Just Finished Reading: Capitalist Realism – Is There No Alternative? By Mark Fisher (FP: 2009)

The author of this intriguing little book (a mere 81 pages long) starts with an interesting observation – that it appears easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of Capitalism. Why is that? Part of the reason is, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there seems to be little practical alternative on offer. China, once a bastion of Communism, is becoming ever more capitalist as the years go by. Countries such as Great Britain, once an example of ‘mixed-economy’, are quickly ditching their state socialist past for a fully-fledged market economy. Partially because of that it would seem that capitalism has colonised the imagination of those living within its warm embrace. Challenged to do so most of us cannot even conceive of another way of running our economies. Does that mean capitalism has reached its very own ‘end of history’? Is this it?

Not so fast, says the author. Have we already forgotten the recent banking crisis that plunged the world into recession/depression? Is that really the sign of an efficient market system reacting to the demands of rational consumers or does it point to something fundamentally flawed at the very heart of capitalism itself? Of course the delicious irony of failed banks and other capitalist enterprises being bailed-out by the State they regularly vilify in some part compensated for the wreckage left behind by their singular failure. But that is not the only crack in the capitalist façade. The author points out several more flaws in the apparent pristine edifice. One is the capitalist general opposition to environmental issues – particularly the idea of sustainable development, an idea which is anathema to capitalist development and exploitation. Another is the medicalization and individualisation of mental issues. Mental ‘illness’ has been increasing in capitalist societies for decades without any agreed upon apparent cause. The focus has been, up until now, on the individual and to ‘correcting’ the apparent chemical imbalances in individual brains. But what if the cause was greater than the individual? What if the cause was social and economic? What if the cause of the growth of mental illness is capitalism itself? Why are we encouraged to look at the effect and not the possible cause? Finally the author points out an apparent contradiction within capitalist societies. As the call for a smaller state and a reduction in state intervention and control increases in volume so does the number, complexity and reach of bureaucratic organisations. The paradox seems to be that you need an ever increasing bureaucracy to run an ever decreasing state apparatus.

Despite its short length this is a meaty tome. Full of fascinating ideas, some of which are (or where for me at least) difficult to get your head around without taking time out to pause, consider, and think things through. Helped along by using examples from modern cinema, books and TV shows, without trivialising the arguments in the least and by person observations made in the Further Education College where he works this is a book that might just make you look at the world around you in a very different way. But be warned, this book will probably dig its hooks in to you and you will be musing over it for weeks or months after you finish the last page. I know I still am. This is my first book from the Zero Publishing house and it won’t be my last. Very much recommended.