Yesterday evening a cereal café known as 'Cereal Killer Café' was trashed, because it had to be. This happened about two-hundred miles away from where I was not eating cereal in my home in Leeds.
Today's news that a couple of cereal salesman have had to clean their windows is too banal for words. The fact that these two, white, cereal salesman had the notion it was a #hatecrime, is too tedious to garnish an already tedious puff-piece of news reportage. These guys are clearly chumps in a chumps carnival, and they're charging £3.20 for the cheap seats.
I left London little more than a year ago, very aware that things were moving out of the zones of fathomable reality, priced out of a city that was becoming too weird for me, whose vibrations resonated well out of time with that of the 'real world' that had been pushed back across the circular ring roads.
'Gentrification' is a tired phrase, similarly, the word 'hipster' has come to mean nothing at all - both are widely accepted as linguistic commons within the parlance of the last decade. Behind the words, there are distinct metaphorical definitions, which have way more primacy and spite than the words themselves - their edges seem to have rounded off a little after near-constant usage. 'Hipster' is interesting because its meaning differs greatly depending on who you ask: Journalists use it to label anyone younger than them, whereas the Fuck Parade may choose to believe the hipster is the scourge behind rent increases, famine and pestilence. Either way, the hipster is in the eye of the beholder, and in the context of present-day London, both 'hipster' and 'gentrification' are a signpost to the same general idea that some plainly visible but not wholly-understand foe is diddling the books in a world they can't wholly understand.
In an economic downturn, the high-street becomes the thieves' pantry - but that cuts both ways. 'Entrepreneurialism' has become a euphemism for feeling you're above ungainful employment, whilst being far too middle class to be poor. Survival in 2015 is about taking a hint from big business. In that sense, Cereal Killer Café is a shrine to the secular-saints of independent commerce, or Hipster-dom, or whatever. The two Keerys, as former sales/marketing reps have become Holier Than Thou. The real spit of the argument here isn't that these guys are taking cereal out of the trembling hands of malnourished kids, but rather that they are somehow complicit in the architecture that left those same kids without cheerios. And in that, there's not much question.
I'm going to take a minute to talk about franchising, because as much as Cereal Killer Café isn't the first of its kind, neither is the Fuck Parade an isolated phenomenon. Turns out, Fuck Parade has been going on in Berlin for a while, and with certain eyes, this German import could be seen as a protest with a ready-made agenda - however, with a less critical, less tabloid perspective, you could say that this movement is in response to an issue that spans borders - but, I'm wondering how the Germans feel about all this playing out in Shoreditch, and whether they're happy with Class War sticking their name on it?
Quite a few of us are a bit confused about Fuck Parade and where our own view stand in correlation with it:
"I hate Happy Hardcore but I agree with the Fuck Parade, what does that mean for me?"
"I hate gentrification, but I like cereal, what does that mean for me?"
"I hate gentrification and I hate cereal, but I don't get it?"
"I heard they were trying to tear a dog apart, I'm a dog, do they hate me too?"
What were the working-class communities of Tower Hamlets thinking, or even those of other priced-out boroughs, reading the news of last night's events? Questions like these are hard to answer when Fuck Parade themselves are accountable only to comrades and social media trolls. Perhaps this is the inheritance for All Tomorrow's Protests?
The only thing the Keery's Cereal Killer Café and the Fuck Parade have in common is that they both failed to meet their crowd-funding ambitions. What this tells us is that perhaps neither have their finger on the collected pulse in the first place. Perhaps, even, they're just part of a larger tete-a-tete that ends up alienating comrades and laymen alike. Writing 'scum' backwards on the window of a shop that sells cereal to chumps who can afford to is iffy, where smashing the window of an estate agents isn't. The spot-the-difference moment occurs when we realise which one is the real cause for rent hikes.
I can't quite dissect whether the Fuck Parade is a burlesque, or a true blue peasants revolt. My main issue as working class, is that I feel a bit alienated by it all. I can't quite get behind a crusade that is of the same shape and form of its oppressors.
Direct action is the root and blossom of protest, and for all the supposed faults of the Fuck Parade, it managed to make people living in the North, where gentrification isn't yet a fully-realised concept, aware of the fact that maybe not everything is progress. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine, up here, that if working class neighbourhoods fall, there'll be no-one behind to catch them.
half-board wrote: What am
half-board
What am I looking at?
The death agony of
The death agony of capitalism.
You are looking at the
You are looking at the 'Hipsters' in question, Jamal - The Keery brothers, owners of the Cereal Killer Cafe
Two very punchable faces.
Two very punchable faces.
I've just had a bust up over
I've just had a bust up over this with my daughter who lives in Old Ford and works in a trendy restaurant. She's by no means a typical hipster but is not impressed by this action and has no understanding of why it would happen despite my efforts to explain.
