Read Capitalist Realism Is There No Alternative? Mark Fisher 8601421743433 Books

Product details Paperback 81 pages Publisher Zero Books (December 16, 2009) Language English ISBN-10 1846943175

Capitalist Realism Is There No Alternative? Mark Fisher 8601421743433 Books Reviews

• A remarkable piece of work. Instantly on my list of books everyone should read. A tad bit short (81 pages) for the price of $12 in my opinion, but I have no regrets about the purchase, and no regrets about supporting the estate of Mark Fisher and his publisher, Zero Books.
  
  I wish Mark to rest in the peace he never seemed to have found in life.
• The Problems Presented by Capitalist Realism
  
  Unfortunately, the situation is far worse than the late Mark Fisher realized. His premise is that capitalism has become that only viable means of economic organization with no imaginable viable or coherent alternative. Fisher states it best in his own words “…easier to imagine an end to the world than an end to capitalism.” Capitalism metastasis, devours, and subsumes into itself all that comes before it . We see this is the commercialization of all ideas, the commoditization of all values and conventionalization of all people. We have come to the point where alternative structures of economic organization cannot be imagined because under capitalism, there is a market for rebellion, resistance and recalcitrance. Protest itself can be commercialized, priced and sold as a commodity. Anything thrown at capitalism in dissent is consumed by it and regurgitated into a new form useful to the propagation of the capitalist order. The most effective means of sustainment for the capitalist order is the ability to coopt any efforts to get around or outside of it by internalizing such attempts through commodification and commercialization. Under late capitalism, addiction to surplus desire and the resulting intoxication, guides much of our social interaction.
  
  The Problem is Worse, but not for the Reasons the Author Believes
  
  What we find is that capitalism is rooted in the contradiction at the very heart of the Enlightenment which is a utilitarian mode of thought focused on self-preservation as well as the development of increasingly sophisticated means of social organization. The individual is elevated with no concept of individual purpose. The extension of this is a world in which reason itself leads to irrational actions and potential calamity. We cannot simply outlaw this reality, theoretically reject it or philosophically dismiss it as Mark Fisher seems wont to do. In this sense, capitalism is not an ‘-ism. It is just a label that we use to describe what happens naturally when humans are turned loose onto nature to fend for their survival. The very real pressures and difficulties presented by capitalism as documented by Mark Fisher are in great measure the very real pressures and difficulties presented by the contradictory demands made upon human existence. We have already stumbled in and out of another abstraction, Socialist Realism. Capitalist Realism and Socialist Realism merely have different alignments of elites with different routes of mobility. Each produces its own set of pathologies, viz., the constant growth imperative, capital accumulation and economic elitism under Capitalist Realism; stagnation disguised as sustainability, power accumulation and political elitism under Socialist Realism. We can replace the over marketization of Capitalist Realism with the over bureaucratization of Socialist Realism or have a combination of both in varying degrees which best explains our current predicament. In any case, labels such as capitalism and socialism over simplify a spectrum of economic modes of production, social forms of organization and political systems of governance. This is to say that the socio-economic world is not a given, it is not something that it is ‘out-there’ to be understood and inspected rationally. It is the construction of human actors. Human subjectivity must be considered. Unlike inanimate objects or lifeless critical theories, our experience of the world is an outcome of our experience of ourselves, our experience of others, their experience of us as well as our combined and interactive experience of the world as we can only partially know it. To employ a cliché, directing an eloquent and well thought out critique of any flavor of ‘Realism’, is to see the forest and overlook the trees. The challenge is that both the trees and the forest must be accounted for any theory.
  
  The problem is worse because this just is the nature of the human condition. Why do we participate in our own oppression? In short, because we have to labor on to sustain life and labor itself is the oppressive burden. This much at least, seems to be ordained by nature. Capitalism grows out of the simple everyday necessity of work and production to sustain existence. I am not celebrating this relationship, but it just does seem that labor and work are simply welded to the human condition. For lack of a better term, we call this nexus capitalism but whenever work is required, order and hierarchy follow. A force to actually sweep aside this need for resources, work and labor (capitalism) exits only outside the world of human experience. Do we really think that once 'capitalism' is pushed aside, the need to create, work and manage the resources necessary to sustain life will be alleviated. This seems to me to be most reckless and naive of all hopes. The end of 'capitalism' has foretold many times and its still with us because we are still mired in the human condition of our making.
  
