Trust and Technical Debt
(excerpt from the performance text)


Louie Spritzmeier

There he is.

He is a Stockholm-based translator and literary critic, specialising in biographies on Marx.

Pre-Kapital, that is.

Before the infiltration and intellectual watering down caused by his interaction with Engels.


He is allergic to walnuts and likes Eurythmics, but pronounces it incorrectly.

He is not really left handed but pretends to be for effect.

Approaching him, you will learn this very soon, as he is not one to keep secrets.


You will also be distracted by his hair which resembles that of a British 18-century poet - something perceived by his surroundings as self ironic but which, in his case, is proof of the opposite.

He is many things, but not that.

Vain, yes.

Ironic, never.


On the contrary he is, by most, considered sincere to the point of boredom and incapable of picking up on the simplest of jokes.

His name is Louie Spritzmeier.

And Louie is a man with, if not a plan, so at least a few ideas.


Louie is also a man with a trust issue.

Not in the conventional sense, mind you, but rather the opposite: his faith in society is absolute.

That is, in its potential - not in it’s present state.


While convinced that capitalism contains the seed of destruction (and the Soviets possibly just missed the point of an otherwise sound idea), he trusts that there is hope for the world because of the people inhabiting it.

He also trusts that regardless of the strength of a systems structure, there is a limit to how long it can withstand pressure if it’s inhabitants insist on deviating from the established course.


If the atoms in a body develop outgrowths, protuberances, –institutions within the institution– the mass of which exceed that of its source, the balance of the original system eventually becomes malformed.

It’s not an easy task, though, he does understand this.

Everyone needs to contribute.

And he does.


He nods in agreement on overhearing conversations he agrees with between strangers in order to build new solidarities

He speaks slower in contact with institutions and corporations to slow down the pace of the market forces

He does his best to be a poor consumer, although this is not his strong side - just look at his shoes.

He is easily seduced by consumer goods and is guilt ridden each time he hands over his visa card.

But he tries.

And the number of temptations he resists exceed the ones he yields to.


Louie (correctly) understands trust as a noun and a verb, and he trusts.

While given no other reason than the fact that the alternative is unthinkable.

It is hard to tell, in a post trust-era, wether this is a sign of great strength or great weakness