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>This whole late stage capitalism transition is going to be painful. The phrase "late stage capitalism" is one I've seen crop up only in the last year or so, a
by RickS 9y ago
>This whole late stage capitalism transition is going to be painful.
The phrase "late stage capitalism" is one I've seen crop up only in the last year or so, and mostly in the context of the subreddit of the same name.
Can you recommend some reading outside of that subreddit? I find the subreddit's content narrowminded to the point that I thought it was satire at first, but I'm open to the topic in general. Especially interested in what makes these (supposedly undesirable) aspects of capitalism "late stage" rather than just "fully realized". What I mean by that is much of what people complain about under the title "late stage capitalism" is just "regular capitalism less mired by things that aren't capitalism".
edit: also unhelpful is that the wiki describes it as a marxist idea representing an era from the 40s onward, while it's typically discussed in terms of changes that have occurred relative to times like the late 60s/reagan-era/post-ww2 era that are themselves technically "late stage capitalism"
- toomuchtodo 9y agoCapital In The Twenty First Century: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I2WNYJW/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00I2WNYJW/ The Economics Of Inequality: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013HZ8U0G/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013HZ8U0G/ Debt: The First 5000 Years: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00Q1HZMCW/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00Q1HZMCW/ Boomerang: Travels in the New Third World: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005CRQ2OE/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B005CRQ2OE/ The Global Minotaur: America, the True Origins of the Financial Crisis and the Future of the World Economy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010VKP0CQ/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B010VKP0CQ/ I'm mobile at the moment, but will noodle on further books that I'd consider contributors to the "late stage capitalism" school of thought (IMHO, as an amateur macroeconomic scholar). I am also open to rebuttals!
- mtalantikite 9y agoLate Capitalism by Ernest Mandel: https://www.versobooks.com/books/612-late-capitalism https://www.versobooks.com/books/612-late-capitalism I haven't read it since undergrad, but he broke up the stages of capitalism in three parts, with the earliest being a free market capitalism up until the mid 19th century, then monopoly capitalism up until around WWII, and late capitalism following that era. It is dominated by a pervasive industrialization that is fairly unrestrained by national borders and a global culture centered around mass consumerism.
- Banthum 9y agoMarxists think they have a total understanding of society and economy. They don't see the future as uncertain, but rather as a series of inevitable steps that proceed towards a global communist state of society where human nature no longer applies and people are no longer self-interested. So they've got this weird verbal tic where they discuss present events as though they're historical events. After all, when you know everything, why not? Of course, they've been predicting this 'late stage' and inevitable 'collapse of capitalism' since the 19th century. Somehow these theories just don't go away no matter how many times they get it wrong or how many countries they ruin. Anyway, if you want a peek at the type of mind that believes they know the future well enough to discuss it like history, post something mildly questioning in /r/latestagecapitalism and try not to let your eyes bug out at the absurdity of the response.
- ThrustVectoring 9y agoThis will get you banned, not a response.
- chillwaves 9y agoRightly. What's to respond to? Name calling? Sounds productive.
- malchow 9y ago"Late stage" is, as you say, Marxist terminology that presumes a known end state. You are right to ridicule it, though downvoted you shall be.
- chillwaves 9y agoMaybe present an argument instead of ridicule. And to encourage this behavior is equally abhorrent.
- int_19h 9y agoI don't see how talking of a late stage of capitalism presumes a known end state. It only requires the assumption that 1) capitalism is not going to be around forever, and 2) we're closer to the point where it's going to be replaced by something else, than we are to the point where it replaced the socioeconomic system that preceded it. You don't have to believe that the following system is necessarily socialism or communism, nor do you have to believe that it's going to be the last such transition.