As we come marching, marching, we battle too, for men,
For they are in the struggle and together we shall win.
Our days shall not be sweated from birth until life closes,
Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread, but give us roses.
James Oppenheim: Bread and Roses
The problem with dreams is that they tend to remain just that, unless we are able to bring forth some element into the waking world of reality. The birth of a dream is uncomfortable. It must, as in child birth, be dragged kicking and screaming into the dreary light of the world. From birth until death the body and soul are in constant jeopardy, this is life for many. But no matter how much of a struggle it may be, we must choose a path or life will choose a path for us, and that we must not settle for.
Businesses large and small do not see it as their job to make us look good, smell nice, enjoy ourselves or provide us with the means by which to live and thrive. We, the consumers, are just a nuisance always demanding things. A wall between them and their real goal; ownership of as much as possible, if not everything. How else could a single man be worth $461 billion (mid-2025) -a number so big it is meaningless to everyone except the person possessing such a vast amount of nothing. Probably much more by the time I publish this. (713.2 billion @ 11.01.26)
But what is that number? What does it represent? Apples on trees, potatoes in the ground, water in the sea, oxygen in the atmosphere?
Modern money (Fiat Currency) is worth nothing except to the person who owns it. The link between money and gold ended in 1931 (in the US 1971) now it’s value is dictated by government decree and economic stability, a mechanism that ensures that without the means of production, sorry to bring Marx in, the possibility of financial stability for the masses is not possible. For every penny we spend someone acquires a whole lot more on the back of it.
“Is Britain’s youth at risk of becoming a lost generation.”
Vicky Young: introduction to Politics Live 20th November 2025
Money is not a resource, that is the means of production, sorry! Marx again, and the risk of Britain’s youth becoming a lost generation is not because of a lack of work but is in reality a lack of meaning. It is the lack of meaning that drives in people, particularly the young who have longer left to survive on this planet, a lack of hope leading to a lack of aspiration, which ultimately leads to the halt of progress. As many philosophers, critics and theorists have observed over time; Frederic Jameson (1934-2024), Slavoj Žižek (1949-present ) and Mark Fisher (1968-2017)
“it is easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism”
2025 was for me, a time of justified complaining. Some of that complaining has resulted in action that has improved certain aspects of life here in this small corner of South Leeds. The corner of Dewsbury and Tunstall is a different place to what it was this time last year. Don’t get me wrong there is still a lot to do but the experience of the last twelve months dictates a change of tack and that is what I will be doing for 2026. So, here’s to a positive New Year here in South Leeds. Hopefully I will see you around. Come on down to BasementArtsProject for coffee and a chat.
You can find our opening times at www.basementartsproject.com
