10 minute read
economy of the depressed
nothi by Isaac Lewis ng ma
Everybody has some sort of meaning behind their life. Whether it be a religious, spiritual or completely personal meaning, there is some reason behind your existence. The opposite to this idea is the theory of nihilism. The belief is defined as the rejection of all religious and moral principles, in the belief that life is meaningless. Pure nihilism as it is defined can realistically only result in two paths. The first, suicide. A person who completely embraces and accepts the fact that nothing matters has absolutely no reason to still be exerting energy into the world if, as they see it, it achieves nothing. Therefore, ending their own life makes perfect sense. The other option is destruction. With no meaning to anything in the world, causing havoc and committing what society defines as completely unacceptable makes perfect sense as there are no consequences in the mindset of a nihilist.
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Of course, neither of these mindsets are particularly productive in the world we live in and cannot achieve anything particularly valuable to you, myself or anyone. However, a lesson which can be taken from the idea of nihilism that holds extreme value, is the idea that nothing matters. This positive take is defined as optimistic nihilism and is a belief I abide by in every aspect of my life. I accept the lesson that technically everything is meaningless however this frees us from any obligation or restricting element of society that we experience. When you put anything that might cause you distress into perspective you can come to the conclusion that there are approximately 7.9 billion people on the planet, you are one person, and the world will continue spinning regardless.
It sets you free realising that whatever happens, it really doesn’t matter. We as human beings spend so much time holding so much value to particular social situations or conflicts that are so small in the grand scheme of things. Our brains hyper fixate on them, they upset us and make us feel like shit. The longer you spend doing that, the higher the percentage of your life you are spending in a negative head space rather than a positive one.
You might not have a meaning, but you can still pursue being happy. Once you unlock this mindset that nothing matters, that old saying that life’s not fair kind of disappears. Shit might happen but that is life, and it doesn’t matter. Of course, you can still feel and experience those things but once you breath and your body has reacted you can rationalise and accept that it is so much better to look forwards and move on.
This attitude could help you in so many ways. It takes away the pressure to act in a certain way or do what you believe everybody thinks you should because you begin to accept that you can act however you want. When nothing matters, you will start to understand your own morals even further as you start to lose that attachment to other people’s expectations of you. These expectations fuel far more of how you feel and often fuels the projection of insecurities on other people. Optimistic nihilism can affect individuals so positively and can then create a better world collectively. With an understanding of this attitude, people will start to hold far less value towards the actions of other people. Our society massively judges and analyses the behaviour of others so necessarily with it often transforming into hate. This has to stop, and it can when you come to this simple yet incredibly difficult realisation.
The world has so many problems. The world is made up of billions of people who all have a different reason for being alive. We often hold far too much importance to these reasons. These reasons can manifest into incredibly negative things, both internally and externally. The best way forwards for us to remove things that hold us back is simple. Realise nothing mattersu
atters...
economy of the depressed
‘It’s no surprise that the condition most commonly treated by the NHS is now depression’, notes Mark Fisher in his eye-opening book ‘Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative?’. But how have we gotten to this point? Why are more young people than ever suffering with anxiety and depression? Perhaps all we need are enough antidepressants to sedate the creativity and homogenise the minds of a generation? Afterall, aren’t we just a collection of chemicals? I can’t help but shake the feeling that this epidemic of dissatisfaction and uncertainty originates in something far more insidious than neurotransmitters alone… something far more difficult to treat…a sickness no medication can cure. Hear me out.
One of the hallmarks of ideology is that it evades detection, causing us to view the world (ourselves included) through its lens. As such, it’s not a shock that so few people are aware of the shades fixated firmly on their western faces, shades tinted the colour of Neoliberalism. I believe that this ideology has performed a manoeuvre never before seen in the history of capitalism, a manoeuvre so ingenious that we, the active economic subjects, now lust for our own exploitation. Allow me to explain.
Neoliberalism arose in the early 20th century as a rejection of post war efforts to rebuild the Western economies using state intervention. Those in powerful economic positions (primarily in the US), viewed these state-interventionist economics (e.g., welfare) as posing a severe and immediate threat to freedom. They believed that such collectivist thinking would bring about the end of individual liberty, and thus, mobilised an initiative to sterilise the welfare state in favour of absolute market deregulation, with monopolies, for example, seen to be a reward for efficiency. The wealthy and leading proponents of this new ideology of freedom, Neo-liberalism, organised with powerful business leaders and the West’s foremost academic authorities to impregnate institutions with their influence. The Mont Pellerin Society was formed. With backing from some of the worlds most powerful economic interests, this new, private, Western pact of socio-economic influence funded a host of Think Tanks to act as ‘intellectual vanguards’ and alter the consciousness of a generation. A cynic may argue they had a vested interest above and beyond ‘liberation of the people’.
