Seems like the neoreactionist types have a virtual monopoly on spiritual or aesthetic critiques of capitalist modernity. The big problem with that is that capitalist modernity does in fact suck aesthetically and spiritually, and people who start realize that will inevitably seek out other people talking about it, and they will find people like Jordan Peterson or the Bronze Age Pervert, or the whole Twitter scene around guys like Logo_Daedalus. Of course they'll eventually absorb the politics of those types of scenes as well as the aesthetic sensibilities. This has already created real life political consequences -- the alt right originates at least in part in a very shallow critique of modern life and they are now an important political force, far more so than the left.

I think there's even a reticence on the left to go into this territory specifically because it so captured by the right -- no one wants to be associated with that. I think it's crucial that we contest that space. There are a few good examples; Chapo, obviously, but you get the sense that they don't really reject American culture at all, they just enjoy making fun of it while participating in it. Felix seems by far the most serious about these kinds of critiques of the five. Mark Fisher was great in this domain.

Regaining this territory isn't a silver bullet for creating a real world left movement that can wield power, obviously, but it would certainly help. The "shop floor" barely exists anymore in America, but there are sure are a lot of lonely people out there who don't like what they see on television. We need to reach them and I think something like a resuscitation of Situationism is gonna be necessary.

  • ned_ludd [he/him]
    hexagon
    ·
    4 years ago

    Thanks for the recs, I'll check them out. I have a weird instinctive reaction to reject anything on Youtube but obviously it's where a lot of this stuff would happen.