through europe

He hadn’t the time to get changed and the collar of his shirt was starting to annoy him. It was a stiff collar, almost ceremonial. Considering the total price of the shirt, that short strip of fabric must have been worth at least ten pounds. More or less the reimbursement fund for a whole day spent at ‘work’. And, to be at ‘work’, this kind of shirt was compulsory. There wasn’t a real uniform, apart from the price-tag of the clothes.

Non aveva avuto il tempo di cambiarsi e il colletto della camicia iniziava a dargli fastidio. Era un colletto di quelli rigidi, da cerimonia. Considerando il prezzo totale della camicia, quella strisciolina di amido e tessuto doveva valere almeno dieci sterline. Più o meno il rimborso spese di un intero giorno passato al ‘lavoro’. E, per stare al ‘lavoro’, quella camicia era d’obbligo. Non c’era una vera e propria divisa, se non il prezzo dell’abbigliamento.

"30/40 years ago we were still debating about what the future would be; Communist, Fascist, Capitalist, whatever...Today nobody even debates these issues, we all silently accept global capitalism is here to stay. On the other hand we are obsessed with cosmic catastrophes; the whole of life on earth disintegrating because of some virus, because of an asteroid hitting the earth and so on...
So the paradox is that it is much easier to imagine the end of all life on earth than a much more modest radical change in capitalism"