Late capitalism: Have we gone too far?

$400 jeans flecked with fake mud. [Chernobyl tourism](. When a geopolitical spat on Twitter leads to a real-life war. These are, debatably, all symptoms of late capitalism (or late-stage capitalism). Over the past few years, the phrase has become shorthand to describe, as one [active Reddit community]( calls it, “our social, moral and ideological rot.” But as the phrase has transitioned from arcane German economic theory to meme-ified vernacular, its definition has shifted to encompass pretty much everything ironic about money—who has it, how they get it, and who suffers—in our modern era. In fact, in its current usage, the term doesn’t say much about our economic or political structure, and instead virtue-signals an awareness of a collective sense of ennui. Le sigh. Shall we? 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( Sponsored by [Quartz Daily Obsession] Late capitalism February 10, 2020 Capitalism’s fading star? --------------------------------------------------------------- $400 jeans flecked with fake mud. [Chernobyl tourism](. When a geopolitical spat on Twitter leads to a real-life war. These are, debatably, all symptoms of late capitalism (or late-stage capitalism). Over the past few years, the phrase has become shorthand to describe, as one [active Reddit community]( calls it, “our social, moral and ideological rot.” But as the phrase has transitioned from arcane German economic theory to meme-ified vernacular, its definition has shifted to encompass pretty much everything ironic about money—who has it, how they get it, and who suffers—in our modern era. In fact, in its current usage, the term doesn’t say much about our economic or political structure, and instead virtue-signals an awareness of a collective sense of ennui. Le sigh. Shall we? 🐦 [Tweet this!]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits 75: Years since the start of late capitalism, according to Ernest Mandel [222,500:]( Followers of the “humans of late capitalism” Twitter account [51%:]( Share of US adults ages 18 to 39 who viewed capitalism positively in 2019 [49%:]( Share of US adults ages 18 to 39 who viewed socialism positively in 2019 [615:]( News articles that mentioned the phrase “late capitalism” in 2019, according to Nexis [14:]( Articles that include the phrase “late capitalism” published on qz.com Giphy Explain it like I’m 5! What is late capitalism, anyway? --------------------------------------------------------------- If you’re [confused about]( the exact definition for late capitalism, it’s probably because there are several. And the one we use today is a bit mushy. Though Karl Marx never used the term “late capitalism” himself, he did describe his vision for the final phase of capitalism in the third volume of Das Kapital, his magnum opus. At that point, [he wrote]( the global market will have superseded that of any individual country, concentrating the world’s wealth into just a few very lucky hands. You wouldn’t be the first to think that sounds an awful lot like our world today. German economist Werner Sombart, who coined the term in the early 1900s, used it to describe the last period of capitalism’s evolution (Sombart was also [anti-semitic]( and associated Jews with the rise of this globalist economy). It wasn’t until the 1970s when Belgian economist Ernest Mandel, who popularized the term, used it [to refer to]( a very specific historical period: the one that began after World War II and ended in the 1970s. In his 1991 book, Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, American literary critic Fredric Jameson summed up Mandel’s thinking about the “multinational network” that is late capitalism: “A moment in which not merely the older city but even the nation-state itself has ceased to play a central functional and formal role in a process that has in a new quantum leap of capital prodigiously expanded beyond them.” Not everyone thinks Marx or his disciples are right, of course. “Now is an odd time to argue that capitalism is broken,” writes economist Michael R. Strain in an [opinion piece]( published last month in Bloomberg, citing low unemployment numbers and stating that income inequality has decreased since the 2008 recession. Sponsored by CommonBond Live your life–even with student loans. --------------------------------------------------------------- If you haven’t refinanced your old student loans, you could be overpaying. With CommonBond, you’ll get a new rate that actually fits your life today and your goals tomorrow.[See what’s possible. Terms and conditions apply.]( Brief history [1867:]( Karl Marx publishes the first volume of Das Kapital. [1894:]( The third volume of Das Kapital, published 11 years after Marx’s death, describes the final stages of capitalism. [1902]( Werner Sombart is the first to use the phrase “late capitalism” in his book Der moderne Kapitalismus. [1945:]( The end of World War II and technically the start of late capitalism, according to Ernest Mandel. [1972:]( Mandel popularizes the term in his book Der Spätkapitalismus, which looks at the causes and effects of the postwar boom through the lens of Marxist theories. [1991:]( Fredric Jameson publishes Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism in which he analyzes how the global reach of late capitalism looks in culture such as video and architecture, bringing the term to the English-speaking world. [2008:]( The financial crisis raises doubts about our existing economic system, and leads to the rise of leftist publications that further elevate the term “late capitalism.” [2011:]( The Occupy Wall Street movement shows people’s continued dissatisfaction with the financial system. Peter Mountford’s novel A Young Man’s Guide to Late Capitalism is published. [2017:]( Kendall Jenner stars in a Pepsi commercial in which she plays an activist, creating an artifact of late capitalism that no theorist could have ever dreamed up. