Episode #203 - Why the future is being slowly cancelled. - Postmodernism (Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism)
Episode #203 - Why the future is being slowly cancelled. - Postmodernism (Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism)
This episode expands on the ideas of neoliberalism and postmodernism by exploring how their combination creates a culture stuck in the present, where people struggle to imagine a different future. Mark Fisher argues that postmodern values like moral relativism and skepticism toward grand narratives have eroded our ability to declare shared truths or build unifying cultural movements. This confusion, paired with a capitalist system that turns everything—including art, memory, and politics—into tools for profit, leads to a society haunted by recycled ideas and failed dreams. Art, music, and even revolutionary politics become nostalgic remixes rather than forward-thinking creations. The result is a widespread sense of disconnection and what Fisher calls “the slow cancellation of the future.” He proposes a path out through what he called Acid Communism—a reinvigoration of consciousness that draws from feminism, socialism, and psychedelic culture to help people rediscover the parts of life that capitalist realism has forced us to forget.
Further Reading:
Postcapitalist Desire: The Final Lectures by Mark Fisher (2021)
Postcapitalism: A Guide to Our Future by Paul Mason (2015)
Against the Terror of Neoliberalism: Politics Beyond the Age of Greed by Henry A. Giroux (2008)
See the full transcript here
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