Absent Future

8/10/2019 Absent Future

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heterminusofstudentlife

Co

mmuniqu

froman

A b t


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Weliveasadeadcivilization.Wecannolongerimaginethegoodlifeexceptasaseriesofspectacles

preselectedforourbemusement:ashimmeringmenuofillusions.Boththefull-filledlifeandourown

imaginationshavebeensystematicallyreplacedbyasetofimagesmorelavishandinhumanethananything

weourselveswouldconceive,andequallybeyondreach.Noonebelievesinsuchoutcomesanymore.

Thetruthoflifeaftertheuniversityismeanandpettycompetitionforresourceswithourfriendsand

strangers:thehustleforalower-managementpositionthatwilllast(withluck)foracoupleyearsrifted

withanxiety,fear,andincreasingexploitationuntilthefirmcrumblesandwemutteraboutplanB.But

thisisanexactdescriptionofuniversitylifetoday;thatmeanandpettylifehasalreadyarrived.

Justtosurvive,wearecompelledtoadoptvariousattitudestowardthisfissurebetweenbankruptpromises

andtheactualityonoffer.Sometakeanaveromanticstancetowardeducationforitsownsake,telling

themselvestheyexpectnothingfurther.Someproceedwithironcynicismandscorn,racingthroughthe

ludicrouscharadetowardthelastwadofcashintheairlessvaultofthefuture.Andsomeremaincommitted

totheantiquefaiththattheirascendinglyhardlaborwillsurelyberewardedsomedayiftheyjustactas

onewhobelieves,justshowup,takeonmoredegreesandmoredebt,workharder.

Time,theactualmaterialofourbeing,disappears:thehoursofourdailylife.Thefutureisseizedfromus

inadvance,givenovertotheservicingofdebtandtobeggaringourneighbors.Maybewewillearntherent

onourboredom,morelikelynot.Therewillbeno77virgins,notevenaplasmamonitoronwhichtowatch

thedeaththroesoftheUnitedStatesasaglobalpower.Capitalismhasfinallybecomeatruereligion,whereintherichesofheavenareeverywherepromisedandnowheredelivered.Theonlydifferenceisthat

everymannerofcrassnessandcrueltyisactivelyencouragedintheunendingmeantime.Weliveasadead

civilization,thelastresidentsofPompeii.


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7AgainstPompeii

Romanticnavete,ironcynicism,scorn,commitment.Theuniversityandthelifeitreproduceshave

dependedonthesethings.Theyhavecountedonourhumancapacitiestoendure,andtopropupthat

worldscatastrophicfailureforjustafewmoreyears.Butwhynothastenitscollapse?Theuniversity

hasrotteditselffromtheinside:thehumancapitalofstaff,teachers,andstudentswouldnownomore

defenditthantheywoulddefendacityofthedead.

Romanticnavete,ironcynicism,scorn,commitment:theseneednotbeabandoned.Theuniversityforced

ustolearnthemastools;theywillreturnasweapons.Theuniversitythatmakesusmuteanddull

instrumentsofitsownreproductionmustbedestroyedsothatwecanproduceourownlives.Romantic

naveteaboutpossibilities;ironcynicismaboutmethods;scornfortheuniversityshumiliatingliesabout

itssituationanditsgoodintentions;commitmenttoabsolutetransformationnotoftheuniversity,but

ofourownlives.Thisisthebeginningofimaginationsreturn.Wemustbegintomoveagain,release

ourselvesfromfrozenhistory,fromtheigneousfriezeofthisburiedlife.

Wemustliveourowntime,ourownpossibilities.Thesearetheonlytruejustificationsfortheuniversitys

existence,thoughithasneverfulfilledthem.Onitsside:bureaucracy,inertia,incompetence.Onourside:

everythingelse.


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Likethe

societyto

whichit

has

playedthe

faithfu

l

servant

,

the

universityis

bankrupt

.

deepbonds,

andifthereisalessontobelearnedfromt

hemi

tisthat

wemustbuilddensenetworksofsolidarityba

sedupontherecognition

ofashared

enemy.

Thesenetworksnoton

lymakeusresistantto

recuperation

andneutralization,butalsoallow

ustoestablishnewkinds

ofcollectivebonds.Thesebondsaretherealbasisofourstruggle.

Wellseeyou

atthebarricades.

