How Capitalism Absorbs Anticapitalism

[@thebourgeoispunk]

As a contractor for a private investment company continually renegotiating my contract every 6 months for over two years i found this very validating.

[@Windsofchange99]

Precarious work is an interesting phenomeon with complex takes. I'm glad you see the value in the perspectives presented in the vid.

[@pedrob3953]

"Squid Game" on Netflix is a perfect example. Capitalists make money off their critics. But then, "Capitalists will sell us the rope we will hang them with", said Lenin.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Did Lenin anticipate how well capitalism would be able to transform the 'rope' into something cultural, and commodify the dissatisfaction engendered by the system, thus enabling it to keep getting around its contradictions?

[@DvornyashkaDiaries]

@@ronmackinnon9374 Unfortunately, no one expected that. All Marxists underestimated how adaptable and ruthlessly pragmatic capitalist system is. It is clear now, that only ruthless revolt can overthrow it (at least in the countries where it is highly developed like USA, Europe, some Asian countries). Less developed countries need to build up socially democratic system first. It's a permanent revolution.

[@philmole1209]

I love the shot at the people whining about "emotional labor." That's one of the most annoying neoliberal talking points out there.

[@LongDefiant]

Not really

[@Windsofchange99]

@@LongDefiant It is. Its one thing to say that the process of trying to do or explain something can be tiresome mentally and emotionally marx understood this its different to use that term as a means of getting out of debates with people you might disagree with on certain points. Workers (however we define them based on material conditions) have to deal with a lot of emotional labor based on the way they are treated but we don't think of them that way, I wonder why 🤔.

[@philmole1209]

@@LongDefiant yes, really. "Emotional labor" has become a bingo word in identity politics among people of the professional managerial class, who use it as a kind of marketing ploy. The idea is that by talking about "equity" issues that purportedly affect members of their identity-defined group, they've earned a right to demand Venmo payments or otherwise advocate for their compensation, since they are teaching everyone about the interests facing their "community." Never mind that the concept of their community papers over class differences that affect the material realities of those they claim to be speaking for, and never mind that the absence of any kind of broader socioeconomic analysis completely decontextualizes the problems those individuals face from political economy. It's neoliberal virtue signaling at its worst, that frames a narrow self-interest based view of the world as an approach to real equity.

[@MrQuantumInc]

@@philmole1209 Most of the people who use the term "Identity Politics" unironically are staunchly PRO-capitalism, so I am a bit suspicious. Emotional labor simply describes having to intentionally perform certain emotional states, such as a reception trying to act pleased that a customer arrived. It got adopted by feminists since it described part of women's roles, i.e. providing emotional support. Maybe its overused, but to be fair that could describe a lot of things. Generally the things you call "Identity Politics" are used by people who usually have LESS money and power to criticize those with MORE money and power. Most of the capital is held by white men. Among the working class white men usually have greater income. (The obvious implication being that is racism and sexism were somehow defeated, women and minorities would get more money.) Those who usually complain about "Identity Politics" do so because they are also white men and realize they have a greater chance of joining the capitalist class, (a false promise to be sure, but something that makes much more sense when you share the same race and gender).

[@philmole1209]

