Left Communism

capital will dominate the globe

This week’s interview guest ran one of my all time favorite shitposting accounts and was the first poster I ever met up with IRL. I’m glad to say that we’ve stayed in contact ever since. He has anonymously contributed a few essays to

Do Not Research

over the last few years. I’m embarrassed to admit that at certain times I felt like I was learning political theory from someone a decade younger than me — the depth and rigor with which the younger generation now approach these topics is something that should inspire all of us.

Left-Marx
age 19
East Coast, USA
Instagram, Discord, SnapChat, SoundCloud, YouTube

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How would you describe your politics or ideology?

I am a Communist. (Marxist)

Who are your biggest influences?

Marx, Engels, Lenin, Hegel, Bordiga, Damen, Zizek, Debord, and Foucault and Baudrillard to an extent.

When did you first learn about or start visiting online political communities?

When I was like 15 or so and ran a non-political meme account

What was your ideology before entering these spaces?
Or how have your views evolved since you started participating?

well when I entered the space as a participant i was a marxist but when i first entered them as an observer i was a liberal. Since "joining" I have developed into an actual marxist from some red-social democratic activist falsifier of marx but this was more through my own study and only partially as a result of my presence in these spaces.

What changes do you think we are likely to see in the next 10 years?

In the next ten years, my generations general economic malaise will either stay the same or get worse. A more efficient and state directed Capitalism will become slightly more widespread (perhaps a good point of reference for this might be the People's Republic of China). Populist ideologues will be more of a norm in the "developed" world. The environmental situation will generally become more grim. The whole "starting a family" thing will not be as common as it was before.

What changes do you think we are likely to see in the next 40 years?

The United States and the dollar will exist and not be in any position to cease to exist, but it will not have the same kind of global hegemony that it does now. Indian, and Chinese, (maybe Russian but probably not), Capital will dominate the globe. Urban living and the population of cities will have increased immensely. Food will be expensive. Meat and fish will be considered luxuries. Living in places like Europe and the United states will become ridiculously expensive. Media and entertainment will become even more beautifully immersive and well executed than it is now but will remain just as, if not even more steeped in ideology than it is now. Asian culture is more popular in the west.

What changes do you want to see in the next 10 years?

I want to see the seeds of a real worldwide culture of working class consciousness to be planted. I want to see housing prices in areas where I have a lot of family and friends not become TOO ludicrous. I want to see new developments in sustainable energy that will slow our species' destruction of the planet.

What changes do you want to see in the next 40 years?

I want to see the little bits of ideological residue left over from 20th century revisionism (namely Stalinism and Trotskyism) finally just die out for good. Almost every country you can think of has a big national "communist party" that falls under one of these two labels. In this era of counterrevolution that would be enormous for the working class. I want to see real material expressions of proletarian discontent around the world. I want to see a second revolutionary wave similar to that of the early 20th century. I hope to see a real noticeably elevated level of proletarian class consciousness around the world.

What tools, technologies or tactics are most important to achieve this?

Theory! A focus on theoretical development among Communists as opposed to engaging in bourgeois activism. (Any activism claiming to be genuinely subversive while still ultimately just being on the side of one faction of capital rather than another. For example: "Communists" in college defending capitalist states in the name of anti-imperialism). An emphasis on international communication between communists and the constant reinforcement of the necessarily international character of the workers movement.

What are the most common jobs in this future society?

Probably the usual office-based tedium, retail, app-based service side-gigs, and there will probably be even more camps full of construction workers from China in places like Africa, South East Asia, and maybe even Latin America where giant Chinese corporations build huge facilities for whatever each respective corporation does.

Where do most people live?

In or around big cities. Whether the housing looks aesthetically more traditionally "suburban" or "urban" really just depends on the area. Either way residential spaces will become much smaller and more compact. When I am in the bronx sometimes I see small clusters of little houses or apartment buildings that are seemingly frantically, or desperately packed together and placed as close to Manhattan as possible (because of the economic opportunity). This kind of thing will become more and more common around big cities.

What modes of transportation do people use?

Cars won't be completely fazed out like some people say but public transportation will become a far more common mode of transportation. Things similar to those annoying electric scooter apps will become absolutely ubiquitous (whether its actually scooters or some other thing). Rich kids will abuse things like uber (some kind of future equivalent). Busses will be common. The whole self driving car thing will most likely be at least present if not very widespread and common.

How are goods and food produced?

Ridiculous sweatshop work won't just be limited to China and South East Asia. Automation will become typical for more industries. Factory farms will become even more efficient and widespread. Luxury food will be produced about the same as it is now. For most things though, it will be even more mass produced than it already is. We will observe a rise in the cultivation of aquaponic vegetables. Protein production for the common person will be dominated by the same depressing chicken facilities except with more robots and fatter and more hormone loaded chicken, fish farms where crowded tubs of tilapia swim around in disgusting toilet water only to provide tasteless meat, and MAYBE artificial meat labs. Fruit will become even more delicious and sweet than it is now... we will create varieties that are basically like candy. Culinary technique will be more refined. The fast-casual genre will have been taken to new levels.

How do these goods and food reach consumers?

Same basic structure of supermarkets and restaurants except things will be even more packaged and standardized, and presentation will be more colorful. Takeout will become more widespread. Fake rusticity will be a common way to advertise food.

How much leisure time do people have?

Young children and college students have more, as education becomes more about a degree as cultural clout than actual training but literally everyone else has longer work hours.

What kind of energy does this society use?

I am perhaps different from a lot of people in that I actually do see things like wind and solar power becoming fairly standard (at least in the west), however by this time the damage done to the earth will be so great it will be kind of a futile exercise.

Where is this society located?

I said earlier that more people would move around bigger cities, but honestly as I think about it more a better example might be any big inland city like Chicago or OKC given the fact that the streets of New york might be perpetually covered in puddles by this time due to global warming! Either way the general trends I am describing will apply to basically the whole world given the fact that capitalism is global.

What language do people speak?

English and Mandarin Chinese are very common! I don't see English being overtaken as a lingua franca even if the Anglosphere's dominance is no more just because of how widespread it is, however Chinese will definitely grow in utility and popularity around the world.

What are the biggest religious or spiritual organizations, if any?

Islam is growing really quickly I think. I can see that becoming even more globally present than it is now. Religion in general will be less popular in the west, but Christianity will certainly still have a presence.

What does cultural production look like? Who are the most popular artists, writers, filmmakers, etc? What do they make?

not entirely sure this is a really difficult one but I think TV will have been completely fazed out by this time. Using musical conventions of the early 2000s and maybe the 2010s will be considered nostalgic and chic. Spiderman movies might still be pumped out every few years. Immersion and production quality will have been taken to new levels

Were there any key historical events that led to this society?

The economic rise of India and China, the continued decay of American economic prosperity, and maybe even a failed war carried out by the US government.