Sep 24, 2023·edited Sep 24, 2023Liked by Patrick R
Marx and Engels' greatest failure was underestimating the ability of elite capitalists to adapt as a means of self-preservation, which they have effectively managed for around 200 years. Slavery became morally intolerable, so it was replaced with cheap/child factory labor. But Americans grew tired of seeing broken, overworked, poisoned people in plain sight, so the most grotesque forms of exploitation were simply moved overseas and conveniently out of view.
Talk of wealth redistribution scares capitalists, so all the collective energy driving contemporary social justice movements was skillfully funneled into identity grievance politics, which are no threat to the wealthy and powerful - thus we have Bain Capital bloodsucker Mitt Romney marching with BLM, while multimillionaire Nancy Pelosi and Wall Street's favorite Senator Chuck Schumer don Kente cloths and kneel in protest.
We shouldn't be surprised that a class of cutthroat amoral entrepreneurs have proven so capable at adapting to changing circumstances. This is what Wallace was going on about in Blade Runner 2049.
I don't have much to add to this, except that I sometimes wonder if we're not looking at a kind of learned helplessness beaten into politically-minded left-of-center millennials and zoomers. Seeing injustice everywhere, they pick the softest targets. The financiers, "small" business cartels, landlords, Amazon, etc. are apparently unassailable. Addressing climate change and reducing plastic waste would be like trying to move the Atlantic ocean with a bunch of plastic buckets. But excoriating racists, fighting for all-gender restrooms, insisting on land acknowledgements, etc.? That's more doable.
So they've compromised just enough to make us feel we have a small victory? Just enough of us are 'in' that there's no leadership, not that Occupy's leadership was leading anyways? The escape valve is releasing so fast those up top are never in danger?
But people still complain and have grievances, and now we complain about "I hear you" responses from corpo as well. Hmm.
The "escape valve" is a very good way of putting it. The Romans called it "bread and circuses." To this we can add the occasional public scourging of a scapegoat.
"Corpo" doesn't have to try TOO hard in the game it's been playing. Can you imagine anyone boycotting Amazon for more than like a week?
I only buy from Amazon when I have a gift card or if it's the only way to get an 8bitdo controller or something... but I am 40 and will walk uphill both ways etc and search for a brand's own storefront, or at least ebay. So I guess they won't miss me.
Marx and Engels' greatest failure was underestimating the ability of elite capitalists to adapt as a means of self-preservation, which they have effectively managed for around 200 years. Slavery became morally intolerable, so it was replaced with cheap/child factory labor. But Americans grew tired of seeing broken, overworked, poisoned people in plain sight, so the most grotesque forms of exploitation were simply moved overseas and conveniently out of view.
Talk of wealth redistribution scares capitalists, so all the collective energy driving contemporary social justice movements was skillfully funneled into identity grievance politics, which are no threat to the wealthy and powerful - thus we have Bain Capital bloodsucker Mitt Romney marching with BLM, while multimillionaire Nancy Pelosi and Wall Street's favorite Senator Chuck Schumer don Kente cloths and kneel in protest.
We shouldn't be surprised that a class of cutthroat amoral entrepreneurs have proven so capable at adapting to changing circumstances. This is what Wallace was going on about in Blade Runner 2049.
I don't have much to add to this, except that I sometimes wonder if we're not looking at a kind of learned helplessness beaten into politically-minded left-of-center millennials and zoomers. Seeing injustice everywhere, they pick the softest targets. The financiers, "small" business cartels, landlords, Amazon, etc. are apparently unassailable. Addressing climate change and reducing plastic waste would be like trying to move the Atlantic ocean with a bunch of plastic buckets. But excoriating racists, fighting for all-gender restrooms, insisting on land acknowledgements, etc.? That's more doable.
So they've compromised just enough to make us feel we have a small victory? Just enough of us are 'in' that there's no leadership, not that Occupy's leadership was leading anyways? The escape valve is releasing so fast those up top are never in danger?
But people still complain and have grievances, and now we complain about "I hear you" responses from corpo as well. Hmm.
The "escape valve" is a very good way of putting it. The Romans called it "bread and circuses." To this we can add the occasional public scourging of a scapegoat.
"Corpo" doesn't have to try TOO hard in the game it's been playing. Can you imagine anyone boycotting Amazon for more than like a week?
I only buy from Amazon when I have a gift card or if it's the only way to get an 8bitdo controller or something... but I am 40 and will walk uphill both ways etc and search for a brand's own storefront, or at least ebay. So I guess they won't miss me.