[D66] The Writing on the Wall, On the Decomposition of Capitalism and Its Critics

[A.O.]

[Exit marxism..., voor een kritiek van de civilisatie, de tot waanzin
drijvende competitie en de krankzinnige valorisatie van
commodity-society en labour.]

Anselm Jappe

Anselm Jappe was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1962. Raised in Cologne and
then in the Périgord region of France, he studied in Paris and Rome,
completing his doctorate under the supervision of the Italian
philosopher Mario Perniola. He is the author of several major works of
critical theory, most famously Guy Debord (1992), and is a contributor
to the German ‘critique of value’ journal Krisis. He lectures in both
art history and sociology at a number of different universities across
France and Italy, including a long running seminar series at the EHESS,
Paris, on ‘The Adventures of the Subject’. In 2015 Jappe was listed by
Le Magazine littéraire as one of 'Thirty Names in French Thought to
Watch Out For' and in 2014 he was the subject of a thirty-minute radio
interview on France Culture. His books have received international
interest and been translated into a number of languages.

http://www.zero-books.net/books/writing-on-wall

Writing on the Wall, The
On the Decomposition of Capitalism and Its Critics

A new approach to the meaning of social emancipation

    Paperback £12.99 || $21.95Sep 29, 2017
    978-1-78535-581-3

CATEGORIZED IN

    Business & economics (general): Economics (general): Theory
    Law (general): Business & financial
    Philosophy (general): Movements (general): Critical theory

The 2008 global financial crisis has led to the re-emergence in public
discourse of the idea that capitalism could end. For many, it was proof
of the notion that capitalist civilisation has an endemic tendency
towards crisis that will ultimately bring about its demise. Must we
assume, however, that such an eventuality would inevitably result in the
liberation of humanity, as many orthodox Marxists claim? Through a
collection of specially revised essays, first published in France
between 2007 and 2010, Anselm Jappe draws on the radical new perspective
of “the critique of value” as a critical tool with which to understand
today’s world and to re-examine the question of human emancipation. The
Writing on the Wall offers a powerful new analysis of the decomposition
of capitalism and its critics.
REVIEWS & ENDORSEMENTS

The Writing on the Wall: On the Decomposition of Capitalism and Its
Critics by Anselm Jappe and translated by Alastair Hemmens is a study of
capitalism and its future failure. Jappe grew up in Cologne and in the
Périgord. He studied in Paris and Rome where he obtained, respectively,
a master’s and then a doctorate degree in philosophy. In his writings,
he has attempted to revive critical theory through a new interpretation
of the work of Karl Marx. His book Guy Debord was an intellectual
biography of Guy Debord, the prime mover of the Situationist
International. Marx’s specter did put a fright into Europe in the late
19th century. Industries treated employees better. The work week was
limited. The industrial worker now enjoyed something new called leisure
time. The specter seemed satisfied and a new era of growing wealth and
security that lasted until the out break of WWI. Unions and socialists
still kept the pressure on governments and industries, but failed to
keep workers from fighting other workers who lived under a different
flag. After the war and the Russian revolution, governments and industry
struggled to prevent socialists from rising to governmental power. There
was a rise in anti-socialism backed by industry and wealth. This was
best seen in Germany and Italy. In the US, socialism was controlled by
laws, especially the espionage acts that put Eugene Debs in jail. There
was also violence against unions. Marx predicted that Capitalism would
fail. It was a beast that consumed everything in front of it and would
eventually devour itself. Workers were the first to get eaten and spit
out broken. When they fought back the jobs left or they were replaced.
Now, it is resources and our planet, in general, that is suffering.
Industrialization and consumerism have upset the environment from
climate change to pollution, to the giant island of floating plastic in
the Pacific Ocean. Wages of workers remain stagnant while the top
percentage of white collar workers see increases in earnings. Industrial
jobs are moved overseas for the cheap labor and lack of regulation.
Countries like China and India benefit only because they were so far
behind the Western World. Workers there are paid low and are worked long
almost like the industrialized revolution here. Some benefit greatly the
vast majority do not. Jappe leads the reader through his thinking with
ten, very well documented, essays. One point that particularly stuck in
my mind was behavior. We have four taste senses; sweet, salty, bitter,
and sour. A child will only ask for sweet and salty. We learn to like
the other tastes and develop an appreciation for them with time. Cut out
the learning and what we have left is basically McDonald’s — salty food
and sugary drinks. Cut out the education, or dumb it down, and we have
people whose only qualifications are unskilled labor, the so-called
McJobs. What is needed to pass high school today is a lot less than
fifty or seventy years ago. An associates degree that would secure a
tech job in the past carries much less weight today. Jobs that used to
have insurance, vacations, pensions, and holidays don’t anymore. We are
in an era of “Bread and Circuses.” The system is starting to consume
itself and we are told not to worry. We have cable television, cell
phones that are used for mindless games rather than talking. Social
media that helps pit one side against another. In America, our political
system is split into only two sides an “us versus them” scenario.
Realistically the parties are not that far apart on the political
spectrum. It is not socialism versus fascism. The rich still benefit no
matter who is in control. The system encourages people to vote against
their own interests with sound bites and catch phrases rather than
thoughtful discussion. The idea of capitalism trumps the idea of
democracy. The fear that capitalism will fall to socialism is not one
that is based in reality. Capitalism will destroy itself and it will not
be a workers revolt that will rise but rather barbarism. Much like a
building crumbling to the ground and new better building will not arise
unless there is the organization, skilled labor, and a popular
willingness to build a new, better building. That is what is missing and
the system, in order to protect itself, the system works to undermine
that organization. Society is not going to fall into socialism when
capitalism fails. Mankind will enter a Hobbesian state of nature. Jappe
explains to the reader that the writing is on the wall and it is up to
us to first notice and then react. ~ Evil Cyclist,
https://evilcyclist.wordpress.com/2017/08/22/book-review-the-writing-on-the-wall-on-the-decomposition-of-capitalism-and-its-critics/

This passionate collection of essays by Anselm Jappe, a critique of
value theorist, is a significant contribution to the critical analysis
of contemporary capitalism. Resolutely anti-capitalist, the author
reminds us that by demanding submission of all aspects of life to market
relationships, the system inexorably leads to the destruction of human
communities and the environment. ~ Michael Löwy, Alternative Libertaire

Contact with reality makes a theory stronger and the importance of
Anselm Jappe’s book is that it allows us to measure the explicatory
power of the ‘critique of value’ when it is applied to a number of
different subjects, from political life to contemporary art. The central
chapter, where he analyses the subprimes crisis, is the most striking.
Here Jappe reminds us of the founding paradox of capitalism as
originally formulated by Marx: capitalism realises profits by exploiting
human labour, yet every increase in productivity made possible by
automation and technology reduces human input into the goods that are
produced. ~ Eric Aeschimann, Libération