Money, is bad. Introduction
At this point, it’s fairly common to hear someone from the younger generations lambaste
and lament capitalism. We can attribute many of the world’s problems
to capitalism. Hell, we can attribute stubbing our toes on
hostile architecture to capitalism. Vague anti-capitalism is THE wave these days. Here’s the kicker though...vague anti-capitalism
is not an ideology. In fact, you can go in many different directions
if you end up entering the equally vague “Left”. I’ve made it clear before but I’ll say
it again, I don’t think the term “left” is very useful, as it describes a wide variety
of mutually oppositional movements and ideologies. But anyway, the intentionally provocative
title gives it away of course. The way I see it, capitalism is hardly disrupted
by vague anti-capitalism. Rather, vague anti-capitalism often serves
to maintain it. Let me explain. Anti-Capitalism is Capitalist
In Mark Fisher’s Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?, he posits the term
“capitalist realism” to describe the current global political situation, where alternatives
to the capitalist system remain invisible to the mainstream and people find it impossible
even to imagine a coherent alternative to it. The book was written in 2009, before the wave
of social democrats swept into office in the US and shifted the national conversation somewhat. Need I remind you, however, that social democracy
is still capitalism, so the point still stands. They have managed to destigmatize the word
socialism, but they’ve also managed to conflate socialism with a “nicer” capitalism in
the minds of millions. The title is a play on the quote by neoliberal
ghoul Margaret Thatcher, “There is no alternative”, as well as the concept attributed to either
Fredric Jameson or Slavoj Žižek, which states that, “it is easier to imagine an end to
the world than an end to capitalism.” Throughout the short book, Fisher critiques
neoliberalism and its impact on pop culture, work, education, and mental health. It’s important to note that capitalist realism
never asserts that capitalism is a perfect system. Rather, it relies on the absurd “human nature”
argument, which I and others have already dismantled thoroughly. It asserts that it is the only system that
is compatible with human desire and economic law. That no system could operate without a basis
on the private accumulation and hoarding of wealth and capital. At this point you’re probably thinking,
yeah yeah, we know all that. Capitalism bad. Pure ideology. We were born with a copy of Althusser. Sniff. Aite boss man, so lewwe talk about where anti-capitalism
fits in all this then. Particularly in media and in movements. Anti-Capitalism in Media
While I still strongly believe we should abolish Disney and “balkanize” the animation industry
(/hj), I hadda say, Disney Pixar has presented an absolute banger with WALL-E. Remember when
the robots fell in love? Real tears man. Anyway, I’m sure y’all can come up with
more examples in the comments, but WALL-E works to illustrate my point. And don’t worry, I’m not gonna become
another media critique YouTuber. WALL-E is a critique of consumerism, not capitalism. Of course, consumerism is a manifestation
of capitalism, but you’ll notice that even as WALL-E pans over cities of garbage and
barren landscapes, even as it negatively portrays the worst excesses of corporate malpractice
and automated dystopia, it fails to truly point to capitalism’s foundational flaws
as the source of Earth’s demise. In fact, even post-apocalypse, the corporate
monopoly of Buy-n-Large endures. The megacorporation destroyed the planet and
took its customers with it to space, where they regressed into beings of pure consumption. The fatness=laziness metaphor is, problematically,
very prominent. Sure, the humans eventually stand up to the
corporate AI overlord, but the film seems to place the blame of consumerism on the people,
while the corporation was simply doing what it had to do. The film basically says that it’s these
blobs’ fault for not looking up from their gadgets and gulpers to go green and #savetheturtles. It doesn’t really say they should’ve overthrown
capitalism. Just that they should’ve changed their lifestyles. Cuz when the global leader/BnL CEO spins the
existential crisis as a luxury cruise, it seems they barely bat an eye and go right
back to consuming. I’m not saying this is the only valid interpretation
of the film, but it’s one to consider. In fact, with the release of the movie, the
then billion dollar Disney was pumping out plastic merchandise made with sweatshop labour. Over the years since then, Disney has expanded
to consume more and more retailers, TV stations, streaming services, and brands. The multi-trillionaire conglomerate may have
made you cry over robots and question your plastic straw purchases, but they’re quite
fine destroying the Earth for profit. They don’t see the vague anti-consumerism,
or vague anti-capitalism, in their content, as a meaningful threat to their interests. If there's a market for Anti-Capitalism, capitalists
will sell it to you, leaving you "feeling like" you've performed anti-capitalism, without
contributing anything but profits. Media consumption is not activism. If anything, what WALL-E demonstrates is that,
contrary to the popular notion that communism is basically inevitable, capitalism can warp
and transform in ways we can’t even predict. It seems ever ready to improvise, adapt, and
overcome. I’ve briefly touched on how anti-capitalism
manifests in mainstream media, but what about anti-capitalism on YouTube? Years after the wave of anti-SJW and alt-right
YouTubers were countered by the rise of various Left personalities, it seems to me that certain
patterns and behaviours among “LeftTube” remain, despite the serious need for us to
push further. I’m not saying that any particular LeftTube
personality is bad, or that they’re meant to lead the revolution, but I think we should
