AB 145: Late Stage Capitalism, I Feel Nothing
Conformity. Apathy. Passivity. Isolation. Tedium. Alienation. Listlessness. Indifference. Sedation. Mammon.
Today's late stage of capitalism is defined by all these. It has ushered in unprecedentedly devastating economic, environmental, and political crises. Capitalism — the system itself, as well as those among us who passively participate in it — is neither capable of nor willing to solve these era-defining perils. If we are to extricate ourselves from the current existential mess, we'll need new tools — tools that are radically different from the ones used to build the system that engendered it.
This urgent issue of Adbusters — AB 145: Late Stage Capitalism, I Feel Nothing — offers a reevaluation of the habits, attitudes, and institutions that have led us to this place of despair. Do the means of harnessing corporate power to serve public interests lie before us, heretofore unnoticed? How can we begin to rectify feelings of digitally induced emptiness? Do we have it within us to pull ourselves out of planetary disarray? Is the mobilization of the world's discontented citizens any indication?
Can we break the spell and find new ways to live, love, and think? Of course we can. But we'll have to go deeper than ever before.
In this issue, find out how deep we'll need to be willing to go.