This is not about musically gifted German pornstars. Although, that would make a great piece of literature. I want to discuss a concept from this Chapo Trap House clip that was being played by Hasan Piker a few days ago on his stream. I had never heard anything quite like it.
In the clip, Matt Christman coins a phrase that he calls “Zen Fascism”. He claims this is a result of some level of Maoism–Third Worldism (MTW). MTW argues that workers in the first world are so spoiled with their small but still sizeable portion of the riches gained from imperialism, that genuine revolution is not really possible. Christman relates this to how America has done so much to exploit the world’s resources and labour, that most Americans do not care anymore about the small incremental progressive changes that may come from center-left politics. A Carbon tax, for example, is basically just new bullshit to pay for because, in the end, this place (Earth) is going to blow up anyways! So why not just consume and destroy the planet while we are at it? These stupid liberals just want to cry and ruin the fun. They have no way they are going to fix these issues because they have little to no motivation for it! You are still going to buy a new smartphone, aren’t you? That new car? Or maybe a Shein haul to go with the new car. Americans are so addicted to consuming, that even progressives (like myself), would struggle to give up a lot of these treats that come from the benefit of exploiting millions of people. My argument against this thinking has always been that overconsumption is a symptom of anxiety. Just as the fat man (me) will eat too many Oreo cakesters when he is stressed about work, my fellow Americans will order one too many items on Temu with Klarna just to feel better about their involuntary servitude to American capitalism.
There is a progressive argument to this though. Sure we can shop like a “billionaire” but we cannot get treated at a hospital like a billionaire, buy a house like a billionaire, or even take a vacation like well… a European. This disparity in costs between the needs and wants is what I think leads to the overconsumption of Americans. If you can’t have your health needs met in the form of clean, healthy, affordable food, why not just feel good and eat a Chilis Triple Dipper? This incessant need for Americans wanting to act like a billionaire comes from their true desire to actually have some kind of social and economic security in their life. But this economic insecurity put on us by the capitalists is by design. If everyone wants to pretend they are a billionaire (so they can feel safe and prosperous), why would we want to support policies against them?
This part of my spiel might come out of nowhere, but I feel that I must compare this concept to something that my family of immigrants believe near and dear. When an immigrant comes to America, they aren’t thinking of all of the extraction and destruction that went into the creation of this place. There are no billboards of American planes bombing Vietnam in Times Square, because it would be a huge bummer to look at, obviously. Instead, many see a giant ad for a $1000 state-of-the-art phone or a fancy car that one could only dream of owning in their home country. Here, all of that is possible. You can get your cool car and the phone (with a sizeable chunk of debt), and the only consequence is paying outrageous costs of basic needs in your life. Doesn’t that sound like we got it all upside down?
We do have it upside down, but unfortunately, we are at a point where I wonder if we will ever convince a majority of Americans that this is the case. And maybe this is where “Zen Fascism” or “Capitalist Nihilism” comes from. These MAGA billionaires like Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg know for a fact that this capitalist empire is unsustainable, so they just support the guy who is going to give them all the kickbacks in the meantime. I’m sure Mark Zuckerberg believes in global warming, but he just doesn’t care because he has a doomsday bunker in Hawaii ready for when the big hurricane wipes us out.
I wonder what to say to these “Capitalist Nihilists”. Is there even a point in trying to convince these people of anything? If you live in an affluent suburb and never leave (which is what many Americans do), how could you ever be exposed to the results of exploitation by capitalism? Capitalism has given you Whole Foods, Instagram, and matcha, what is there even to complain about? It’s not like you have to physically see the cobalt mines where children work on your way to Chick-fil-A. You will just say that the reason that you get these luxuries and others don’t is that you “worked hard”.
Sure, your B2B SaaS Sales job really is hard work! /s
The real hard work being done in this country is by the hospitality workers, the roofers, the painters, the window washers, the nurses, the teachers, the teamsters, and the farmers. But you, B2B SaaS salesman, have earned that Chipotle bowl with your blood sweat and tears on the front lines of the Zoom calls. Good for you.
I’ve gone a bit off track here but I had to rant. My point is that MAGA wants to shit on progressives simply because we are being total nerds about this whole impending “economic collapse” thing. Then that turns into “triggering the libs” because you need to distract yourself when you know for a fact your whole world is falling apart in front of your very eyes. Optimistically, I am hoping that Matt Christman and I guess Mao is wrong on this one. I am hoping that at some point, progressives get the balls to say enough is enough, and we don’t let capitalism push us around anymore with its iPhones, fast casual food chains, and most importantly, the Democratic party. I’m hoping that we can stand together and build some kind of movement that can fight back against this unholy addiction to overconsumption and mediocrity in our politics.