As a Bernie bro turned half-closeted anti-capitalist, I am slightly embarrassed to admit that this book is the first book I’ve read that goes in-depth explaining capitalism. Life in engineering has completely devoid me of any free time to sit down and read. This free time after graduation becomes the first time in a long while that I could indulge my curiosity about late-term capitalism.
Fisher started the book with the description of a vital scene in the movie Children of Men. He then brought up the phrase:
It is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism.
In two pages, Fisher immediately captured the reader. It is undeniably true that often time in any discussion regarding anti-capitalism, a common response from the opposer is usually that though capitalism is evil, there is simply no other viable political and economical system. Thus, capitalist realism: the belief that capitalism is “real” and the only plausible social system.
Fisher then dived into a discussion about arts in the modern days and explained how hip-hop has gained increasing popularity. Fisher explained postmodernism briefly and pointed out that the current over-saturation of media is largely a phenomenon of late-capitalism: once a certain story/style has gained considerable popularity, artists/producers are reluctant to produce anything new. They reproduce the same storylines or music (if it ain’t broke and brings in profit, why fix it?). A prime example of this is the number of box office movies that fall into the “remake” genre.
In the next couple of chapters, Fisher declared that moral criticism of capitalism only reinforces capitalist realism. This discussion reminds me of what Jeremiah Whitewhale said in the TV show Bojack Horseman, after Diane confronted him on his evil anti-labour practice. He claimed that when news about his company evil practices come out, people think the company is uncompromised by morality, the stock goes up.
Due to the stranglehold capitalist realism has exacted on most people, Fisher illuminated that the only way to dismantle capitalist realism is to point out the inconsistencies within the capitalist ideals. Besides the already contested climate change issue, Fisher emphasized two other areas of discussion - mental health and bureaucracy.
In the next chapter, Fisher discussed reflexive impotence and depressive hedonia. He had an intriguing proposition that the individualization of mental health problems - “treating them as if they were caused by chemical imbalances in the individual’s neurology and/or by their family background“ - took out the possibility of societal causation. He then explained depressive hedonia: the phenomenon where depression is the result of the constant craving for pleasure. I am by no means an expert in depression or any other mental illness, but I am reluctant to agree that what gives rise to depression is a societal one and not a chemical one. I would be more inclined to accept this proposition if there is more evidence that there is more than a correlation between mental health issues and the over-saturation of media. Though it is evident that the number of people with diagnosed mental health issue skyrocketed in the last decade, based on a press release by American Psychological Association (Mental Health Issues Increased Significantly in Young Adults Over Last Decade), I attribute some of these effects to the developing and more comprehensive mental health support nowadays. These doubts aside, teens’ constant obsession over the “matrix” - as Fisher named the social media - harms their mental health. (Social media and teenage mental health - Statistics and Facts)
Post-Fordism and the instability of the current workplace culture leak through workers’ workplaces and into their everyday lives. Due to the insepration between life and work, more workers suffer from mental distress. Without the assurance of job security, people are suffering from increasing stress. Yet, Fisher reminds us that capitalism denies any societal effects that may have led to this mental health endemic. At the same time, an abundance of wealth has been made by the pharmaceutical companies in the treatment of mental illness.
In the next chapter, Fisher discussed the bureaucracy stemming from capitalism. Though theoritically capitalism aims to eliminate the bureaucracy in Stalinism by making all processes transactional, bureaucracy exists in capitalism more consistently and less tangibly. For example, there is no formal review in the workplace, but many employees are asked to set goals and self-reflect. The phrase “work smarter, not harder” emphasizes the need for change and puts immense pressure on the employees to adapt to the ever-changing labour market. I have always demised when companies ask for employees with multi-skills while offering salaries that one can barely scrape by. The obnoxious discussion of “lifelong learning” and “key-shaped person” implies that to be successful, one must be ready to constantly adapt to new challenges and reshape oneself. This implication is an unfair request from the capitalist society to employees while not providing any security and stability.
Beyond the inconsistencies of mental health and bureaucracy in capitalism, Fisher expresses his belief that capitalist realism is a merely plastic reality that is reconfiguring itself constantly. Capitalism urges people to adapt to changes with ease. The strongest survivors of the capitalist society believe that nothing is constant but change. Due to the lack of a central exchange in a capitalist society, people largely overlook the capital or big corporations as the culprits for large-scale societal problems. For example, people largely blame the government for the 2008 financial crisis while the behaviour of capital plays an essential role. Capitalism tends to resolve problems by making them everyone’s problems. Fisher used recycling as an example. The responsibilization results in no one really taking care of the problem. I have always been angry at politicians who deflected by claiming battling climate change is everyone’s responsibility. These very same politicians have been accepting donations from big oil companies and caressed by climate change denying lobbiests. Despicable of them to shame us for driving to work/school under the underfunded public infratstructure, while allowing the large carbon producers roam free.
Fisher ended the book with the forewarning that late-term capitalism may divert to social democracy or authoritarianism. He warned that any effective anti-capitalist social system must be a rival to capitalism and not a reaction.
I genuinely enjoyed this book. This book is one of the first pieces of literature I have touched on in a few years, and it resonated with a lot of my frustrations. As a newbie in the anti-capitalist world, this book is a fantastic introduction to and an engaging discussion of many facets of late-term capitalism. There are a lot of “Ah-ha” moments in this book, such as the phenomena of postmodernism, the instability in the post-Fordism era, the omnipresence of bureaucracy in the workplace, and the responsibilization of all world problems. When I was studying film, our screenwriting professor would tell us to only write stories with happy endings and follow the Hollywood plotline. Such misfortune in the artistic world is a reflection of late-term capitalism phenomena. I used to take pride in being very flexible, but now I am aware that this flexibility is a reaction to the ever-changing climate in the labour market. Being able to reflect on many aspects of my own life has been refreshing. I will revisit this book after reading more anti-capitalist/marxist literature to gain a clearer understanding of Fisher’s references.
Overall, an astonishingly positive experience.