@@MrQuantumInc Possibly you're not familiar with Adolph Reed, Jr., Toure' Reed, Cedric Johnson, Walter Benn Michaels, Jason Myles, Pascal Robert, Briahna Joy Gray, Preston Smith, Barbara and Karen Fields, and Zine Magubane, to name a few? They're all pretty far to the left and all are critical to varying degrees of identity politics. The good news is that if you're not familiar, you can still learn, and might even encounter some of them if you keep watching or reading Jacobin. The rest of your comment is kind of at odds with itself, because on the one hand you state near the end the accurate observation that the potential for many white men to join the capitalist class mostly doesn't pan out, but earlier, you seem to fall into a common pattern of conflating identity with class, or more generally with power. Yes, racism and sexism and other forms of oppression are real and result in identity-based disparities in wealth as well as in access to education, health care and any number of other parameters. But there are also class differences within any given constructed identity that complicate thinking of the people within them as sharing common understandings and priorities, and certainly result in different degrees of access to power. And the common tendency to focus only on identity as an approach to equity separates inequalities from their roots in political economy, aka capitalist exploitation. Additionally, it was designed to do so. The irony is that a Jim Crow-era plantation owner would've told his poor white sharecropper there's no point in identifying with the humanity of the even poorer Black sharecropper, and certainly not of forming common cause with him. The salient point is the difference between Black and white. Flash forward to 2021, and ironically, "woke" neoliberals look at the overall wealth gap and say that the salient point is not that there's a wealth gap, but that we need to aim for the right amount of diversity across all points of the gap . Then and now, the focus distracts us from common forces of exploitation. And to the modern neoliberal, identity focused -isms are just irrational bugs to be eliminated from a system considered to be perfectly rational and in no need of change in and of itself. As one of the people I mentioned above, Adolph Reed Jr., once put it, racism explains why Black people disproportionately work low wage jobs, but doesn't explain why the wages are so low to begin with. To understand that you need an economic analysis, as well as an understanding of social/historical changes such as weakening of labor, deskilling of jobs, outsourcing of jobs, flattening of income tax rates, wage stagnation, and gutting of welfare that have occurred over the last 50 years. Identity-based disparities are real but focus on them as the root of our problems is doing the work of capitalism. And that makes ME a bit suspicious, albeit with better reason to be.

[@bradleyp3655]

Capitalists have more to loose than the working class. Let that sink in.

[@ethanstump]

numerically, the 1% now has more money than the middle class, which make's up of half of the united states. three million people combined have more resources than 150 million people who eat three times a day, shower as often as you do, and require a roof over their heads. yes, the math supports that the 1% does indeed have more resources to loose than the middle class, let alone the lower class.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

In light of this discussion, I would urge people to revisit a couple of magazine cover stories from the mid-'90s. In 1994, TIME magazine had a cover depicting an updated version of the Grant Wood painting, 'American Gothic,' but with the couple made out to look like a pair of contemporary hipsters, with the headline, 'Everybody's Hip - And That's Not Cool.' Flash forward two years to November 1996, in the aftermath of Clinton's winning a second term, and 'The Village Voice' repeated the Grant Wood spoof on their cover, but this time, the couple consisted of Michael Jackson and Madonna. And their cover story was all about how 'we' were 'winning' the culture war. That the left (or 'left,' if you prefer) was being embraced culturally by the powerful interests it was purportedly opposed to was treated as a cause for celebration rather than of alarm.

[@k3v1n47]

Love their theme-song. Totally unrelated to the subject, but fk it, that's a dope joint.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Music by Zonkey (according to what's in the description box).

[@ladymorwendaebrethil-feani4031]

That's why all theories about changing capitalism through culture have failed. In fact, it is idealism to think that a change from the superstructure will work without money, resources and so on. The only effective way to change an economic system is to take direct action on it. The bourgeoisie managed to transform its basic activity (commerce) into the dominant social relations system in the world, using this system to counterbalance the power of feudal lords and monarchs. They practiced countereconomics, then made the rulers depend on them and finally dismissed them when they had enough economic power (economic power made them obtain hegemony among intellectuals, in newspapers etc., which allowed them to take power using the proletariat in revolt against the nobility. They then used economic power to co-opt the armies to fight both the nobles and the radicalized proletarians). To replace capitalism, it is necessary that new social relations of production prevail over it and that allow the distribution of resources in a more sufficient, sustainable and abundant way than capitalism itself. Capitalism cannot co-opt this without making big concessions. In my view, this way of doing this is to foster the development of cooperative ecosystems and focus on the economic complexification and collectivized domain of production chains, at the same time developing high value-added activities along with all the production chains they involve, thus as the coordination of these activities with social activities such as health, education and community welfare. This can build a new non-capitalist economy within capitalism (just as capitalism once existed within feudalism), which can develop and supplant the previous system, a process that would be the social revolution itself, which would culminate in a political revolution: logic of economic democracy and self-management would be transposed to the political environment, which would lead to the destruction of the modern state and the establishment of a new political organization corresponding to the new infrastructure

[@maolalidh6881]

2:03 - 2:30 very good point!! thank you 2:03 - 2:30 "How Capitalism Absorbs Anticapitalism"; Jen Pan on Jacobin

[@LongDefiant]

Workers have to be willing to tank the entire system over the fact that they only got half a loaf of bread, instead of an entire one. Capitalist wants you to focus on what you have, but productive workers know how much they're worth, and resent having it stolen away.

