Fortnite. Digital Currency. Mommy's Credit Card. French/Italian Ultra-Left Publication Tiqqun. The Gamification of Money Contiguous With Hyper-inflation. We Are Being Whittled Into The Ideal Buyer.
Splendid insights into the Addiction Economy. I've always been astounded at the urge most Americans have to fall deeper in debt just to acquire more possessions or vacations or prestigious automobiles, although our disgusting health care chaos is a different story entirely with its debilitating costs.
I knew a guy who opted for new rims he saw on Instagram while having only 4 teeth in his head. The rims cost 8 thousand dollars. It blew my mind that someone was willing to spend that much on rims.
Yes universal healthcare is absolutely necessary, in America it would dramatically alter collective bargaining in favor of the workers which is a big reason why we don’t have it.
Thank you so much for addressing Roblox and its exploitation of its own consumers! The only coverage of this (aside from one specific situation involving a streamer and a founder of the company- which on its own is deeply problematic and should have raised enormous red flags for parents) comes from the UK. There is virtually no attention paid to this HUGE platform millions of children under 10 spend hours playing games on unsupervised. I learned enough and saw my child in tears too many times due to unsupervised players deliberately destroying hours of work she'd done in multiple games (not for the developers but playing the game) solely for the purpose of being dicks. And honestly that's some of the least toxic garbage on Roblox. She's never expressed an interest in Fortnite which is good because I wouldn't have allowed her to play it. There is literally zero value to that game I can see. Less than Roblox by far and Roblox got shit canned by us over a year ago.
Yes a lot of these games heavily involve some sort of spritely shadiness, usually in the form of gamified gambling or child labor etc. I love video games don’t get me wrong, but the profit motive (big surprise) drives immoral practices almost always. Have a bangin Sunday
Perhaps we might tweak Lenin's quote a bit for our modern age: "wireheading is the final stage of capitalism." That is to say, the Anglo-American empire cannot help but mutate into a giant dopamine optimizer (and in doing so, it seeds its own eventual collapse). The military-industrial complex devouring its own manufacturing capabilities in favor of optimizing for shareholder value and enormously complex and expensive weapons platforms that don't even have enough munitions to fight more than a minor conflict.
Honestly brilliant man, the connections you've made are ON POINT. Sometimes crit-theory can feel very up in the air, but you have a way of making it feel grounded. I love your feverish, unfiltered writing style.
Thanks Anagha and I have to say, I'm really impressed with your work and your ability to articulate the nature of mine. It never fails to make me impressed with how spot on it is in a way I hadn't thought of. Thanks for taking the time to read and share, and leave one of your thoughtful comments. All the best to you.
I didn't say it would be easy. The Business Interests have gotten very good at psychological manipulation. The first step is awareness of what they are doing. The second step is learning how to be the manipulator of yourself. It's not easy, but it's possible. There are techniques and training. Buddhist training for one.
Scathing and funny af critique of American/Western imperialism. Like Lenin meets Carlin.
Speaking of capitalism. Absolutely the superstructure is echoing the insane and cannibalistic mode of production. Perhaps there is a correlation with imperialism as the highest and last stage with the irrationality and anti-reason of postmodernism. Like the worst the economy gets from the sharpening and deepening crises of capitalism, the more bat shit crazy culture and ideas get. Perhaps the natural progression/decay of capitalism will produce something like Only Fans meets the Hot Ones meets Hunger Games meets Joe Rogan.
I think you’re onto something there for sure. The way I see it is this, simulation theory by Baudrillard to me is an interpretation and critique of Marxism alone. Basically the contention being that the superstructure is situated on the base economic reality, and at the end of the day it is unidirectional as the market forces solely dictate the “cultural superstructure” on top of it. Perhaps our moment is a reverse bleed on part of culture that is deteriorating the base economic reality it is attempting to protect, but can’t because to protect it from the manipulation and surreal backwards bleed would be to protect it from decisions made ruthlessly pursuing profit.
It’s an idea that I have been thinking about and I feel your observations are spot on! Thank you for reading! Have a bangin’ Saturday!
Splendid insights into the Addiction Economy. I've always been astounded at the urge most Americans have to fall deeper in debt just to acquire more possessions or vacations or prestigious automobiles, although our disgusting health care chaos is a different story entirely with its debilitating costs.
