Ever wondered what Rachmanism is?

Simon Jenkins titled his column Once they called it Rachmanism. Now it's being done with taxpayers' money. What is Rachmanism. I found this story from the good old past after a short google search:
Peter Rachman was a slum landlord in London, who forced sitting tenants with violence and intimidation out of run down houses he bought and then rented the flats to immigrants at extortionate rates. Because of the racist housing regulation that prevented black people from renting in other areas, the immigrants had no other choice. The famous Kray brothers of the London East End also tried to mob the mobster, and apparently succeeded.
Who is the Rachman of today? Is it Lovells who want to take over our houses, or is it New Heartlands who want to buy our houses to give them to Lovells? Who is playing the immigrant's role in this play?
The German director Rainer Werner Fassbinder made a play about a character with some parallels to Peter Rachman: Ignaz Bubis, who lived in Frankfurt of the 1960s and 1970s. Fassbinder's play is titled Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod (Garbage, the City and Death). It is in short about the interaction between property speculators and local authorities. Because the main character, based on the real person Ignaz Bubis was a Jew, the play was attacked as being antisemitic and never made it to the stage during Fassbinder's lifetime.
Now having told you about Fassbinder, I should try and find this play and read it... I know Frankfurt a little, from going there regularly to a big trade show in December each year. Frankfurt is the financial capital of Germany, all the banks have their headquarters there, in huge sky scrapers. I wonder if there is a connection between the play about property speculation and the rise of the bank palaces somewhere?

Promised Lands

A friend texted me last week to buy the Guardian on Wednesday, it would have a supplement on the Pathfinder schemes. Of course, disorganised as I am, I forgot. Then during the following couple of days a lot of emails landed in my inbox about this Guardian supplement. What is the fuss about? I found out from the Guardian website: Read Simon Jenkin's reaction to this supplement. So, the Guardian published in their 'Society' section 6 pages sponsored by the Housing Market Renewal people about Pathfinder, but did not make clear enough that it was entirely the view of the government, and no critic was cited. My friend, who knows a thing or two about the pathfinder was fopped off when she tried to give her view prior to the publication over the phone. Now it is clear why: The HMRI had paid for the show and would decide what was published. Not good, but Simon Jenkins column attacked the paper for this error of judgement, and they saw it necessay to issue a statement to justify this kind of 'journalism'. Thinking about the title of this supplement, 'Promised Lands': I can not help but interpret this cynically. The Patfinders promise profit for the developers, if they get their way these promises can become real. The people living round here have been promised that they can have their say, but the consultation of last year has still not been presented to our council, many months later.