychology of
human. What goes on behind their eyes?
What are they thinking? Do they hate me? Do
they despise me for giving in too easily to their
demands? Those of you whom never arrive at
such questions, or simply choose to pass over
them, are doomed to a future of sloppy
soppiness. To not respect philosophy of
dog is to ignore your own fragility and part
in the human condition.
We are on dangerous ground indeed. Why is it
that something which doesn’t love in the sense
we expect, gain just as much respect and
feeling than those fellow humans we do love in
the traditional sense? Do beings that don’t
give us automatic reverence, or secretly
despise how easily we subside, actually
increase the attraction and intrigue? We see to
their every demand for sustenance, and they
don’t force the little matter of our existential
failures. Perhaps this is the essence of the
unwritten contract between us and them?
subscribe/
unsubscribe
subverbum gmail.com
subverbum@gmail.com

subverb at

www.subverbum.com / 1.4.2011 – 8.4.2011