Left Culture Club: Events & Socials for a Radical Future

LINK: https://archive.org/details/the-gulf-war-did-not-take-place-jean-baudrillard/mode/2up

Hi all and welcome back for instalment two of our Baudrillard reading group! This time we're continuing with chapter 1, since at the last meetup the introduction provided such a rich vein of ideas for discussion we didn't even make it to a full-fledged discussion of the first chapter. Chapter 1 is very short, so it should be a breeze for everyone to get on the same page even if this is your first meetup with us.
For context on the text and the LMRG reading series of which it will be the first of many, here's the background we provided in the description for our last meetup:

We're starting off with Jean Baudrillard's series of essays, collected in 1991 with the provocative title The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. Rather than deny the literal reality of the Gulf War, Baudrillard challenged his readers to consider the non-reality of "The Gulf War" as it was then (and is now) known to mass-media consumer audiences in Europe and the Anglophone countries, i.e. as a spectacular, perfect war, over within weeks, in which all the death and destruction was suffered on one side while the other simply kicked back in their air-conditioned control rooms and cockpits, pressing buttons and unleashing hell with impunity. The text addresses questions of technology, media, and spectacle as they relate to modern conflicts; the Gulf War prefigured not only the subsequent US invasion of Iraq but also the entire contemporary model of how high-tech wars, in the minds of military planners and PR/psychological operations specialists, are supposed to go. Even today, decades on, as conventional conflicts rage across the globe, we can see how mass media and social media continue to mediate our relationship with conflict, especially as non-combatants but even (increasingly) as participants. FPV drones for example have not only revolutionised battlefield tactics but, perhaps as importantly, the way recruitment and propaganda materials are filmed.

Our Baudrillard series will be a three-part set of meetups, with the next instalment tackling chapter 3.

Through this series, look forward to readings from the likes of Paul Virilio, Guy Debord, Carl von Clausewitz, Field Marshal Jomini, Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, the British civil defence authorities and many more.

Happy reading comrades and see you soon!

The data is in: London's running clubs are the trend. Glowing profiles in haute outlets like the FT paint the picture. It seems like running "crews" are everywhere these days, their ranks swelled with the KPMG lads and flexible workers drawn from London's densely-populated creative sector. The 'gram page for east London's own Your Friendly Runners, which regularly draws over 100 people on weekends, is plastered with high-end running brand collabs. And there are plenty of smaller crews dedicated to women, LGBT communities and more. So why does our capital need another one of these?

Because all of these beautiful people are out there clogging up canal towpaths and Square Mile backstreets. To whom do you turn if you want to feel the crunch of dirt beneath your feet, like running was meant to feel? Up til now, no one. That's why LCC is hitting the trail.

Humans evolved to run and sprint; no wonder then that when we do it regularly (within moderation and with plenty of rest days), our brains as well as bodies thank us. Running has recently been shown to improve neuroplasticity, heal brain damage in affected individuals, and foster better mental health including elevated mood at rest and enhanced task-switching ability. Doing all this in nature, as opposed to busy London roads dodging commuters and street cleaners, also helps deliver the well-known benefits of time spent in nature to mood, anxiety levels, cognition and memory. All these things matter a great deal in an age where burnout and exhaustion are a constant presence either in our own lives or those of the people we care about [who you should totally invite along]. It matters especially for people trying to eke out a percentage of their time and mental capacity for transformative social and political organising: the better we feel, the more we'll be able to do.

Trail running doesn't come naturally to urban environments like London, but in my own rather extensive experience putting one foot very quickly in front of the other, I've turned up a long list of local locations suitable for trail runners and trail-running hopefuls at all levels of ability, speed and experience. It won't be Yorkshire fell running, a pastime I enjoyed while living in Leeds, but with time and practice, it will set you apart from the wearers of £300 HOKAs.

In a nutshell, running is great for you and you should do it. Trail running is even better. Best of all is doing all this with a supportive group of comrades, especially one which includes knowledgeable folks who can provide some structure to what can be a puzzling sport to get started with if building up to something, like a 10k or half marathon, is your goal. Part of our running group's programming will be building a series of events aimed at building people up, slowly but surely, towards specific goals, using progressive programmes similar to the NHS's Couch to 5k system.

Enough preamble. For our inaugural meetup we'll do a quick 30-45 minute lap around the lovely Wormwood Scrubs Open Space in near-west London, situated just off the Central Line from East Acton Station. This historic piece of ancient scrubland, somewhat maligned by the carceral associations with its name (HMP Wormwood Scrubs is nearby - don't be alarmed if we zip past it, you won't be mistaken for an escapee and sniped at, this is a popular location for organised sports), is a beautiful place for a flat, easy starter run to set us off with. Most people like to run with music, and you're welcome to wear headphones, but I'll also bring a speaker along which we can use to solidify the vibe for those who want to forgo headphones.

Afterwards depending on weather we'll either chill in the park round the foresty bits for a picnic-slash-strategy session or head to a nearby pub to collaboratively discuss the next steps involved in this project. I'm flying blind organising one of these, so I definitely want to hear what people think about how we can make this the best most welcoming running group going.

Despite the best efforts of the luxury sportswear industry, running is still a pretty cheap sport to get into. All you really need are some breathable clothing and the right shoes. The shoes can be the barrier to entry. A cheap pair won't set you back too far. For this meetup folks will have to bring their own, but in future one thing I've like to make a part of this project is an element of fundraising to buy used running shoes in different sizes which we can lend out to help people get started who wouldn't be able to otherwise. LCC events will always be free, but small contributions to the running group's gear fund will always be accepted and spent responsibly. I've got some extra bits I can offer people including an armband for phones and a couple spare running windbreakers, something which could come in handy depending on the day's weather, so just message me beforehand if you'd like me to bring those along or anything else I might be able to turn up.

Take care and see you on the trails!

If it's your first time at this location, be sure to fill out the mandatory pre-registration form at this link and find out more about bouldering in general here.

In future, we'll check out other locations across London and experiment with non-peak times if there's sufficient demand.

Take care and see you on the walls!