As a result of a decades-long attempt to sow the seeds that would one day grow into the ugly and well camouflaged flower of neoliberalism, an emphasis on economic freedom/a de-regulated economy became the key to personal freedom in the minds of the many.
With this very basic idea of what neoliberalism purports to be, as well as its historical formation, let’s get into the juicy stuff. For the first time ever in the history of capitalism, neoliberalism placed labour within the field of economic analysis – but what does that mean? Historically, labour (the worker) has been seen as a cost in the capitalist model: if I must pay you to work for me, and I have an enterprise for the pursuit of money (capital), your wages are in direct conflict with my own interests; I am going to invest in my capital and minimise my costs. This economic model came with its perks for the worker, who knew exactly where his exploiter was, exactly who to protest against when wanting a fairer wage and living standard.
However, what if labour itself could be seen as capital – that is, in terms of investment? What if we stopped viewing labour power simply in relation to time, but rather as an optimisable and internal activity? Could I invest in the labour itself in order to bring about a greater efficiency in the activity of work? Here lies the ostensibly freeing revolution that we embraced with open arms – neoliberalism unlocked a new domain for capital generation: consciousness itself.
By making labour available to economic analysis, beyond being seen merely as a cost, it can now be seen as something to be invested in and optimised with the view of getting a higher return – a return on investment;
by Max Croker
economy of the depressed
by Max Croker
the individual themselves can now be seen as a capital project. We can now view the individual primarily in terms of capital, with consciousness its own capitalist enterprise. For example, an individual may have some innate capital (like a high IQ), which may yield a future revenue stream greater than without said capital. Alternatively, some capital can be invested in and acquired (like a university degree) which may yield a greater revenue stream than without.
Viewed in this way, the way of neoliberalism, the way that your government views it, all activities an individual does in their life can now be viewed in terms of capital. Life becomes an on-going project of self-optimisation and investment in our own, human capital, with the view of bringing about a greater income stream. This is what justifies university fees for example; why should education be seen as a public good to reduce ignorance and promote a nuanced relationship to the other? Bah! It is merely a capital investment into your own psychological enterprise, the idea being you will earn more than if you didn’t make said investment.
At the University of Gloucestershire, you must have heard of ‘Your Future Plan’? The place to go for LinkedIn training, for CV coaching, interview prep, for you to win awards for your level of employability? Do you think it is a coincidence that Your Future Plan sees your future almost exclusively in terms of future income? Or perhaps is it reflective of a culture dominated by an ideology that reduces all of life to a sole pursuit? Some may say that this is just a natural process, and that this is just how the real-world functions…I say that’s a warning that you may be looking through those shades I mentioned… One of the hallmarks of ideology is that we don’t know we are in it, and we believe that our conception of the world is a given reality, rather than a relative and artificially constructed paradigm. When we realise we take something as a given reality, alarm bells should be ringing.
Hopefully, things should be starting to take shape here. We live in a culture that requires us to view ourselves as capitalist enterprises to be invested in, package neatly, and sell as a brand to the market. We are now all entrepreneurs and don’t even realise it, constantly building on our own brand. We are entrepreneurs of ourselves, selling ourselves, always optimising ourselves. If earnings are solely in our hands, who are we to protest against for low wages? In this model, only we are to blame for our situation. Want more money? INVEST IN YOURSELF they say. You have no off days. All moments are opportunities for ‘growth’. Your boss knows when you’re relaxing when you could be doing some extra work, for he is you. We never feel satisfied with the work we have done: ‘I just think I could have done more’. Burnout is the trend.
It’s no wonder there has been such a demand for mindfulness apps – we all need to escape our own minds and get some ‘Headspace’. Even this, sadly, can be viewed as part of this neoliberal model of human capital, for if a company invests in some mindfulness seminars of their own, then it’s workers will work more efficiently.
It’s no wonder that more young people than ever are suffering with anxiety and depression, there is no time for the authentic self beyond the ‘branded self’. Young people have internalised the power structures that once oppressed us, and we embrace them as liberating. It is now near impossible to even conceive of alternative economic systems, that is how well this new, oppressive and depressive power runs. As Mark Fisher says, ‘its easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism’.
Away with human beings, we cannot help but see ourselves as human capital. The literature on this phenomenon of ‘human capital’ is growing rapidly, and it’s no coincidence. Perhaps a revolution is needed, only this time, you must revolt against yourself as your own exploiter. Perhaps this epidemic of misery comes not from our own individual malaise, but from an economic sickness, from a societal depression. The land of the free and economy of the depressed. u
