The Simulacra

Philip K. Dick's The Simulacra explores much of the same themes and tropes as his other novels of the 1960s. Prehistoric human species, time travel, intrigue, time travel, World War II, nuclear war, and the obsessive fixation on the real and the artificial drive this novel. While it seems like a typical PKD novel of the decade, the ending is less clear-cut than some of his other work. Furthermore, intrigue between various cartels and government departments in this totalitarian society (Matriarchal, and guided by the Magna Mater figure of Nicole) bring down the government and the population of the United States of Europe and America must confront "reality." This novel actually brought to mind a point from Jeremy Jenning's book on Sorel, in particular the distinction between artificial nature, artificial nature, and human knowledge of the world. If I remember correctly, Sorel's point was that experimentation to progress scientific knowledge was "artificial nature" because it reproduced "natural nature" but in controlled settings, shaped by human knowledge. Perhaps the distinction between the simulacra/ersatz world and that of actually-existing conditions in this 21st century dystopian novel point to the limitations of human reasoning to understand the difference, and social myths (such as the Great Mother figure and its mythic/archetypal connotations) as a basis for a post-apocalyptic government will end in ruin. Perhaps this is the limitations of social myth as a basis for metaphysics?

Contribution à l'histoire du mouvement syndical en Haïti: Janvier 1946-Novembre 1947

Due to my ongoing interest in the history of Haiti's labor movement and leftist social parties, I finally perused Contribution à l'histoire du mouvement syndical en Haïti: Janvier 1946-Novembre 1947 by Daniel Fignolé. Fignolé's self-aggrandizing account of his pivotal role in the formation of Haiti's first important (and officially recognized) labor unions in the aftermath of the 1946 revolution is fascinating because of his correspondence with various government officials and managers of companies where the staff were attempting to unionize. Unfortunately, without access to all of Fignolé's correspondence and his party's newspaper, Chantiers, there are several gaps in the narrative. For example, the role of the Parti Socialiste Populaire and its influence in the Fédération des Travailleurs Haitiens is downplayed while Fignolé plays up his leadership and skills in securing union rights for Haitian workers, job protections, and even "civilizing" the Haitian worker through his leisure centers for the Haitian urban working-class. Perhaps, unsurprisingly for Fignolé, one realizes how fundamentally condescending his view of the Haitian proletariat was, but one must admire his broadly social democratic vision and opposition to 'esclavagiste' politicians and companies.

In terms of HASCO and the labor force, it is of interest that the first formal union of HASCO employees emerged in 1946, even though an attempt was made in the 1930s. Moreover, Haitian canegrowers for HASCO organized and included a woman in their leadership, Rebecca Jean-Baptiste. From other sources I've read, I think HASCO, at least in its initial stages, recruited its labor force through native recruiters, but I have to locate more information about the labor force, the role of the independent sugarcane cultivators, and the impact of proletarianization in the Haitian countryside. My long-term research project, if I ever attain access to certain archives and documents, is to document the impact of HASCO, SHADA, Plantation Dauphin, and other companies on the Haitian peasant, the development of a "rural proletariat," and the role of unions and socialist parties. Fignolé is useful for providing some early context and correspondence, as well as the labor federation he dominated.

Krönungswalzer, op.133

I recently went through a jazz-waltz phase, and decided to go back to the 'roots' of the style. Of course, this entailed listening to more Strauss and other Vienna composers, in addition to the vast corpus of the classical genre's composers who used the waltz. Somehow, that led me eventually to Joseph Lanner, a key figure in the history of the waltz. There's something irredeemably uplifting and soulful about the waltz.