Monday, August 1, 2011

South Park and Marx

I was watching the South Park episode Margaritaville the other day, after a friend reminded me of a point that was made in that episode.

Specifically, that point was that the economy is not a sentient being. It has no life of its own apart from people and their daily activities. This was one of Marx's central points, though he applied it other abstract categories in addition to the economy (like history) and it has spawned an entire line of social inquiry (Praxis Theory). It also ties in with my arguments a couple posts ago (re: Inside Job) that economic phenomena cannot be properly understood apart from their productive/material base. (I.e. apart from reality). This is what is meant when Marx is desccribed as a "materialist."

On the other hand, I do take issue with the episode's contention that people just need to continue buying and spending, and everything will be okay. Yes, capitalist profitability demands a high level of consumption. But it has also reached a point of unsustainability that cannot be resolved by increasing demand. Furthermore, the reason that middle-class folks in South Park, Colorado (or real places like it) are able to spend money on frivolous things like the Margaritaville is because of exploitative processes that impoverish most of the rest of the world. So simply buying more useless junk is not a solution.

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