Capitalist Realism

While I don't agree with Mark Fisher's politics, his writing is full of ideas and potential jumping off points for progress. In Reading Capitalist Realism he states that "Capitalism is good because it is based upon the "reality" of "human nature"; that is why capitalism allegedly "works" and no other system does." I think that this is a crucial point and has fundamentally destabilised the left's position previously and, increasingly more and more overtly, up to our present moment. I think we have to accept that capitalism is the most operable system for the time being and instead of thinking of ways to end it or replace it we should work with what we have and try and make it better. 
The title of chapter 1 in Capitalist Realism "It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism." sums up the meaning and drive behind Fisher's concept. The whole idea starts from a position of negativity, a depressive stance that ultimately may have contributed to Mark's suicide in 2017. While criticism and dissent is essential for unlocking the hypocrisy and wrongs abundant in the world, in my opinion any solid way forward has to have foundations in positivity for it to really work. Thinking back to the previous two weeks' topic of the anthropocene I'm similarly reminded of, what seems to be, the mistake that most environmentalists make of trying to stop humanity's depletion of the earth's resources. It is better to accept the truth that in order for our species to survive and progress it has to use the resources of the earth. Instead of trying to stop this we should maybe spend more time looking for additional resources elsewhere.

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