Objects of desire

‘Capitalism, gaudy and greedy, has been inherent in western aesthetics from ancient Egypt on. It is the mysticism and glamour of things, which take on a personality of their own.’

Camille Paglia, Sexual Personae

‘Can’t afford it, so I hate it all.’

Manic Street Preachers, 'Born To End'

You know what it’s like at the thin end of a late capitalist wedge, the ever-present anxiety about running out of money, constant insecurity about your future, it can all be so easily salved with the kind of retail therapy that helped get you in the fix in the first place. I rarely indulge any more, maybe once a year, I know too well that the guilt of overspending outlasts the buzz. But when I’m really on the skids, and especially now capitalism itself is in flux, these cravings really kick in. And it’s not just clothes, books, music, oh no; when I’m at my lowest fiscal ebb, I have to up the ante considerably: property, collectibles, art. It’s a sick kind of masochism, the type a socialist sort like me undergoes every time I lick the slick black boots of my capitalist overlords. Yum yum yum. But just look how shiny everything is. Shiny shiny shiny …

The Smiths, ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’, rare German 7” single, grey vinyl, 'Girlfriend In A Coma' on the B-side, £30

Dirty Martinis (Noilly Prat Vermouth, Bombay Sapphire gin, blue cheese stuffed olives), £35

Valium, £varies

Spike Lee DVD box set, £40

Dinner at Manna, Primrose Hill, £50

Firetrap Veloce brown leather boot, £100

Royal Exchange Theatre season ticket, £111

Adidas Y-3 Hi-Tops, £150

Horse Meat Disco New Year’s Eve Party in Berlin, £250

Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird, First Edition, 1960, £320

Paul Smith double-breasted pea coat, £375

Pixies, ‘Minotaur’ box set, 5 x LP + 5 x CD + 2 x DVD + Blu-ray + extra large hardback lyric and artwork book + posters + autograph sheet box set, £500

iMac, £999

One week at London Beach Health Spa, £1200

Pioneer DJM350 and CDJ350 CD decks, £1499

Cherry red Gibson ES-335, £1600

East Village apartment, 303 East 8^th Street, New York, £500,000

House on Brick Lane, £845,000

Whistler’s ‘Nocturne in Black and Gold: The Falling Rocket’, 1875, £unknown

And some things you can’t put a price on …

Dissent

Creighton Barrett, drummer with Band Of Horses

Bears

Old pictures of sailors

Your mates