• Lvxferre@mander.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    78
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    3 months ago

    Sorry beforehand for the intrusive politics, but it’s kind of unavoidable for me in this case.

    This is almost a textbook example of the Marxist concept of alienation. Once a brand takes over a meme, people are alienated from

    • the meme itself - because nobody wants to sound like an ad board
    • from the creative process behind the meme - because creating a new meme gets that sour taste in the mouth, as you feel that corporations might hijack it
    • from human nature and themselves - because memes are a form of self-expression
    • from each other - because memes are intrinsically social and it’s yet another social link being removed by the corporation hijacking the meme
    • Codex@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      26
      ·
      3 months ago

      I’d say the outcome is alienation; the process as the comic demonstrates it is a kind of recuperation, the process through which ideas (especially subversive or dangerous ones) are neutered and commodified.

    • orcaA
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      19
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      3 months ago

      I swear I can find an applicable Marx excerpt for almost anything. His work has strengthened my anti-capitalist conversations a ton.

      • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        7
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months ago

        Well, that’s what you get when an old style journalist has a knack for philosophy. I heavily recommend his texts, even to non-communists - not as some sort of political proselytism from my part, but because the content is useful/interesting even if you aren’t a communist, you know?

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        9
        ·
        3 months ago

        Maybe because people keep attributing concepts that have been around for thousands of years to him lol

        • orcaA
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          3 months ago

          Multiple people can have their own variations of a critique. Crisis Theory is a good example.

      • Lvxferre@mander.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        Yes! He also invented airplanes, internet shitposting, Santa Klaus, and Brezeln.

        I’m joking of course. No, he didn’t invent the concept, he took it from Hegel. However that specific usage of the concept is the one from Marxism.

      • leopold@lemmy.kde.social
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        13
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        The fact that the word “alienation” already existed doesn’t mean Marx didn’t have a specific theory about alienation in specific contexts that ended being pretty influential for philosophy. Like, holy shit, Marx’s theory of alienation isn’t obscure. Do a minimum of research before spouting ignorant bullshit.