The Uncollapsed Wave Function of the Past, otherwise known as history, remains a Weak Messianic Force. Don't be fooled by Benjamin's use of language, he was a gentle soul, who like all gentle souls, had dreams. Me! I'll speak loudly, obnoxiously and stronly for him.
Historical consciousness is phantom yet present, valuable and influential even if it's an imprecisely represented aura watched over by the Angel of History. As uncertain future beacones with promises, a seduction of long legs, black dresses and wishes our Angel glances askance at the past, he knows the future is always false promise, the past is still unfinished and to be cherished because it can't be ignored.
In Benjamin's Arcade Project the shopping malls of the Paris Arcades, a future alive and glittering in a winter night which made the ugliness of the factory, the dark poverty of the workless, the hunger look dainty with purpose. Give the jackass his ballroom, the billionaire his tart and let our eyes eat cake.
What was Benjamin to do when he saw his Angel of History but realize how impossible truth was. He was buried as Benjamin Walter to conceal his Jewish heritage from those who might dig him up for a greater cause.
