Page "Lettrism" Paragraph 33

Isou identified the amplic phase of political theory and economics as that of Adam Smith and free trade ; its chiselling phase was that of Karl Marx and socialism.

Isou termed these ' atomic economics ' and ' molecular economics ' respectively: he launched ' nuclear economics ' as a corrective to both of them.

Both currents, he felt, had simply failed to take into account a large part of the population, namely those young people and other ' externs ' who neither produced nor exchanged goods or capital in any significant way.

He felt that the creative urge was an integral part of human nature, but that, unless it was properly guided, it could be diverted into crime and anti-social behaviour.

The Letterists sought to restructure every aspect of society in such a way as to enable these externs to channel their creativity in more positive ways.