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My housemate Manolo returned from his employment law class a little upset. They had just studied a case about a woman who did not go to work for three days at Walmart because she was raped. She was fired as a result, and unsuccessfully appealed, since 'employment at will' provides for such actions. Manolo was upset because the Americans in the class defended the absence of employment protection laws in the following way: 'the market will punish Walmart for their treatment of employees by diverting labour away from it. In response Walmart will treat their employees better next time'.

Last night a friend took me by 'Revolution Books' - a bookstore in Harvard square that sells texts from the gulag canon - Mao, Stalin, Lenin, Trotsky etc. The ridiculousness of this store and its location was reflected in the poster it displayed about the troubles in New Orleans - a breathtakingly simple analysis in which the catgeories of 'the people' and 'the system' were made to explain everything and promise more.

Today I watched a man beg his way through the tables, laptops, and tweed at a Harvard cafe, which delivered no return. He then walked in and served himself a fresh squeezed orange juice and a chocolate croissant, before sitting down to join everyone else.

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