Capitalism Chemistry or ‘Drug Use for Grown-ups’
Our capitalist language of minute gradations and improvised adjustments—of the plasticity of bodies and minds—places drugs in the service of economies of labor, production, and value.
capitalism
Automation and the Future of Work (excerpt)
In Automation and the Future of Work, Aaron Benanav uncovers the structural economic trends that will shape our working lives far into the future. In this excerpt, courtesy of Verso Books, he considers what's on our minds these days, "What if everyone suddenly had access to enough healthcare, education, and welfare to reach their full potential?"
Plattetopia: The Prefabrication of Utopia in East Berlin
With the fall of the Berlin Wall came the licence to take a wrecking ball to its nightmare of repression. But there began the unwritten violence of Die Wende, the peaceful revolution that hides the Oedipal violence of one order killing another.
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COVID-19 Is but One Indication of the Return of the Pandemic Monster
Mike Davis' COVID-era update about emerging flu pandemics, The Monster Enters, is concise, disturbing, and valuable.
Halle Butler’s ‘Jillian’ Is a Frank Account of Discontent
Evoking both sarcasm and empathy, Butler paints Jillian and Megan as harbingers of a relatable alienation.
Breaching Closure in Pasolini’s ‘Teorema’
Pier Paolo Pasolini's classic drama, Teorema, grapples with the parable -- the manner of knowing that which always remains just beyond our grasp.
Seeds of Colonial Capitalism in Kelly Reichardt’s ‘First Cow’
In her excellent film, First Cow, Kelly Reichardt explores the effects of colonial land theft and capitalism through the medium of food.
Crapification Syndrome: When Hilarity Slides into Nausea
No one living in America today can escape the blast radius of the questions raised in Wendy A. Woloson's Crap.
‘Capital in the 21st Century’: Pie for the Rich, Crumbs for the People
Justin Pemberton's film version of Thomas Piketty's landmark book on the dangers of today's yawning income inequality, Capital in the 21st Century, is more TED Talk than documentary, but it's a handy summary nonetheless.
Is ‘The Alienist’ a Critique of Capitalism or a Pro-Neoliberal Narrative?
Author Caleb Carr's The Alienist explores the 19th century psychiatric debate between free will and determinism. TNT's nearly identical adaptation of the novel, however, comes up with a completely different conclusion.
Memoir ‘Rust’ Wrestles with the Myth of the American Dream
Eliese Colette Goldbach's memoir, Rust: A Memoir of Steel and Grit, is the story of one descending into the depths of The American Dream and emerging with flecks of graphite dust on her cheeks, a master's degree in her hands, and a few new friends.