1MAXIMUM YOU s

TOYNBEE OR NOT TWO BE

2 s MAXIMUM LIFE

TRUCE JAMAAL: HAVE YOUR CHIPS ON ME.

The Ladies of the Press* chats to...

4 s MAXIMUM LIFE

“You can leave the men to do the work, can’t you?”

—Ping Henningham

5MAXIMUM YOU s

MAXIMUM LIFEMARCH 2016

maximumwage.uk#maxwagehackney

Editor’s Note Lovely readers in Hackney, hello and welcome to Maximum Life! This magazine is all about YOU. It’s is where your aspiration will become inspiration.

Want to be our MAXIMUM MAN or MAXIMUM WOMAN? Or better, do you want to rant about the inequalities of the world and get your voice heard?

Come pose with us. Come chat to us. We’re here for you.

Opinions, or want a electronic copy? Email us at info@ladiesofthepres.org or visit www.ladiesofthepress.org.

Yours in luxe pink,

Ana & Renée, Ladies of the Press*

Cover: Truce Jamaal, who says, “I’ve never been on a cover before!”

He sings: “It’s a loooove thing...”

6 s MAXIMUM LIFE

I myself taught everyone. Everything. Education destroyed my mental confidence in myself. For 8 years I was the bottom of

the class. But I started educating myself, in philosphy, economics...they say a self educated people had a very poor teacher. I don’t agree with that. After 40 years of being a slave, I earned my freedom and I am now retired. I am not simply a Living Wage, I am a Living Income. Because wage is still tied to work. You have to work. Income means you get an income whatever you do. This is important because more and more work is done without humans. If work is the only thing that stands between poverty and being able to survive, it is going to be less and less available. This book is all about this argument. Work should not be the prerequisite to live. Universal Income.

This book (‘Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work’ by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, published by Verso) was sent to every member of the labour cabinet, by the publishers. There is little traffic from that. That shows that the Labour movement under the labour party is in front of a very big need for paradigm change because the labour movement and the labour party was based on the idea that work has dignity, comes from work. What happens when there’s less and less work available? That is my interest.

Maximum Life: What is your name?

Janos. I came here as a political refugee in 1956 from Hungary.

Interview

Features!

CAREERMaximum Life: Ooh tell me about the industrial action!

A bit of...negotiation and mediation going on via David Henningham to the workers, the Manager, the Governor. Chanting. It makes a lot of sense; I was a skilled worker, supposedly working with unskilled workers but we have to cooporate to make it quicker, and everyone’s intellectual ability is cordoned. It’s not like the unskilled labour is any less contribution. Everyone works hard, everyone gets paid! It was a collaborative effort. It felt like being a team and sharing the results. It was hard work!Also understanding what you are doing and why makes a big difference, a key point. People are not just machines, they need to understand and feel that they are doing an important role. When you understand that this action was making paint go into the holes...it went faster if I held the screen and the unskilled worker did the role of putting the template money in place.

Collaboratively I think we understood more about what we are doing, and made it more satisfying and reward.

I also think there’s a problem when the workers in society. It’s a really good thing they see the effect of their labour at the workplace, but they may not see the effect of their job in the wider society. Corporate Lawyers may feel very imporant that they closed the deal, their clients have a lot of money. But you work such long hours and within a certain world that doesn’t question how that money goes around and it doesn’t question basci things like the fact that it’s basic production....redundancies to make things more efficient, it’s removed from people. Job satisfaction on its own is not exactly a measure of ‘good’ of what is being done. A banker, for example, may work hard but may be destructive to society.

I saw a bit of the recent Cohen brothers film but it seems to make that point at the end. He felt that his job was important and difficult, and made it more worthy. But actually....there has been a questioning of the whole system.

Sarah, having participated in the Bonus Round as a Skilled Labourer

7MAXIMUM YOU s

“It’s like Dickens. Kind Capitalism”—David Henningham

PROPERTY

8 s MAXIMUM LIFE

#avotoast #fitspo

*CBA = can’t be arsed.

SNACK LIKE A BOSS

*

About refugees. It’s changed people’s view, the current situation. Our lives and globally. Globalization. Before, it was one planet. Politics devided the world. We don’t know much about life in a differnt country before. We are therefore scared. Politicians work like that, within closed borders. When it became much open, if politicians create this situation, the situation creates politicians. Not people who are moving. Very senile result. We stand nice, 50 people, nice politicians, we decide what happens. Many things happen like that. For example, I think in the global movement our live is just one. Any human can move around the planet. But, sometimes people live in one country and cannot move. This is bad. It’s not right.

If I’m born, I won’t see anything if I stay in one country. Civilization can do pictures, and now it’s found asteroids near Mars which you can see on the internet. It’s not right for humans to live in the shadows. Currently with the refugees, some people not happy about behaviour. Why? Why before, tourists like to come visit another country, why has this changed? I think it’s because it is not enough knowledge at the college. And politicians in the political spectrum. When one person becomes aggressive they he is scared, in another country, not socially protected etc...in business, this country in which came already refugees we supposed to change life. We should open community, diversity, organise together. Maybe these people will be very good and create for this country strong future.

