Is New Socialist Club 'Socialista' Socialist?
As we knew, Armin Amiri, former Bungalow 8 doorman, is opening his own place, called Socialista. In the word of the very voluble Armin, the place will be a "peasant cafe." Now we find out from the Observer's Spencer Morgan that the theme will carry on to the door policy.
"What I'd like to be done is a socialism as far as the door," said Mr. Amiri, who grew up in Persia and later Vienna, and speaks with a slight accent. "What socialism really means is, I give you this and you give me that. And as the door goes, I'm gonna bring you into this nice atmosphere; hopefully, you're going to bring your great energy in here. And that's it—that's the only even exchange I want with people."
Hmm, is that what socialism really is? We decided to ask an expert. Bertell Ollman is the author of Dialectical Marxism and a professor at N.Y.U.
So, comrade, is Armin right?
"No, that is ridiculous. Sadly, though, it is what too many people think of socialism. It's easier to think of it as a caricature," said Professor Ollman. But what might he suggest as a suitably socialist door policy? After a long pause, the Professor responded, "As far as a Socialist door policy, I really haven't given it any thought. It would take weeks and weeks of serious thought to answer that question and I'm not interested in door policy." —Josh
