Jon Bailes - Neoliberalism Is Strange

It's a quite strange video, but I followed it okay at the beginning where Jon Bailes quotes from his book. In the rest he elaborates on his theories using the game, Life is Strange, but I had to slow it down to 0.75 to be able to follow it.

What interested me is how Jon says we feel that we must maximise everything we do in our lives. Not only at work do we feel we need to achieve as much as we can, but also in our home life too: quality time with the kids; engaging in hobbies or sports; being at the gym; going out to places; visiting friends and family; having friends around for dinner; watching a good film with your partner, etc, Gee!

I remember years ago Quentin Crisp being interviewed - he was a transvestite gay who wrote the book, The Naked Civil Servant way back in the 60's - and he was asked what he liked doing the most, and I loved his answer, he  said, 'nothing, I love doing absolutely nothing'. Awesome!

I remember as a teen and a young man where I loved my leasure time, where I didn't do much at all, really, just some art, sketching, listening to music, reading, dreaming, chatting about everything and nothing. There seemed to be hours and hours spare.

But as the years went by everything started to evolve around work, and then trying to fit a social life into what was left. I would want to stay in yet again, but I would struggle out to dancing - lindy hop or jive - or to the cinema, or for a meal, or the pub, etc, with it always on my mind I had to get up early in the morning, and when I did finally get to work the next day, I would feel absolutely shattered. Neoliberalism is boring!

Jon Bailes, a researcher and freelance videogames critic for The Guardian, examines Dontnod Entertainment's game "Life is Strange."