She also couldn't understand why an Indy business was picked on instead of a corporate chain. I reckon it simply that of all the inane, shallow and stupid ideas for businesses in East London, and god knows there's plenty of them, Cereal Killer is the most moronic.
Anyhow, it's not that I think the protest was a good idea, I really don't, but I sure as hell don't give a fuck about a couple of fuckwits having a bad day before getting back to their mission, namely, dissapearing up their own arse whilst convincing everyone how clever and witty they are.
Back in the day Twin Brothers
Back in the day Twin Brothers in the Eastend ran respectable working class gaffs and were very good to their old mums
bastarx wrote: Two very
bastarx
Well, one punchable face, twice.
Webby
I think this was kind of amusing, as that cafe is ridiculous. But I think it's kind of stupid from an anti-gentrification point of view. It's not small business shops which are gentrifying the East End, it's property developers, property owners, landlords, local authorities which enable them and the government housing/benefits policies.
As it always was from
As it always was from ClassWar, it's all about provocation and column inches in the enraged press ( both "mainstream" and "Leftwing"). No one would be giving a toss about some property developers plate glass windows
I mean that's a very valid
I mean that's a very valid point - there was never any question about how Marsh & Parsons reacted to their shattered windows in the morning - and interesting to note that Cereal Killer Cafe was open Sunday morning, and more than likely with a longer queue outside than usual. The real irony is that in attempting to trash the place, the Fuck Parade have inadvertently given those two guys national press coverage, and in sequence, solidifying their legitimacy.
Probably the most devastating side effect, in a kind of 'first as tragedy...' way, is that working class communities who've disagreed with the actions of the Fuck Parade, and who see them as seemingly picking small businesses as random to smash up, will go in the complete opposite direction. This in turn makes Anarchist, Anti-Gentrification, etc. groups look farcical in their actions, and seemingly set apart from the working class communities they're trying to communicate to.
I don't know, it's been a weird week. I'm feeling a bit faint.
You can't put a brick through
You can't put a brick through the window of a social relationship.
So this shop is actually
So this shop is actually true? A mate who lives in London was visiting me and he told me about this place. I thought he was joking.
Serge Forward wrote: You
Serge Forward
True, but you can have fun trying.. ;)
I've had my differences with Class War in the past but this is definitely them back to their best imo.. tho I might agree with Steven's wider critique above, it's basically acted out what I've wanted to do for ages! On a basic emotional level, they've got my vote for 2020!
I'd never heard of the Cereal
I'd never heard of the Cereal Killer Cafe until now. But I'll be going there soon for a lovely bowl of Golden Nuggets.
Fascist
Fascist
I'd already heard about this
I'd already heard about this cereal shop on the wireless and I'm more than happy to see them get fucked over. Trouble is, I see this sort of stunt by a tiny group of anarchoids, bohemians, CW types or whatever they are, as small time substitutionism. What would be more inspiring is the unlikely event of all the local proletariat collectively running these fuckers out of the area. If this kind of small group action could lead to this, then fair enough. I just really doubt it would though and suspect it would most likely win the cereal blokes a bit of sympathy.
Steven. wrote: One punchable
Steven.
That should be their edgy post-ironic tagline.
Joseph Kay wrote: Steven.
Joseph Kay
Lol of the day to JK.
Doesn't the presence of
Doesn't the presence of squats, vegan cafes, social centres and co-ops indicate that gentrification will be happening to an area?
Maybe it's these enterprises that should have their windows smashed promptly, as they often act as the spearhead for future gentrification?
Aren't the sort of people who
Aren't the sort of people who ho demonstrate at these things really at the cutting edge of gentrification?
Devrim
Serge Forward wrote: You
Serge Forward
Tee-shirt quality quote!
Yeah, but slogan t-shirts are
Yeah, but slogan t-shirts are worn by hipsters. Wearing that one would score them major irony points
Ed wrote: I've had my
Ed
Well, at least it's an improvement on their 1980s anti-gentrification strategy, which was to advocate the posting of shit through the letterboxes of "yuppies"…
Webby
Er, neither of these statements are true.
rat wrote: Doesn't the
rat
See what you mean. Interesting thought. I guess when they become concentrated in one neighborhood it's a sign of things to come...
Where I live in Barcelona is a case in point. All the squatters have been kicked out and the organic stores and trendy bars have swooped in for the kill.
Steven. wrote: But I think
Steven.
This isn't really right, if every small business in Shoreditch like the cereal cafe was regularly getting targeted by protesters it would deter property developers, property owners and landlords from investing in the area. That's why anti-gentrification protesters in Berlin just went round burning nice cars, it makes the area less desirable for wealthy people. It's not really a strategy I'd advocate but to go around saying a certain type of small business isn't the problem is a kind of glib way of condemning what happened.
