We Have All Been Assimilated
Neoliberal capitalism has replaced politics with consumerism and changed us all. We need to heal and change in order to move forward
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Let’s begin somewhere unexpected today.
Caitlin Clark.
For those who know, Caitlin Clark is one of the greatest college basketball players we’ve ever seen. She holds the record for most points ever scored by a collegiate player, male or female, and is absolutely electric on the basketball court. If you haven’t seen her before, take a quick second to watch this clip. Even if it’s just in passing.
It’s thrilling. There’s no other way to put it. To watch someone do something like this should put you in a state of awe. It’s like listening to a beautiful piece of music or staring at a work of art. It literally embodies what the human race is capable of and, in the midst of so much suffering and frustration, it can re-inspire you or replenish what little hope or energy you had left.
Now. Let’s look at this article in The Atlantic by Alex Kirshner titled “Caitlin Clark Is Just the Beginning.”
Huh. Interesting. So, according to the lede, “the most remarkable thing” about what Clark has done has been her ability to attract attention, sell tickets, and increase earning potential for stakeholders, including universities, arenas, and cable news networks? That’s strange, because, it seems like her incredible, one-of-a-kind, generational ability is what’s really compelling and the seats and ratings and endorsements and potential profits are what come because of that ability.
I use Clark here as the example of something that has stricken our society, that has changed almost everything, and yet it’s almost impossible to discuss. A similar example would be the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the Star Wars Franchise, where something enjoyable, thrilling, and even, in some cases, of personal meaning, were taken by a corporation (in this case Disney) and juiced for maximum profit until the literal soul of the product was destroyed and, to an extent, taste and desire for the thing people cared about was snuffed out by overexposure and exploitation.
That concept is somewhat easy to wrap our heads around, but our role in that process is elusive. And for good reason. What neoliberalism and hypercapitalism have done to us has been nearly imperceptible and exhaustive to describe. We can feel it, but putting it into words is almost impossible because it’s so obscenely alien that we haven’t even quite figured out how to express it.
Another example, this time using the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What was, for a long time, the most popular series of movies, television shows, cartoons, and products in the country, has now become a lightning rod for outrage and criticism among the Right Wing. As the focus and marketing of the MCU has shifted, the Right has crafted the term “Go Woke and Go Broke,” commenting on recent “struggles” at the box office for Disney and the MCU.
Watching the box office numbers of movies has become a form of cultural warfare, with successes and failures being heralded as signs that the tide of the political struggle is shifting. Right now, this seems normal. But it isn’t. At all.
And understanding what has happened, and what is happening, is one of the keys to breaking out of this authoritarian slide and creating a better future.