Also. Most importantly. Have a bangin’ Saturday
I knew a guy who opted for new rims he saw on Instagram while having only 4 teeth in his head. The rims cost 8 thousand dollars. It blew my mind that someone was willing to spend that much on rims.
Yes universal healthcare is absolutely necessary, in America it would dramatically alter collective bargaining in favor of the workers which is a big reason why we don’t have it.
Thank you so much for addressing Roblox and its exploitation of its own consumers! The only coverage of this (aside from one specific situation involving a streamer and a founder of the company- which on its own is deeply problematic and should have raised enormous red flags for parents) comes from the UK. There is virtually no attention paid to this HUGE platform millions of children under 10 spend hours playing games on unsupervised. I learned enough and saw my child in tears too many times due to unsupervised players deliberately destroying hours of work she'd done in multiple games (not for the developers but playing the game) solely for the purpose of being dicks. And honestly that's some of the least toxic garbage on Roblox. She's never expressed an interest in Fortnite which is good because I wouldn't have allowed her to play it. There is literally zero value to that game I can see. Less than Roblox by far and Roblox got shit canned by us over a year ago.
Yes a lot of these games heavily involve some sort of spritely shadiness, usually in the form of gamified gambling or child labor etc. I love video games don’t get me wrong, but the profit motive (big surprise) drives immoral practices almost always. Have a bangin Sunday
This is a superb piece.
Perhaps we might tweak Lenin's quote a bit for our modern age: "wireheading is the final stage of capitalism." That is to say, the Anglo-American empire cannot help but mutate into a giant dopamine optimizer (and in doing so, it seeds its own eventual collapse). The military-industrial complex devouring its own manufacturing capabilities in favor of optimizing for shareholder value and enormously complex and expensive weapons platforms that don't even have enough munitions to fight more than a minor conflict.
Interesting perspective, will have to consider that!
Honestly brilliant man, the connections you've made are ON POINT. Sometimes crit-theory can feel very up in the air, but you have a way of making it feel grounded. I love your feverish, unfiltered writing style.
Thanks Anagha and I have to say, I'm really impressed with your work and your ability to articulate the nature of mine. It never fails to make me impressed with how spot on it is in a way I hadn't thought of. Thanks for taking the time to read and share, and leave one of your thoughtful comments. All the best to you.
True enough as far as it goes. Does self-determination have any place in this discussion?
How does self determination exist in a typical sense when the economy coercively beckons we become merely an extension of an infinite number of brands
I didn't say it would be easy. The Business Interests have gotten very good at psychological manipulation. The first step is awareness of what they are doing. The second step is learning how to be the manipulator of yourself. It's not easy, but it's possible. There are techniques and training. Buddhist training for one.
Gah dang.
Scathing and funny af critique of American/Western imperialism. Like Lenin meets Carlin.
Speaking of capitalism. Absolutely the superstructure is echoing the insane and cannibalistic mode of production. Perhaps there is a correlation with imperialism as the highest and last stage with the irrationality and anti-reason of postmodernism. Like the worst the economy gets from the sharpening and deepening crises of capitalism, the more bat shit crazy culture and ideas get. Perhaps the natural progression/decay of capitalism will produce something like Only Fans meets the Hot Ones meets Hunger Games meets Joe Rogan.
I think you’re onto something there for sure. The way I see it is this, simulation theory by Baudrillard to me is an interpretation and critique of Marxism alone. Basically the contention being that the superstructure is situated on the base economic reality, and at the end of the day it is unidirectional as the market forces solely dictate the “cultural superstructure” on top of it. Perhaps our moment is a reverse bleed on part of culture that is deteriorating the base economic reality it is attempting to protect, but can’t because to protect it from the manipulation and surreal backwards bleed would be to protect it from decisions made ruthlessly pursuing profit.
It’s an idea that I have been thinking about and I feel your observations are spot on! Thank you for reading! Have a bangin’ Saturday!
Fantastic.
Thanks dr.chaos. You have a bangin’ Saturday as well.
Thanks for the comment Jimmy and welcome to the fam. May you find more that you find enlightening
Great stuff, made me subscribe.
Such a great read!! ❤️
Thanks Kristy, hope
You have a bangin’ Saturday