Middle class white kids
Middle class white kids protesting against a shop full of middle class white kids. Yeah, think I'll go back to sleep...
rat wrote: I'd never heard of
rat
I doubt it.
a. You're skint
b. It's £4.40 a bowl
elraval2 wrote: Middle class
elraval2
The usual strawman bollox
Nothing wrong with
Nothing wrong with anti-gentrification protests and small businesses are not generally any better than big ones, the point of them is to exploit. The fact that this business is ridiculous got them lotsof attention and there is a risk that targeting them means that anti-gentrification protests get lumped in with the humourous articles about a shop that only sells cereal. This is probably the best covered anti-gentrification protest I've heard about, but will that actually make people think about gentrification?
Incidentally gentrification tends to be something that people complain about depending on arrival, so each wave of gentrifiers, to put it extremely broadly,, bitches about the next. It's worth looking at the economic aspects of it, for example where I grew up in London has long priced out anyone who earns anything short of a ridiculous salary but that's just something that annoys me, I'd like to have stayed where I was instead of being driven out by the fact that even a regular job only gets you a rented room for 40% of your salary at the least.
Battlescarred wrote: It's
Battlescarred
That's only sixty pence more than the average price of a pint in London.
Battlescarred wrote: The
Battlescarred
Seemed like the same old boho crowd to me. Sorry, but there's nothing else in the world of the circled A that bores me more.
That's fair enough, elraval,
That's fair enough, elraval, but it's not exactly an analysis of gentrification.
I can’t offer any answer to
I can’t offer any answer to the problem of gentrification. Only some of the comments offered appear to me simplistic and I wonder if I’m the only person who thinks there is a double standard at work in the ‘left’ generally as working class people are forced to relocate due to financial pressure. They are being squeezed out of their traditional areas due to house prices, only this very often does not lead to gentrification. Houses are bought to rent out. To cover the rent people share. Where there used to be one car now there are several. Where kids used to kick a ball, cars get parked. People get careless where they put their rubbish. I hear simplistic crap coming from the edl and ukip to solve this aspect of the deterioration of working class living conditions. Depressing to read and hear, capitalism makes idiots of us all if we address only the symptoms.
Gentrification isn't about
Gentrification isn't about craft beers and killer cereals it's a process driven by capital and government on a much larger and abstract plane. Those cereal people seem annoying as fuck but anyone who goes on about such extremely superficial symptoms are not doing the anti gentrification struggles any favours. Most working class people could afford a $4 bowl of cereal every now and then, as mentioned just swap it for a pint or two. There's probably lots of things nearby that are truly out of reach. As if even that even really matters.
Yesterday I read someone arguing about weather a certain beer is gentrifying! Everywhere the discussions take this absurd form actively hiding what's really going on. The whole thought process is governed by comsumerism and lifestyle, even on the anti-gentrification side.
Those who know better but go along with ranting about various cafe's, bars, drinks, hairstyles etc. are I'm my view dangerously close to doing politics. Knowingly pandering to a dead end just to be popular or make the news. The gentrifiers are winning when talking about gentrification begins and ends with types of consumer goods. Even poor doors are borderline because there are lots of London buildings where the poor doors are somewhere in Essex making the issue invisible.
As Tommys Berlin example shows actively destroying the habitat for the rich can be a strategy, but I doubt £4 cereal is part of their ecosystem. More likely the ecosystem of tourists.
I'd be tempted to agree that
I'd be tempted to agree that Cereal Cafes and Craft Beer are merely outward facets of systemic gentrification - more worryingly, if you consider that those who are selling these products, and indeed those working within the bracket of exploitation, won't accept the nomenclature, or rather don't accept they are part of the issue. These people are usually young, from the lower-middle and university educated - their sense of enterprise in setting up shop in areas where working class residents/businesses have been priced out is merely the closing stages of the gentrification process. Once a number of these individuals have set up shop, it's essentially a self-replicating populace, and I don't want to be crass here, but it does work a little like the spread of infection on a community with a heavily reduced immune system.
Either way, there needs to be a re-thinking of the strategy behind targeting gentrification, because as much as spitting at a group of people you dislike is cathartic, it also works to paint you in a less favourable light. Perhaps the real struggle is finding better ways of organising within that community, and attacking many more estate agents to prove a point - burning leases perhaps? I reckon that would be cathartic?
Cooked, that is a great
Cooked, that is a great post.
And, to build on it, I think the frontline against gentrification is housing struggles. I'll be honest, I quite like a craft beer and there's no shame in having an art gallery in a working class neighborhood. The problem in London is skyrocketing housing prices - propped up be a lack social housing, lack of rent control, and an increase in low-wage, precarious employment.