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne Isn’t it ironic Late capitalism as zeitgeist --------------------------------------------------------------- The way we talk about late capitalism today speaks less to economics, and instead expresses the psychological state of our cultural moment. “‘Late capitalism,’ in its current usage, is a catchall phrase for the indignities and absurdities of our contemporary economy, with its yawning inequality and super-powered corporations and shrinking middle class,” writes Annie Lowrey in her influential 2017 [piece in The Atlantic](. Colloquially, late capitalism refers to the power structure between corporations and individuals—that global corporations ruthlessly engineered for growth are able to manipulate our emotions and our sense of reality. It points to the commodification of things that were once outside the capitalist sphere (for example, you now have to [pay to see Marx’s grave]( and the outrage at the inequalities that persist. It’s [a venture-capital-funded, $400 home juicing machine]( that squeezes pre-packaged juice into a cup. It’s a deep, cynical sense of irony and absurdity that only lightly masks our collective despair that we can’t do anything about it at all. [It’s a meme](. It is essentially postmodernism, which is why so much of the internet discourse on it focuses on its aesthetics—[Jameson tied it]( to the “spectacle or image society” and the forced novelty of planned obsolescence. Fun fact! The German word for late capitalism is [Spätkapitalismus]( and it’s much more popular than its English corollary. Have a friend who would enjoy our Obsession with Late capitalism? [ [Forward link to a friend](mailto:?subject=Thought you'd enjoy.&body=Read this Quartz Daily Obsession email – to the email – Giphy pop quiz Which of these isn’t an example of late capitalism? A $375 “eco-friendly” silver strawPrint ads selling soapA $1,200 margaritaThe Fyre festival Correct. It’s not inherently late capitalist, though it could be depending on the ad. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Million-dollar question What comes after late capitalism? --------------------------------------------------------------- The phrase “late capitalism” implies that we’re near the end of something. That’s what early Marxist thinkers thought, too. According to Marx’s own definition, late capitalism meant that the revolution was nigh, that we should be able to “see the ligaments of the international system that socialists will be able to seize and use,” as political scientist William Clare Roberts [told The Atlantic]( in 2017. Though the rise of political figures like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have [brought socialism back]( into popular discourse, there’s no sign yet that the proletarian revolt is right around the corner. In the UK, the [British Labour Party resoundingly lost]( in December of 2019, when Boris Johnson, not Jeremy Corbyn, became the prime minister. The US [isn’t a purely free-market economy]( with government controls on corporations and unions and social safety nets like Social Security and Medicaid, though dissatisfaction with the economy in recent years has not yet brought a turn toward European social-democratic norms. Experts [don’t predict]( an imminent revolution, but the 2020 presidential election will be a good indicator as to whether Americans at least want the government to incorporate more socialist policies. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann Quotable “I’m basically the idea person. I’m not physically involved in the production. I don’t have the necessary abilities, so I go to the top people.” —[Artist Jeff Koons]( whose success as a commercial artist some say is [extremely late capitalist]( Watch this! The late capitalism real estate video game --------------------------------------------------------------- Follow a man around New York City’s Hudson Yards as he greets people for Hello Points in this satirical video game. If we haven’t yet sated your appetite for irony, this might do the trick—as [Fast Company notes]( “Because of the [aggressive terms and conditions]( of visiting and photographing the Vessel, the film you see here partially belongs to its developers—in perpetuity.” take me down this 🐰 hole! Still confused about what late capitalism looks like in the postmodern era? Read [this distillation of Frederic Jameson’s book]( complete with a handy list. Giphy poll Do you think we’re currently in late capitalism? [Click here to vote]( Yes, and the revolution is next.No, things will stay more or less as they are.No, I just have an overdeveloped sense of irony. 💬 let's talk! 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