  The Reality is Us
  
  It is not so much an abstract thing called ‘capitalism’ or ‘socialism’ that is to blame. This is to miss the target. The answers are to be found where the solutions are to be found, with us and within us. It does no good to say that capitalism is rapacious but efficient or that socialism is benevolent but inefficient. Capitalism and socialism are just labels and abstractions from reality. The reality is us. If we want more humane politics, more rational economics, and a more just social order then we must become more humane, rational and just people. The method of political, economic or social organization is just beside the point. We can have any so called abstractly labeled ‘system’ or ‘model’, complete with all the trappings of critical theory and philosophical speculation that we desire, but the outcomes will be governed by who we are as human beings. But in fairness, this is a point of disagreement between the author and me. He would no doubt say that I am just dreaming, that is not long before the system takes over the people and deadens them; that the system has a life independent of the Individuals who comprise it and make its very existence and operations possible. “… not long before the grey petrification of power starts to subsume them.” However, to accept the Mark Fisher’s analysis, we must first believe that the ‘system’, on whatever principles it is organized, and with whatever procedures it operates, has an existence, even a consciousness, independent of the individuals who organized it and operate it. That is, there is a public that is more than the aggregation of individuals and their interests. I grew fatigued in reading how this opaque and amorphous entity called ‘capital’ was responsible for every social, economic, cultural and pollical ill that plagues the human race. This is a reductionist over simplification. Who is really doing the dreaming here?
  
  Author’s Potential Rejoinder
  
  In any case, I am sure that Mark Fisher could rejoin me by claiming that I have just proved myself to be stuck in the logic of Capitalist Realism. That I have subordinated myself to a ‘reality’ that is no such thing; a reality that is capricious, amorphous, contingent and changeable at any moment with every new ‘reality’, with new values, each accepted as the true ‘reality’. Perhaps, but we have no choice but to be stuck in some sort of realism. For example, I can identify something we can call Educational Realism. An educational system that indoctrinates students by convincing them to put themselves onto the market as commodities, valued only as much as whatever skill their overpriced education has brainwashed them with while at the same time turning them into indentured servants owing to the fraudulent nature in which students must go into debt to obtain an education only useful for a lifetime of alienating labor to repay the debt. Perhaps the capricious, amorphous, contingent, changeable precarious nature of ‘reality’ just is the reality of the perpetually unstable and contingent human condition. I am not advocating capitalism as the solution the human condition, but I also recognize socialism is not a solution and that are no easy solution to be had, collective or individual. I am merely asking; when do we start to become realistic about reality instead of pining for alternatives to reality itself as believe the author finally implores?
  
  An Alternative Realism
  
  The combining of global capitalism with authoritarian nationalism to a form a new realism, that of Neo-Mercantilism Realism. China is the prime example of this new model. As an alternative, it may not be preferable but is at least coherent if coherence is to be our highest value and if we must have an alternative to Capitalist Realism at any cost.
• It took me a fairly long time and a second read to come up with an view on Fisher 's brief but fairly deep book. With good engagement with some of the major theorists of postmodern thought Fisher casts a picture of Capital as that which cannot be thought beyond. With deference to a number of the other reviewers, I think it is dismissive of his argument to say there are lots of alternatives. If one believes that, one should confront the argument directly. It seems to me that Capitalism does have an inherent blocking function.
  
  The provisional space Fisher opens is in the development of full blown alternatives to Capitalism that grow out of the promises Capitalism makes and not only does not but cannot keep. Towards the end of this book Fisher gives a number of examples. Capitalism promises an end of bureaucracy, but we live in the most standardised world imaginable. Capitalism promises joy for the individual, but we live in a world of increasing affective disorder. We approach catastrophic ecological collapse. In this space alternatives can be developed.
  
  Again, with respect to other reviewers, I really do not care whether this is Zizek lite or otherwise. There is a well thought out argument here that deserves more engagement and less branding. A good book and heartily recommended.
• Both beautifully argued and written, (although often dense in references that the weekend philosopher will not get - i.e. me) and awakening. However, I was hoping for the glimmer of the contemporary alternative, and in not finding one fear that the author couldn't quite break free of capital realism either
• This was a fantastic read. If you are interested in how the systems of our world shape art this is for you. Its short and to the point. I wish a professor made me read it years ago.
• It's a very impassioned read and he does make some quite extreme claims/statements, but it does really get you to feel a lot of the things he is railing against. What a crucial voice in understanding the world we now live in. Wish he was still around.
• Now back to my regularly scheduled hedonistic apathy. Seriously, if it was possible to intoxicate our way to prosperity, we'd be there already. Something has to be done besides acting like nothing needs to be done.
• A powerful and insightful description of the mafia-capitalism that we presently live with, in the US and its roots. Fisher is a thorough and erudite writer who draws from leading contemporary philosophers to support his insights such as Slavoj Zizek. I highly recommend this book if you want to understand how we have adulterated Capitalism to serve the narrow needs of the very rich and how we might fix it.