confront the reality that many of these personalities, while anti-capitalist, have done little to
push people towards solutions, and particularly solutions outside of electoralism. It seems easier to react to Jordan Peterson
or Steven Crowder, as if their relevance hasn’t waned since 2016, or takedown another garbage
PragerU video...but with such massive platforms, they could do a whole lot more than *just*
feed into vague anti-capitalism, critiquing *what is* for the tenth time, and instead
push towards exploring and sowing the seeds of what could be. They could guide people towards building meaningful,
concrete political programs, beyond the empty platitudes, instead of spending 90% of the
discourse talking about politicians, celebrities, and drama for the clicks and views. All that wasted energy, talking about the
same problems again and again without talking strategy, just leaves people overwhelmed and
demobilized. But I’ll wrap this up in the conclusion. On to my next point. Let’s talk about anti-capitalism in activism. Anti-Capitalism in Activism
Vague anti-capitalism is a very prevalent notion in progressive organizing spaces, no
matter the movement. There’s nary a protest on the streets these
days that doesn’t have at least one sign post calling out capitalism, or at least particular
corporations. But the very act of protest has been, to a
significant extent, co-opted. Thanks to the efforts of the media, nonviolence
activists, and NGOs, protests have become nought but a gesture of resistance, without
any actual muscle to back it up. The rinse repeat cycle of protest, tear gas,
arrest, bail fund needs to be broken. It’s about time these resources and efforts
were poured into enduring, powerful movements that operate outside of the mainstream, liberal
solutions of “demanding reform” or “demanding abolition”. Demanding abolition will never manifest it. Abolition must be a part of a militant political
programme, else it be co opted again and again. The State will never abolish itself. Your continued investment in it only serves
to keep it chugging. These vaguely anti-capitalist movements can’t
continue to put so much effort into a strategy that leads to inconsequential reforms or utter
defeat. Slowly inching towards mitigating some aspects
of capitalism when you can go much further is practically an act of self-sabotage. Which lends itself to my thesis. The prevalence of passive, vague anti-capitalism,
while better than nothing, still belies some acceptance 0f the inevitability of capitalism. It seems that many, even on the so-called
left, have resigned themselves to their fate, of the endurance of capitalism. Not out of apathy or cynicism, but out of
reflexive impotence. They know things are bad, but more than that,
they “know” they can’t do anything about it. That “knowledge” is not a passive observation
of an already existing state of affairs. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you “know” you can’t do anything,
you won’t. But folks don’t get that it’s not enough
to consciously object to capitalism. You have to fight it materially, with strategies
that work. The 2008 financial crisis, and the disorganized
2011 Occupy movement, had the potential to create real revolutionary change, if only
the pieces were in place to mobilize. All they did, however, was compound capitalist
realism. They didn’t shake the foundation. In fact, the crisis reinforced the notion
of merely “modifying” capitalism rather than dismantling it completely. We’re now in the midst of a global crisis. As the vaccine apartheid builds and the climate
crisis intensifies, we can’t afford to fall into the same traps again. So what’s the alternative? Beyond Anti-Capitalism
Vague anti-capitalism is passive and pacifying. To overcome the impotence it generates, it
is necessary to ground yourself in the principles of true liberation and anchor yourself in
a collaborative, comprehensive political project attuned to your local, material conditions. Free from the domination of “leaders”
and the constraints of politicians, working with a goal in mind, develop strategies that
will push you towards success. Start preparing for the next crises. Attune yourself to the successes and failures
of past movements and be ready to root out capitalist apologia, capitulation, and co-optation
tactics. Reject systems of domination wholly, or they
will consume you. This isn’t a callout for folks new to the
fight for anarchism, abolition, liberation, landback, social ecology, and all that jazz. I’ve low-key been calling myself out throughout
this video, so you’re not alone. I just want to encourage us to go further
than we have been. To learn what needs to be learned so we can
hit the ground running. My content has been geared towards supplementing
political projects, but I want to make sure y’all are pushing beyond me. Read, connect, and start building. Whether you’re on the streets pushing mutual
aid groups beyond charity work and donations; researching, coordinating, and raising funds
from home; or in the dirt, reaching people through permablitzes, I want alyuh to be working
towards a vision. Our visions won’t all be the same, but as
long as they’re compatible, I can picture a world in which many worlds exist. We’ve got some difficult days ahead, but
I’m still heading to the promised land. Take breaks when you need to fam. I hope you’re with me till the end. Peace. Outro
Thank you for watching. Thanks once again to the Famalay, Ongrad,
Coby Tamayo, John Vechey, Ori Shimony, Len P, SomeGuy, Seth, J. Dorrance, Eepa, y@, Beyond
Binary Podcast, Mamish Disgusting, Eshi The Mad, Hoie, Geoff Massey, kimonoko, Alki, Forrest
Alvarez, PoodleHawk, Håkon Kleppe Normann, Spencer Harmon, Matt, and Suavacado Jones. You can join these beautiful humans and support
me too on Patreon.com/saintdrew. Please like, comment, subscribe, and share
with your fellow peoples. Feed the algorithm. Check out my previous videos for other fascinating
topics. You can follow me on Twitter @_saintdrew. Thanks again, peace!
