in touch: The Manifesto of Post-Phlegmatism
Reading by Miriam Schmidtke
The Manifesto of Post-Phlegmatism celebrates apathy and stagnation as a rejection of the oppressive demands of capitalism. It is a meditation on sleep, transforming it from a passive necessity into a political statement. It embraces rest not as a means of recharging for further labor, but as an intentional withdrawal from a system that commodifies human energy. The text draws on sleep as an initiation into a speculative cult of dreamers—a sanctuary for those who seek refuge in the liminal spaces between unconsciousness and the digital ether. Here, sleep becomes a mystical practice and a rebellion against the hyper-surveillance of techno-capitalism.