The way Our Existing Structure is Eroding Our Prospects
Hello, how is everyone? Let’s delve into a pretty heavy topic today — extinction.
Does the current state of the world incite feelings of despair, anxiety, confusion, or loss in you? We find ourselves amidst the disheartening spectacle of the first impeachment trial of a U.S. President — and he’s leading the race for the next Presidency. If ever there was an indication of our era’s trajectory, this would be a historical one.
How did we end up here?
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A term that gained popularity a while back is “late stage capitalism.” Without diving into its historical background, it’s basically a scholarly term intended to encapsulate this historical phase, this era. However, I believe we’ve progressed to a new phase: extinction capitalism.
You might assume I’m referencing the planet and its current state. Indeed, scientists are shocked that we’ve entered “uncharted territory” with the rapidly accelerating pace of global warming. That’s definitely a crucial aspect of what I’m trying to convey with “extinction capitalism,” but ironically enough, I mean it in an even broader sense.
What else is on the brink of extinction? Here are a few examples:
- With just 20% of the world practicing democracy and declining at 10% per decade, we could potentially witness the extinction of democracy within our lifetimes. This would be a significant, lamentable loss.
- The once quintessential concept of modernity — upward mobility and improved living standards — is increasingly becoming a thing of the past. Most individuals have little faith that future generations will enjoy a better quality of life than they did. And given prevailing trends, their fears are legitimate.
- Prosperity is another major concern. A shocking twist of fate now sees the bulk of the world’s population getting poorer. On the brink of losing decades, if not centuries, of progress, we may well be observing the extinction of prosperity itself.
- Furthermore, there’s capital-P progress, which has stagnated or gone into reverse for the first time in centuries. We’re witnessing what seems to be the extinction of human progress on a large scale.
- Public sentiment mirrors the grim circumstances. Levels of pessimism exceed those recorded during the 1930s depression era. Feelings of anger, despair, sadness, and fury have spiraled out of control, and young people admit they “can’t function anymore.” The collapse of societal contentment and wellness is another form of extinction.
- Social interaction is also deteriorating. As societies become more polarized, incidences of loneliness, isolation, and lack of companionship are becoming prevalent. This suggests the extinction of healthy social interaction.
The above points only scratch the surface of what I mean by “extinction capitalism.” Though it’s certainly true that this form of capitalism is harming the planet, it also wreaks havoc on several other domains, spanning politics to society to economies.
When discussing this, many people tend to paint me as a radical revolutionary. However, I assure you that’s not the case. I’m not against capitalism, but I believe its current form is spiraling out of control, and we need to address this.
What’s gone wrong? Capitalism seems to have amplified all the classical problems foreseen by generations of thinkers. The relentless pursuit of profit has led to the deterioration of various aspects of our lives, turning them into mere monetizing opportunities. The disconcerting irony is that while we’re about to witness the emergence of the world’s first trillionaires, we struggle to raise a few billion to combat climate change.
Here’s what’s happening. Capitalism is depleting various forms of capital: social capital—relationships and trust; human capital—our well-being and satisfaction; emotional capital—our self-perception and worldview; and natural capital—our planet. Its ultimate goal is to convert all these other forms of capital into financial capital.
Imagine a machine that consumes trees, human joy, the potential of entire generations, and the social fabric of societies, and churns out… money. That’s what our current variant of capitalism is doing. It’s leading to the extinction of many facets of our world.
The irony is, even capitalism isn’t as crude or monstrous. In its proper form, capitalism’s function is to maximize all forms of capital— not merely convert them all into financial capital.
However, today’s variant of capitalism does exactly that. Worse still, the ensuing wealth is concentrated in the hands of a select few, leading to several adverse consequences. It deprives societies of the resources they need to invest in social contracts and future systems. It strips the world of what it needs to tackle future challenges like climate change. It erodes people’s faith in each other and themselves. And it destabilizes societies by escalating fanaticism, creating the sort of vicious cycles seen in Trumpism and Brexit.
This is what I mean by extinction capitalism: a system that is converting all other forms of capital into financial capital, hoarded by a miniscule elite, even as these other forms of capital approach extinction. In the long run, after all other forms of capital are depleted, what will be left to convert into money? What’s the plan then?
“Extinction capitalism” has proven to be a failure. Even in capitalism’s own terms, maximizing one type of capital while neglecting all others is a zero-sum game. It’s precisely because of this lack of real wealth or value creation that we, as a civilization, seem to be heading backwards.
Where does that leave us? We need a reinvention. Even if you’re a staunch advocate of capitalism, you likely realize that its current form isn’t working. If you’re against it, you might agree that “late capitalism” no longer adequately describes our current phase. As non-ideological observers like me, it’s time to contemplate the post-capitalist era: a system that optimizes surplus in all forms, how it operates, and its organizational, institutional, and economic composition.
Take your time to ponder over this. What’s evident to me is that extinction capitalism’s days are numbered. It might not be aware of it or care, but we certainly should.