People now have knowledge, social education. We’re not speaking much now. We need bigger integration between different people who have different qualifications. Eg psychologists, scientists, politicians.

—Elvira, a former lecturer from Lithuania

INTERVIEWFEATURE

9MAXIMUM YOU s

We rent as well. In Palmer’s Green. Nearly every house we lived in since 1999, 17 years, they’ve been good houses and brought up family in it. But you can’t do

anything to the houses because we don’t know what;s going to happen to it. We moved to another house, stayed for three years, then he sold again. We had to move again. We’re in another house. The rent hasn’t got bigger, but the houses have gotten smaller. We went from a five bedroom house to a two and a half bedroom house. Now we’re in another two and a half bedroom house. Our current landlord hasn’t renewed our lease for three years because he’s thinking of selling. It’s the continuous not knowing of what’s going to happen. It strikes me as bizarre that property, or land, can be owned. Nobody made the land. Whether you believe in god, or nature, and everyone should be entitled to a piece of land. And in London particularly it’s the land that determines the prince of the house. That’s all location. That’s price is not made by the house, or person.

It’s a crazy system. The way we deal with property and land. A house in our road is now three quarters of a million to buy. We’re not in central London. In 1986 I paid £400,000 for a five bedroom house. It took another 10 years to get back to that price since the crash. We live as slaves to property. The current generation is more disadvantaged than ever before. We have to change the whole tax system, tax the land and resources rather than income. The rich corporation avoid income taxes, but they can’t hide land offshore.

Clive, quoting Henry George, Progress in Poverty written in 1879 which is what the game of Monopoly is based on. Originally called the Landlord’s Game. One person ends up with all the property and all the money.

Want more? Visit freecriticalthinking.org

10 s MAXIMUM LIFE

F O O D

Bespoke Quinoa 1. Cook the quinoa (use the instructions on the pack), then set aside in a sieve or colander, so it drains whilst you’re doing the next bit.

2. Heat oven to 200C/180C with fan/gas mark 6. Toss onion and peppers with 1 tbsp of oil on a roasting tray, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper (to taste) and roast for 15 mins.

3. Add courgettes and garlic to rest of the veg, mix it up and roast for another 15 mins.

4. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins, and mash it with a little salt and pepper. Mix it up with the rest of the oil (2 tbsp), lemon juice, zest and a pinch of sugar. Toss together this dressing, the roasted vegetables, the quinoa, and the parsley. Then crumble the feta over the top, toss it all gently again, and serve.

Note on ingredients:

Quinoa is actually quite expensive and hard to get in Hackney. Substitute with Couscous. If you want the wholegrain effect, then use wholegrain couscous. Or if you happen to be near the Turkish Supermarket, you can also substitute with Bulgar Wheat, which is also cheap and very tasty. Quinoa is really only cheap in Waitrose online, which is not really cheap. So up yours posh whole food oligarchs.

Red Onions/Courgettes/Peppers/Garlic can be found very cheap on Ridley Road Market. Don’t worry if they’re not the best you’ve ever

What you will need:200g quinoa

• 3tbsp olive oil (extra virgin or pointy-bra madonna, either will do)

• 1 Red onion–sliced in thick rings

• 2 Peppers (red, yellow or orange) cut into large wedges

• 200g courgette (this is about 2/3rds of a normal sized courgette) cut however you like but less than 1cm thick

• 3 Garlic cloves–unpeeled

• Zest and juice of 1 lemon

• Pinch of sugar

• Small handful of flat-leaf parsley–roughly chopped, about 4 tbsps worth

• 200g feta cheese

We’re all crazy about

11MAXIMUM YOU s

Bespoke Quinoa seen, you’re about the roast the hell out of them. It’s not like you’re just biting it off raw.

Lemon can be substituted with the supercheap Lemon Dressing you often find in the Turkish Supermarket. You won’t get the zestiness of the zest, but it does keep forever in the back of the cupboard. About 6 tbsps of juice comes out of one lemon. I’ll leave you to decide how much to put in for the zest.

Flat leaf parsley can be bought in huge bunches for under a pound on Ridley Road Market. Unless you’re planning on serving this dish with a large flat leaf parsley side salad, you may find it more economical to substitute it with celery leaf (which is a lot like flat leaf parsley, though not the same). Or you can buy the parsley, wash and chop all of it, use what you need then stick the rest in a bag in the freezer. Or you can go to the supermarket and buy a tiny little bag of parsley for more than it’s worth (but at least you won’t have a glut of parsley)

Feta Cheese can be found much cheaper than the big supermarkets in Turkish shops. The Turkish Supermarket at the end of Ridley Road has great fresh feta which is actually cheaper than butter! Yes, you read it right, cheaper than butter! So cheap, you could mash it and use it as a hair conditioner, but we recommend you just stick it in the salad.