It's no surprise that when the housing developers move in, shitty trendy hipster businesses follow. But if we could succeed in successfully fighting back on housing issues, a lot of what passes for the outward face of gentrification would take care of itself.
Agree with Chilli. The
Agree with Chilli. The underlying issue here is housing, rent rates, house prices, policing/privatisation of public space, etc, etc. This is a massive topic and one whose complexity tends to fragment the w/c into distinct fractions, with the potential of turning mortgagees against renters, pensioners against students, families against singletons, everybody against homeless, and so on. Finding ways of promoting consciousness of common class interests in this space is non-trivial. But we can say that it is much more likely to come from an organiser approach than a voluntarist activisty/protester approach of spectacular actions disconnected from any other work. It sometimes seems like "gentrification" has become yet another anarcho/autonomen scene cliche, that reduces a complex issue that demands real work and outreach, into another opportunity for fetishising the momentary surface simulation of antagonism (propaganda by the deed) to the real challenges of building commons and counterpower.
Hmm? http://cavasundays.tumbl
Hmm?
http://cavasundays.tumblr.com/post/130268673737/hipsterphobia-is-theoretically-outdated-13
edit:
ocelot
ocelot
Whats the hmm about? Someone did a long and fancy rewrite of my post above ;)
Joking aside it seemed like decent analysis to me.
Yeah, I'll be looking out for
Yeah, I'll be looking out for parts 2 & 3 on the basis of part 1, tbh.
rat wrote: Doesn't the
rat
I thought vegan cafes were the gentrification?
And I'm vegan.
Burgers wrote: rat
Burgers
I'm vegan too and I fucking despise vegan cafes. Firstly, there's no need for specialised vegan food, all this pretend meat bollocks. I can eat perfectly good vegan grub in Indian places, noodle bars, pizza restaurants etc, and secondly, these places are populated by wankers of the first order!
Don't even get me on to vegan cupcakes. Cakes are shit, vegan ones are even worse. I'd rather eat a liberal...
Here's a case in question
Here's a case in question with the poxy down/up votes - as I type, Webby has two down votes for his vegan cafes.. I think he makes a fair point, it's not something I care too much about, but two people disagree so strongly as to down vote, but don't explain why.
DP (webby's influence)
DP (webby's influence)
Keeping in mind Chilli Sauce
Keeping in mind Chilli Sauce and Ocelot's interesting comments about this being a question of affordable housing, could "gentrification" be seen as a failure of the working class to organize and successfully defend their communities?
Sorry for the overly simplistic comment, but, however you analyze it, it's all just bloody Capitalism, and our collective inability to successfully resist/defeat it, right?
There's a lovely bit in last
There's a lovely bit in last night's Daily Mail hatchet job where they castigate two of the protestors for living in Limehouse and Stoke Newington, which are apparently "achingly trendy" (ie. very expensive to live in).
Limehouse of course is part of Poplar and Limehouse, which has a 43% child poverty rate, while Stoke Newington and Hackney North is 41%. Not too long ago both were being described as crime-ridden cesspits by the likes of the Mail.
plasmatelly wrote: Here's a
plasmatelly
i downed him for his disgusting anti cake views
radicalgraffiti
radicalgraffiti
Cake is the nest in which the bourgeoisie cozily protect themselves from the reality of their complicity in oppressing the working class. Eat it with your head hung in shame. Unless it's bread pudding or an iced finger - then you're all good.
radicalgraffiti
radicalgraffiti
That's all I needed Radical, a little clarity and someone to have the balls to speak out against these anti-patisserians.
(No subject)
Tommy Ascaso wrote: ....if
Tommy Ascaso
Can you post any evidence to show that this approach has worked for Berlin? Which last time I checked was experiencing exactly the same kind of structural shifts in terms of 'gentrification' as London is/has?
There is the recent rent cap
There is the recent rent cap that has been introduced in Berlin, that hasn't come out of nowhere though I wouldn't say directly related to the car burnings. There's been a multiplicity of approaches, groups, protests, direct action, etc. The same with the banning of short term rental flats (Airbnb) within the city centre. The effectiveness of these responses however is another thing.
Shorty wrote: There is the
Shorty
I'm aware of these things and they are great, but doesn't really answer the question about link between burning of perceived "luxury" cars and slowing of any sort of gentrification process.
Edited my post as you edited
Edited my post as you edited yours. Yeah, I wouldn't focus on the car burnings, as there's been so much other stuff too. Plus, didn't that peak a few years ago?
Just saw this and thought it
Just saw this and thought it was relevant to this (old) discussion.
I couldn't agree less with the sentiment in this video but it has certainly helped me to formulate an opinion on this complex subject.
https://vimeo.com/16116523