Das Kapital
As I watched a slick well-produced anti-US, anti-capitalism video on Russian Telegram, I considered why some of the best propaganda out there consistently comes from the same disgusting sources. As with all effective propaganda, there is a kernel of truth behind the exaggerated presentation. Marx and Engels were not the only people who observed with contempt the harshness of capitalism. The rise of Trump was ostensibly the triumph of the evangelical right who tempered the biting edge of capitalism with Christian mercy and charity.
Predictaby the rise of the religious right always comes with persecution of "others" who oppose the theocratic order; the scapegoats of our age are immigrants and liberals. My belief is that this is an inherent property of monotheistic religion - one god must always means my god, and never yours. A christian nation is not the way to blunt the crushing effects of capitalism, as it only mitigates these effects for the chosen favorites.
To our peril we have largely ignored a larger threat, the techbros who imagine self-selecting network states for billionaires. They worship the false god that Ayn Rand provided for us; the belief in mankind's ability to overcome these obstacles through innovation. Our tecnological prowess will surely allow us to temper the rough edges of capitalism with significant improvements in quality of life for the "haves" of this world.
Well, I for one think this is a dystopian fairy tale. Our tech does keep producing more wealth, more GDP, more stuffs. Yet we end up with fewer of the few who own more than the masses, who live one incident away from being destitute. Like me. Like most people - even in the wealthiest country in history.
Who among us could manage the unexpected medical costs of a brain tumor, or a serious car crash, or liver cancer, or a failing kidney, etc? The same proletariat who buy the heavily processed, non-nutritious food to save money to stretch their insufficient paychecks from their unsatisfying and unneccessary jobs?
Where is this technological magic that will provide life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all? Is it our upcoming AI companions counseling us how to spend our universal basic income most efficiently? Meanwhile will the ever-shrinking priviledged class live large selling the masses drinking water, low-toxin air and soilent green?
This is not a worthy vision for humanity, we're capable of far more than this dystopian cringe future that our techbro dipshits envision. Now is the time to deny this future, where we passively consume the abundance of AI slop while the lucky few hoard all the earth's resources. Capitalism is yet another fake god meant to empower those who have, and control those who don't. Same as it ever was.