[@AQuietNight]

That is why you start your own business. But most workers know they haven't the talent to do it so they labor with deep resentment.

[@newagain9964]

@@AQuietNightit doesn’t take talent to start a business, It takes capital. And most don’t have it; many due to being underpaid and wage theft. U 🤡

[@FerdarPleaseSubscribe]

@@AQuietNight what if everyone started their own business?

[@tylerhackner9731]

The system as it is shall not stand

[@Twosheets]

And that’s how markets should work. They succeed of fail based on merit.

[@408sophon]

@@Twosheets systems are not markets also you’re 13 watch some parenti lectures or something

[@Twosheets]

@@408sophon will do Thanks for the advice.

[@jelef001]

great work! i’d love to hear more about how cultural practices that aren’t compatible with capitalism gradually die out.

[@AQuietNight]

A group of people can start an employee owned company. It has been done before. Many times before.

[@genxlife]

I blame it on Reagan!

[@GoogleIdentity331]

Cultural studies thought long and hard about these issues. Any analysis of this phenomenon should start with Raymond Williams and Stuart Hall.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Other relevant books from years gone by that come to mind are: 'Revolt into Style,' by George Melly 'Karma Cola,' by Gita Mehta

[@DvornyashkaDiaries]

What is truly disturbing is that constant automatization of production simply can't happen without a social catastrophe inside capitalist system. Millions of people will die starving in the Third World and millions of people will be miserable to the point of suicidal in Developed ones. And yet all they think about is a short term satisfaction.

[@janosmarothy5409]

It only came up as a visual gag in passing, but the funny thing is reparations was an inherently bourgeois demand -- it was simply the natural extension of free labor ideology onto the recently emancipated mass of the US population. It has never ceased to be a bourgeois demand, which makes posing it in 2021 not just well past its historical sell-by date, but wholly reactionary. On top of that, its latter-day uptake by a thin layer of upwardly mobile Blacks and self-flagellating Whites is so obviously coming from a place of ugly middle class ressentiment, that's it never not going to be met with hostility by the overwhelming mass of the population. Maybe let's just stick to "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need," because even as an abstract slogan it definitionally includes the idea that the allocation of resources should prioritize those hit hardest by capitalism.

[@voxomnes9537]

No.

[@janosmarothy5409]

@@voxomnes9537But actually yes.

[@MrQuantumInc]

Talking about how the fundamental aspects of capitalism are maintained between otherwise different systems is the oldest argument in socialism. The fact that Liberal Democratic society have some of the same problems as Feudal society was most of what Karl Marx wrote about. It is an extremely broad definition of "capitalism." Karl Marx was right and Jen Pan is right, but I worry because a lot of people use the fact that the world is still "Capitalist" as an excuse to claim that previous victories don't count, or that only certain potential victories count. There are a lot of socialist defeatists who will point to the fact that society would still be technically "capitalist" as a way to dismiss most efforts meant to help workers.

[@AngryVet44]

Completely depressing. Nothing like voluntary capitalism if you feel guilty about the black families you know suffering you can get rid of your guilt by sending them money on PayPal.

[@Matthew.E.Kelly.]

Individual responsibility for collective problems is part & parcel of capitalism & it's one of liberalism's failing cornerstones.

[@ViolentMonopoly]

Great vid, as always, keep up the great work helping us better understand the beast

[@hazeljane3034]

Really great video. It is crazy how consumerism is as common for people on the left as for people on the right. Capitalism totally adapts and sells itself to people who think they’re “against the system”. And I’m not criticizing people who support the system. Everything revolves around capitalism and it’s nearly impossible to escape it.

[@gladiator652004]

Any challenge to capitalism has to come from political action, but the video suggests it comes from industrial action. Trade unions focus on immediate demands, not on ending capitalism. Even if they commit themselves to replacing capitalism as a matter of policy, they need to affiliate to a political party to pursue that aim.

