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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
"What exemplifies the failure of the neoliberal world to live up to its own PR than the call center?" (64)
challenging
dark
medium-paced
As someone unfamiliar with terms like deontology, the works of Žižek, and the 2008 banking crisis; a lot of this went over my head. The bits I could follow were stark and fascinating, but philosophy in general is a mixed bag for me.
fast-paced
This is a great reflection on the state of capitalism if you’re already interested in Marxism; I stress a pre-existing commitment because this book doesn’t do much to convince you to condemn capitalism. I’d also recommend you know a bit about Marxism or its key players before heading in otherwise you might struggle with the conceptual thinking in this book.
As I met all those requirements I loved this book. It looks at how and why capitalism feels so impenetrable. It subsumes everything: the past, the future and even critiques on capitalism, manifesting in a stagnancy. This is essentially what capitalist realism is, capitalism’s inescapability.
Capitalism is so good at underplaying most critiques it gets leveled, think about the arguments you’ve probably had with people about how and why capitalism is bad and the infuriating answers you’ve likely received. Eg. the number of discussions I’ve had about how capitalism causes so much unnecessary suffering and death to which capitalism responds: that’s just how the world is. That’s capitalist realism. Fisher offers a new way to escape this trap, arguing that instead you need to focus on the areas where capitalism fails to produce what it promises and develop alternative systems that can actually fill these promises. A lot of this book is dedicated to how neoliberalism promises an end to bureaucracy but anyone who has ever worked a job or tried to contact their internet provider knows that bureaucracy is alive and well.
This book, though written more than a decade ago, still feels deeply relevant. There’s the fantastic revelation in here, borrowed from Zizek, that capitalism relies on a valuing of belief over action. We pretend that if we believe in our hearts that capitalism is bad, we are free to continue to actively engage in it without guilt, thus allowing capitalism to continue unchallenged. This is a performance you see everyday, particularly among young liberals. This is what is happening when people post themselves unboxing thousands of dollars worth of Amazon or Shein products, excusing themselves from any moral impunity or psychological unease by first proclaiming, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”.
Great conceptual thinking in this book and it's only 80 pages long so the extra brain power you need to give it isn’t exhausting, highly recommend.
As I met all those requirements I loved this book. It looks at how and why capitalism feels so impenetrable. It subsumes everything: the past, the future and even critiques on capitalism, manifesting in a stagnancy. This is essentially what capitalist realism is, capitalism’s inescapability.
Capitalism is so good at underplaying most critiques it gets leveled, think about the arguments you’ve probably had with people about how and why capitalism is bad and the infuriating answers you’ve likely received. Eg. the number of discussions I’ve had about how capitalism causes so much unnecessary suffering and death to which capitalism responds: that’s just how the world is. That’s capitalist realism. Fisher offers a new way to escape this trap, arguing that instead you need to focus on the areas where capitalism fails to produce what it promises and develop alternative systems that can actually fill these promises. A lot of this book is dedicated to how neoliberalism promises an end to bureaucracy but anyone who has ever worked a job or tried to contact their internet provider knows that bureaucracy is alive and well.
This book, though written more than a decade ago, still feels deeply relevant. There’s the fantastic revelation in here, borrowed from Zizek, that capitalism relies on a valuing of belief over action. We pretend that if we believe in our hearts that capitalism is bad, we are free to continue to actively engage in it without guilt, thus allowing capitalism to continue unchallenged. This is a performance you see everyday, particularly among young liberals. This is what is happening when people post themselves unboxing thousands of dollars worth of Amazon or Shein products, excusing themselves from any moral impunity or psychological unease by first proclaiming, “there is no ethical consumption under capitalism”.
Great conceptual thinking in this book and it's only 80 pages long so the extra brain power you need to give it isn’t exhausting, highly recommend.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
informative
slow-paced
Most of left wing theory/literature is very old and from decades ago, so it's very difficult to get in. Moreover they were all written in a time where Marxism Leninism was a growing and popular political ideology which was followed by multiple countries and seemed strong enough to be a viable alternative to Capitalism. Since the 1990s that has not been the case and we are a generation who grew up knowing nothing but capitalism and neo-liberal "democracy" and it's impossible to think of a world that isn't this way. This book requires some basic understanding of British politics but It's a great introduction to the relevance of left wing ideology in modern times. And unlike older leftist literature, this has lots and lots of ideas about various issues from academics to mental health and all ideas are presented through multiple analysis of popular culture such as films. Also it's barely 100 pages and doesn't take long to read, highly recommend it to all left leaning people. ( Except tankies ofc, the author shits a lot on Stalin lol)
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
reflective
Fisher had an incredible gift for capturing the ambient anxiety of our failing economic system. This text provides valuable catharsis amidst the futility of capitalism with an approachable and highly quotable distillation, a considerably rare but necessary talent within critique. While pop cultural references that were so characteristic of Fisher's style may appear to date the text at first glance, much of Capitalist Realism only gains relevance with the metastasizing absurdity of capitalism and liberal democracy.