Karl Marx once wrote, “The less you are and the less you express your life, the more you have and the greater is your alienated life.”

Basically, my man was saying, “Congrats on all your stuff, but your soul is on backorder.” He went on to describe how, under capitalism, the less you go to the theater, engage in art, or cultivate yourself intellectually, the more you accumulate wealth, but at what cost?

Today, that quote hits harder than a 7 a.m. Monday morning wake up call for a lecture in Leavenworth. Late-stage capitalism has hollowed out the depth of human experience, swapping curiosity for consumption, engagement for efficiency, and individuality for algorithmic predictability.

Am I being dramatic?

Our economic system, once an engine of opportunity, has become a self-perpetuating machine that rewards the few at the expense of the many. It’s no longer just about wealth inequality – it’s about how capitalism has curated our reality itself. The system doesn’t just control what you buy; it controls how you think, what you see, and what you value.

And it’s working, because we seemingly forget what the human experience once was. It’s like The Truman Show, except Truman is in his pajamas, endlessly scrolling TikTok.

Social media algorithms, 24-hour news cycles, and corporate monopolies all function as part of a larger mechanism designed to keep the population passive and overwhelmed with information. The world is burning; economically, politically, and literally in some places.

Despite that, the only thing that trends is the latest celebrity scandal and hot girls dancing on a boat.

People are scrolling, but they aren’t searching.

Capitalism has always depended on keeping people distracted, but the efficiency with which it does so now is unparalleled. The only thing it asks of you is complacency – oh, and $9.99 a month for the premium version.

And it’s not just about politics. The culture of efficiency has stripped people of curiosity itself. We live in a world where convenience is king.

Why go out and experience life when an app can bring it to your doorstep? Why seek out new perspectives when the algorithm already knows what you like? Kurt Vonnegut had a lovely story about buying one envelope at a time instead of a whole box like his wife suggested. He did it not because it was practical, but because it forced him to interact with the world. He left his house to have conversations, to observe, to experience. He engaged with his community, and it gave him a chance for adventure every time he sent a letter.

Beauty in the mundane.

But in a society optimized for speed, taking the long road is no longer even an option. I mean, who has the time? There’s a new season of your favorite show dropping at midnight and the pretty blonde you follow posted a dump in Dubai.

I recently had a conversation with a friend who proposed a rather optimistic take on AI and capitalism. His theory was that as automation drives down production costs, corporations would eventually sell products so cheaply that we’d all waltz into a utopia, paying pennies for life’s necessities, thus justifying that capitalism drove growth to the point of utopia. The idea being, once companies don’t have to pay pesky things like labor costs, they’d shower us with generosity.

I’m oversimplifying here, and allowing my scepticism to sway the tone, but alas. It’s a beautiful thought, like picturing Jeff Bezos running a nonprofit daycare. The idea relies on the assumption that corporations would prioritize public good over profits. Given the track record, expecting that kind of benevolence feels like waiting for a wolf to go vegan.

If anything, history shows us that the more efficient capitalism becomes, the more it tightens its grip on profits and the less it shares with the masses. Sure, production might get cheaper, but that doesn’t mean life will.

But fulfillment doesn’t come from consumption – it comes from curiosity. And that is exactly what this system has worked so hard to suppress. But Christ, if I say I’m a socialist it’s like I just said death to America.

Breaking out of this cycle isn’t easy. It’s a personal battle against attention span, dopamine addiction, and the constant pull of passive consumption. It takes time and intentionality. Read more fiction. Seek out art outside of your algorithm. Take the long way home, not because it’s practical, but because it reminds you that you are not a machine. The goal isn’t to escape capitalism overnight – that’s a fantasy. The goal is to reclaim your ability to choose, to resist the default setting. Marx was right: the less you go to the theater, the less you engage with the world, the more capitalism wins. The only question now is whether we let it. 

My last note I will leave you with is a quote from Mark Fisher, “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.”