The Grouch Reads

The Grouch Reads: David Harvey and Kafka

DH

I have a friend who moved from New York City to the Midwest in the seventies because rents had gone up. She thinks it was a wise decision on her part, but I wonder to what extent that decision was brought about by individuals who were not considering her interests (only their own self-interest).

That is one thought I had after reading David Harvey’s “Brief History of Neoliberalism”.

Important changes in New York city were the result of decisions by powerful individuals, not elected officials, but bankers. Those decisions made life harder for the poor and working class, and benefited only a small number of people.

K

Kafka’s world is immediately rejected by the sane as too fantastic. Yet, if one thinks seriously about the goings on in New York City—a city gone bankrupt because of the decisions of a small group of self-interested and short-sighted individuals, it seems no longer far fetched that Kafka has described our world.

But even Kafka’s world is more personal than ours; Josef K is not seduced by advertising and the culture industry.

Kafka, Der Proceß

David Harvey, A Brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford UP, 2005