Episode 16: Can we survive capitalism?
Detail from a mural on Steiner St. in San Francisco, by Eclair Bandersnatch.
Anti-capitalism is having a moment in the West, and especially in the U.S. political scene. But science fiction has been grappling with the promises and savage realities of capitalism since its very inception. In this episode, we talk about anti-capitalism in stories like The Matrix and The Space Merchants. We wonder why it’s so hard to imagine what comes after capitalism. Are our only options a post-scarcity Star Trek wonderland vs. Hunger Games’ neo-Feudalist nightmare?
Links:
Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation
Blipverts, from Max Headroom
Frederik Pohl and C.M. Kornbluth, The Space Merchants
Chen Qiufan (Stanley Chen), Waste Tide
Born in Flames, dir. Lizzie Borden
Manu Saadia, Trekonomics
Charles C. Mann, The Wizard and the Prophet
Deborah Blum, The Poison Squad