Researc

han

dDestroy

2009


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10/14T

hesamepeoplewhopracticecritiquearealsothemostsusceptible

t

ocynicism.Butifcynicismissim

plytheinvertedformo

fenthusiasm,

t

henbeneatheveryfrustratedleft

istacademicisalatentradical.The

s

houldershrug,thedulledface,thesquirmofembarrassmentwhen

d

iscussingthefactthattheUSmu

rderedamillionIraqisbetween2003

a

nd2006,thateverylastdimesqueezedfromAmericaspoorestcitizens

isfedtothebankingindustry,thattheseaswillrise,billionswill

die

a

ndtheresnoth

ingwecandoaboutitthisdiscomfitedposturecom

es

fromfeelingoneselfpulledbetwee

nthe

isandtheoug

htofcurrent

left

t

hought.

Onefeelsthatthereisnoalternative,andyet,ontheot

her

h

and,thatanotherworldispossible.

W

ewillnotbesopetulant.Thesynthesisofthesepositionsisrightin

frontofus:anotherworldisnotpossible;itisnecessary.Theoug

htand

t

he

isareone.Thecollapseofthe

globaleconomyishereandnow.

III

Weseektop

ushtheuniversitystruggletoits

limits.

Though

we

denounce

the

privatization

of

the

university

and

its

authoritariansystemo

fgovernance,wedonot

seekstructuralreforms.

Wedemandn

otafreeuniversitybutafreeso

ciety.Afreeuniversity

inthemidsto

facapitalistsocietyislikearead

ingroominaprison;it

servesonlya

sadistractionfrom

themiseryofdailylife.Insteadwe

seektochann

eltheangerofthedispossessedstudentsandworkersinto

adeclarationofwar.

Wemustbeginbypreventingtheuniversityfromfunctioning.Wemust

interruptthenormalflowofbodiesandthingsa

ndbringworkandclass

toahalt.W

ewillblockade,occupy,andtak

ewhatsours.

Rather

than

viewing

such

disruptionsasobstaclest

o

dialogue

and

mutual

understanding

,weseethemasw

hatwe

havetosay,

as

howweareto

beun

derstood

.Thisistheonlymeaningfulpositiontotakewhencrises

laybaretheopposinginterestsatthefoundationofsociety.

Callsfor

unityarefundamentallyempty.Thereisnoco

mmongroundbetween

thosewhoupholdthestatusquoandthosewhoseektodestroyit.

The

universit

y

struggle

is

one

among

many

,one

sectorwhere

a

new

cycleof

refusaland

insurrection

hasb

egun

in

workplaces,


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We

seekto

pushthe

university

struggletoits

limits

.


12/14

The

modern

universityhasno

historyo

f

its

own

;

its

historyisthe

historyo

f

capital.


13/14

proletarianizedbydebtandadevastatedlabormarket.

Thatiswhyourstruggleisfundamentallydifferent.Thepover

tyof

studentlifehasbecometermin

al:thereisnopromisedexit.I

fthe

economiccrisisofthe1970semergedtobreakthebackofthepo

litical

crisisofthe1960s,thefactthat

todaytheeconomiccrisisprecede

sthe

comingpoliticaluprisingmeansw

emayfinallysupersedethecooptation

andneutralizationofthosepast

struggles.

Therewillbenoretu

rnto

normal.

II

Themodernuniversityhasnohistoryofitsown;itshistoryisthe

historyofcapital.

Itsessentialfunctionis

thereproduction

ofthe

relationshipbetweencapitalandlabor.Though

notapropercorporation

thatcanbe

boughtandsold,thatpaysreve

nuetoitsinvestors,the

publicuniversitynonethelesscarriesoutthis

functionasefficientlyas

possiblebyapproximatingevermoreclosely

thecorporateformo

fits

bedfellows.Whatwearewitnessingnowisthe

endgameofthisprocess,

wherebythe

faadeoftheeducationalinstitutiongiveswayaltogether

tocorporate

streamlining.

Eveninthe

goldenageofcapitalism

thatfollowedafterWorldWar

IIandlasteduntilthelate1960s,thelibera

luniversitywasalready

subordinated

tocapital.Attheapexofpublicfun

dingforhighereducation,

inthe1950s

,theuniversitywasalreadybein

gredesignedtoproduce

technocrats

withtheskill-setsnecessarytod

efeatcommunismand

sustainUSh

egemony.ItsroleduringtheCo

ldWarwastolegitimate

liberaldemo

cracyandtoreproduceanimaginarysocietyoffreeand

equalcitizen

sprec

ise

lybecausenoonewa

sfreean

dnoonewas

equa

l.

Butifthisideologicalfunctionofthepublicuniversitywasatleastwell-


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