[@Matthew.E.Kelly.]

Withholding labor *is* a political action 🤔

[@gladiator652004]

@@Matthew.E.Kelly. Yes but win or lose the industrial action, the structure of capitalist society remains intact afterwards; a transitional programme is needed to change from capitalism to democratic socialism.

[@Matthew.E.Kelly.]

@@gladiator652004Social democracy is rather intertwined with capitalism, though 🤔 it just exports most of the misery & suffering of capitalism abroad to developing nations via imperialism & maintains a welfare state at home which still, ultimately, serves bourgeoise cultural hegemony. This was Lenin's key critique of socdem politics, it was just as relevant 100 years ago as it is now. I think the transition needs to be made from capitalist economy/bourgeoise hegemony to unfettered socialist economy/proletariat value culture instead. Social democracy or democratic socialism or whatever you want to call it is a half-measure of a half-measure, despite being just as hopeless to painlessly implement in the U.S. My reasoning is destroying capitalism altogether will result in less likelihood of a backslide than if we simply regulate & restrict capitalism. After all, capital eventually finds a way to corrupt.

[@Matthew.E.Kelly.]

@@gladiator652004By the way, there are many of us who see the history of labor resistance against the bourgeoisie as proof that we must strike in order to be effective, but we can't be successful on labor strikes alone. Just as we can't be successful through participating in elections alone. We can share this common goal of achieving a socialist economy without having to be at odds on the specifics, however, because participating in petty bourgeoise electoralism can only help the cause. You vote for candidates who won't actively stand in the way of a paradigm shift while I organize the workplace & radicalize coworkers, neighbors, & friends - we're both necessary, you see, I just don't believe that one approach is "better" or more necessary than the other. I think both are necessary & that your approach aids mine. We are two sides to the same coin 😎 the shiny stuff in the middle that binds us together is socialism, but I am a syndicalist & an anarchist as well. At any rate, please do understand that everything you advocate for is part of what I advocate for, & I support you. I just think we should go further -- we should *strive* for more -- because what we're up against practically guarantees we will achieve nothing unless we strive in unity.

[@newagain9964]

@@gladiator652004 “transitional programs”??? Y would capitalists elect to end/surrender the thing thats given them so much wealth & power?? And Remember that all political power starts at the gun barrel.

[@solidaritytime3650]

I like chilling on this side of Jacobin, untouched by the stink of The Young Turks.

[@jimmyjimmy5574]

So you're telling me capitalism works?

[@eyeofsauron1502]

Well, for all its faults it is still around when other systems have declined.

[@susanmiller7560]

Does this mean that the revolution be televised?

[@susanmiller7560]

That was WILL be televised.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Definitely not.

[@grayskyephoto4918]

The welfare state challenging capital? Jen, tell me you didn't write that line yourself

[@LadyPinkster]

I like you all's content but who said that reparations was anti capitalism or capitalism? It like saying give reparations to Japanese Americans was supporting capitalism, when that is not what it main goal is for....

[@Ocinneade345]

It is probably the internal part. It should be from the state, not common payments from working class people. It’s also not really well regulated who gets payments

[@AngryVet44]

This is what the wealthy want to be free of supporting the lower classes and society overall with their tax dollars so they start voluntarily charity drives for those who feel guilty the black family down the street has been systematically screwed. It’s no different than the wealthy telling the poor if they need food to go To a church or food bank for the rest of their Walmart wages. Those charities always run out though.

[@AmandaFromWisconsin]

For those people on social media with the “reparations funds”, it’s more about being smug assholes and chanting “Na-na-na-na-naaaaa-naaaaaaaa…”

[@naturallaw1733]

very Silly idea. Real Reparations would mean to set these people up for Future progress and prosperity. and not just give people handouts like they are Homeless people. 🤦‍♂

[@felicetanka]

Capitalist state/state capitalist

[@daheikkinen]

I highly recommend the book “The Machiavellians” by James Burnham. The main thesis of the book is that political action is less about high-minded action to improve society but empowering those at the top who end up in power. This explains in a scientific sense both the revolutions on the left and the soft power grabs of the more placid right. He was a Marxist turned conservative.

