"I much preferred the approach at the anarchist camp, with its shared tasks and collective responsibilities. Everyone played their part. There was no division between workers and consumers"
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It is a politician’s idyll disguised as a field report: Blair paints the “anarchist camp” not as chaos, but as a frictionless little republic where labor and daily life finally line up. The sentence rhythm does the persuasion. “Shared tasks,” “collective responsibilities,” “everyone played their part” stacks reassurance on top of reassurance, answering the reader’s likely suspicion before it can form: no freeloaders, no disorder, no shameful idleness. He’s selling coherence.
The key move is the last line, which quietly detonates the economic common sense of his era. “No division between workers and consumers” rejects the emerging logic that some people produce while others merely purchase and judge. Blair is reaching for a moral economy: to consume is to be accountable, and to work is to belong. It’s an argument against the social alchemy of the 18th century, when markets and specialization were beginning to make it easier for elites to enjoy the benefits of labor without sharing its burdens.
The subtext is as political as it is sentimental. By calling it an “approach,” he’s not praising a camp; he’s proposing a template. The camp becomes a controlled miniature of society, a place where status can’t hide behind money or rank because everyone’s participation is visible. Coming from a politician, that visibility matters: it hints at a critique of parliamentary life and class hierarchy, where responsibility can be outsourced and “service” becomes a slogan. Blair’s nostalgia for undivided roles is also a warning about what modernity is about to perfect: the right to consume without consequence.
The key move is the last line, which quietly detonates the economic common sense of his era. “No division between workers and consumers” rejects the emerging logic that some people produce while others merely purchase and judge. Blair is reaching for a moral economy: to consume is to be accountable, and to work is to belong. It’s an argument against the social alchemy of the 18th century, when markets and specialization were beginning to make it easier for elites to enjoy the benefits of labor without sharing its burdens.
The subtext is as political as it is sentimental. By calling it an “approach,” he’s not praising a camp; he’s proposing a template. The camp becomes a controlled miniature of society, a place where status can’t hide behind money or rank because everyone’s participation is visible. Coming from a politician, that visibility matters: it hints at a critique of parliamentary life and class hierarchy, where responsibility can be outsourced and “service” becomes a slogan. Blair’s nostalgia for undivided roles is also a warning about what modernity is about to perfect: the right to consume without consequence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
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