Advertisement

12 s MAXIMUM LIFE

Mario Molinari: My starting point would be that no aspect of living is left untouched by food. It’s not just one connection or even several connections, but all connections, whatever leads us to food–food is short for water, land energy, plants; the ground we stand on. The air around us. Once we establish this principle then we can find even more connections.

Max Life: What do you mean by a connection?

Mario: To understand what connections are, we need to understand what food is. Food is bees. Plants. Soil. Energy. History. Knowledge. Culture. Language. Math. Science. Art. Geography. Rivers. Folklore. Nutrition. Health. Wellbeing. Food is planning. Drawing. Nurturing. Food is inclusive. Convivial. Festive. Food is water. Flowers. Meadows. Food is staging of the seasons.

A further visualisation of what the connections are exemplified by the Garden Project wheel. Written by Peter A Please, the project has a core from which seven subjects radiate from. Each ‘subject’ is a branch of knowledge. There are further offshoots to this.

I have listed over 100 definitions of food.

What are your aims with the project? What sort of further understanding of food do you want people to have?

Mario: Food is the entry point of knowledge, culture and traditions. Trade. Economy and signs. My task is to put food at the top of our agenda. Because from there, it branches out in all different directions. Food is one agenda. And the two diagrams will give you a visual sense of what the connections are. In both cases, the bees are at the centre. In the second example, it further specifies what the centre is, which is the garden project. The ground we stand on. The two ‘templates’ will show that you are the centre of the provisional universe. The individual is at the centre. We are not in the margins.

A point in space is space itself. This is my vision of the world. When two people meets, society begins.

Max Life: To think about the individual is to think about society.

Mario: There is no such thing as an individual. There is no difference between you and I. Snow, or a flying bird. Or a suffering human. Because as we turn our attention to something else, our perspective changes. The flying bird becomes the centre. You can internalise this. Our memory takes us back in time.

The state is too big to care, and too remote to mind.

F O O D

Interview

Feature

13MAXIMUM YOU s

14 s MAXIMUM LIFE

“Ah! You’ve just been hit by a Maximum Career. (fixing a board)”

15MAXIMUM YOU s

“Ah! You’ve just been hit by a Maximum Career. (fixing a board)”

16 s MAXIMUM LIFE

MaximumAppraisalby Ping Henningham

FEATURED COMIC

17MAXIMUM YOU s

Inside!Jeremy Corbyn. Our Man.

18 s MAXIMUM LIFE

A conversation with Liam, a local resident.

On Magazines

These days, it’s all false information in the magazines, to get people into places to buy a magazine. Most of the daily magazines are advertising. Magazines like Time Out are good magazines because they advertise with a purpose. The tourists need the information and that makes sense. It’s all legit, it is not false information. I often get the time out. It is free.

On Food

They make food here, the volunteers on Mondays and Wednesdays. I am a regular. The food is delicious. I live around the corner.

On Entertainment

They put on great events here. Last Christmas was brilliant, not Mikey Mouse events, real entertainers. When I was here last week they proper interviewed me about the Christmas event, it was so popular that they will put one in August. It was good fun. Everyone enjoyed it and they wanted to know why it worked so well.

LIAM

Adv

ertise

men

t

19MAXIMUM YOU s

A conversation with Julie Rafalski on her stall at the Maximum Wage show. “Interest, it all comes down to interest.” I was speaking with Clive of Critical Thinking at Free University earlier and he said that money gathered from accumulated interest payments ensures that the poorest support the richest.”

Interest is everywhere, it is inbuilt into our system even if we are not borrowing money. Accumulated interest supports the rich not only because the poor are indebted, but because interest 50% of everything we buy is interest.

“There is no real value in money. If value was based on the true value of things it will equalise the inequality.”

“My stall is more of thinking one, for people to come up with ideas. What can I do to make society better? It is not that difficult to change the world. The ideas are there. It’s just how do you make them happen?”

“I am also sending some people to the Citizens Advice bureau behind you!”

JULIE RAFALSKIYour Chips are On Me

Truce has been a singer for many years. R’n’B, hip hop and reggae, lots of stuff, everything. “I travel a lot. I sing all over the place. I sing for the choir here at the church, charity singing. Main events and summer events at parks and things like that.”

And he breaks into a song, just for us.

“It’s a love thing. It’s a loveeee thing.”

Truce said he is looking for a job. “In Vegas or something!” he says laughing. “Make sure you get this down and out there, then someone will invite me.”

In the meantime his friend arrives. He reads this short interview, turns to Truce, surprised and says “You’re a singer?”

TRUCE JAMAAL

F lash Interviews: Living up the

Maximum Life

Could this be you?

Advertise here for

just 20p in Orwells!