[@ethanstump]

no really, people act in a self interested way? people won't do actions that hurt their self interest? who would have thought? /s also "soft" power grabs? a power grab is a power grab. and just because you end up in power doesn't mean that you'll automatically do horrible things with it. yes, the left can do a much better job at changing the power structures that be into more democratic and inclusive institutions that spreads authority into more people's hands, but that doesn't mean that your conclusion will be reached into perpetuity. if that was the case, we would still have monarchs. it's not inevitable that democracy will spread, just as it's not inevitable that it will retract.

[@rivera229]

Ah yes, James Burnham, one of the biggest traitors to leftism and father of neo-conservatism. A scoundrel.

[@daheikkinen]

@@ethanstump Socialism doesn’t create a classless society. It just trades elites.

[@ethanstump]

@@daheikkinen which socialism? just as their are different types of capitalism, there are different types of socialism, such as social democracy/democratic socialism/market socialism/state socialism/utopian socialism/scientific socialism/libertarian socialism/authoritarian socialism. i agree that some of these do just trade elites, and other's don't. which of them are you referring to?

[@daheikkinen]

@@ethanstump Every society has a managerial class. You don’t get away from that via a socialist structure. Which society in all of human history did not have an elite class?

[@ek5273]

This video should be renamed "Hasan Piker"

[@kitbarrows3874]

Lmao true

[@vanessali1365]

Capitalism (any other ism) is just a system which needs people to keep it alive. In my humble opinion, the 'success' of capitalism is people's choices because it's closer to our human nature than any other system. Of cause, it has many many downsides but it's still the preferred system by us people. Why? I suggest: have an honest conversation with yourself might get somewhere. Look at China, its CCP is run by capitalists... We, people have a tendency to blame someone/something for the problem we create....

[@07Flash11MRC]

So what exactly are you, personally, doing to solve all of the problems that you created? And no, you literally cannot put this on anyone but yourself, because you yourself said so and people like me, who help out their communities whenever people in power conveniently ignore us, have not created any problems for the world.

[@vanessali1365]

My comment is Not particularly for capitalism, is not a critique of its system either. Go back to read it. If you want to challenge capitalism for whatever that you don't like...then, it's logical you the one should do something whatever...OK?

[@eyeofsauron1502]

I agree that capitalism is the system closest to human nature. To me that is why Capitalism despite its flaws is a lesser evil compared to other systems like socialism, communism, or fascism. Although socialism is often born from well intentioned ideas, it doesn’t take into account that humans are naturally greedy and opportunistic creatures that always want more. There’s a reason socialism has long been a popular tool for aspiring dictators or autocrats to seize power. I agree that capitalism is far from ideal, but compared to other options, it’s the best we’ve got.

[@vanessali1365]

@@eyeofsauron1502 thank you for your comment. Also I think that everyone wants security (especially privately owned) such as property, saving etc. Although not everyone can achieve that, capitalist system offers that hope and possiblity to be able to become self-sufficient in one's life time even without inheritance (plenty real life examples). This alone is a huge incentive!

[@goofuslankius]

Black people have in a “precarious position” since the country’s inception. Reparations from the US government (and banks) are owed.

[@LongDefiant]

So you don't want to get rid of capitalism?

[@naturallaw1733]

ah yes... thee Quandaries and Catch-22's of Capitalism?🤔

[@seanwhite1104]

Vivek: “workers are basically rational, most people are rational” In spite of the overwhelming weight of evidence from psychology and most other social sciences and from literally all of human history. Can we stop platforming so-called experts who are dumb enough to begin any sentence that way and expect to be taken seriously? Please?

[@naturallaw1733]

I think they mean Instrumental Rationality. while we're talking more about the more Important, Meaningful Epistemic Rationality which Most Humans really Suck at. 🤷‍♀

[@noheroespublishing1907]

Yes, Capitalist does all of this, but it also kicks up merchants of despair who are nothing more than paralysing prophets of doom, with Left flair and rhetoric, who shout radical Left resistance while whispering defeatism; such people appeal to the more fatalistic Left; ie Chris Hedges.

[@ronmackinnon9374]

Hedges is 'defeatist' to those who think we can still work within the current system. To him, giving up hope in that system is a necessary precondition for a hopeful future.

[@Twosheets]

This whole making videos for internet money from the comfort of ones home ie OF or patreon is helping perpetuate the glories of capitalism

[@naturallaw1733]

depends on the type of Videos... 🙃

[@squeakydeedsdonesoapclean3719]

Not neccessarily.

[@Twosheets]

Doesn’t capitalism make all this possible?

[@408sophon]

No; their efforts make it possible. The technology they use and internet makes it possible. Capitalism is just a social formation

[@Twosheets]

@@408sophon how did the things they use come to be? I believe capitalism is having ownership of ones labor so they seem to be doing just that. No forcing someone to make their content for them.

[@ephraimduke]

Capitalism is when you make KZbin videos the more KZbin videos you make the more Capitalist you are.

[@naturallaw1733]

Technology and Ingenuity make everything possible. and those things are just part of our Human makeup and have been since the beginning of our Species.

[@408sophon]

@@Twosheets LABOR

[@daheikkinen]

I’m new to this channel. I’m pro-capitalism but not otherwise conservative. If I comment here it’s because I genuinely want a civil debate. I don’t have a problem with the center left; however the far left’s position against capitalism I find not only untenable, but downright dangerous.

[@zenegg99]

Do you own capital? If so, it makes sense to have the views you do. Most likely you don't, though, and you simply are supporting a system which goes against your interests because you buy into the propaganda that you "have a chance to get rich", that no alternative is possible, and that we have somehow arrived at the end of history when it comes to ideological development.

[@daheikkinen]

@@zenegg99 No, I am lower middle class. Can you name a socialist country that ranks anywhere in the top of the standard of living rankings? They nearly all rank at the bottom.

[@daheikkinen]

@@zenegg99 I don’t believe that history is directional. It doesn’t have a telos. I’m anti-Hegelian in that regard. I think it is, if not likely, then at least possible we are heading towards tyranny, not freedom. You seem to believe society (which I think is an illusion) is heading towards some utopian state.

[@Twosheets]

Most of the online left and their opposition to capitalism is all a LARP. They enjoy all the glories and splendors of capitalism everyday without issue. They come on here for the views and some of that dirty capitalist internet money.

[@408sophon]

@@Twosheets what does a non larp socialist look like, to you?

[@stlouisix3]

Capitalism is a holy Christian economic system

[@ronmackinnon9374]

'Tisn't.

[@vanessali1365]

Nay, leave it alone

[@baddudecornpop5226]

unlistenable

[@daheikkinen]

Capitalism works (not perfectly, but societies don’t require perfection) Marx was wrong about nearly everything. We have seen revolution after revolution in socialist countries, where people are dissatisfied, and none in wealthy capitalist ones. This wasn’t his prediction. Capitalism has raised millions upon millions out of centuries-long poverty.

[@LadyPinkster]

That makes no sense, you can see it here in the US when it comes to general strikes, we have late stage capitalism to the extremes. People will revolt on a even larger scale.

[@daheikkinen]

@@LadyPinkster Even in Nordic style systems, socialists aren’t winning elections. Socialism isn’t popular.

[@kirkbaker5073]

Except for the boom/bust cycles every decade, growing inequality, and workers unhappy with exploitation, abuse, and still struggling to make ends meet, I’m sure it works fine for some people. No societies don’t require perfection but if a better way exists then people will strive for it. If the Nordic economic model works better, let’s do that rather than stick with the antiquated American version.

[@AngryVet44]

Revolutions occur when the USA slaps harsh sanctions on them starving their people them after cutting off their food and medicine shipments. The USA also funds anf puts horrific dictators into power after they overthrow the socialist government. Or we had thousands of communists and socialists murdered through “the Jakarta Method”. No capitism has not raised millions out of poverty those numbers come from the IMF world bank and WTO, all Americans Entities that rig the numbers like the USA rigs unemployment numbers. We wouldn’t STILL TO THIS DAY be sending millions in aid for decades if it actually did raise them out of poverty. Capitalism requires poverty it’s a feature not a defect of capitalism.

[@daheikkinen]

@@AngryVet44 Right. America is responsible for everything