Comaroff & Comaroff made a strong point in their article on millennial capitalism that provides the paradox of today's dominant global economic system.
"...the fact that it appears both to include and to marginalize in unanticipated ways; to produce desire and expectation on a global scale yet to decrease the certainty of work or the security of persons; to magnify class differences but to undercut class consciousness; above all, to offer up vast, almost instantaneous riches to those who master its spectral technologies - and simultaneously, to threaten the very existence of those who do not" (298)
The above text gives us many essential contradictions that capitalism produces in the lives of those who experience its manifestation in daily life. It is a structural problem in our society that infiltrates every walk of life, down to the core of an individual's existence. Is this how we want our lives to be run? Failing due to a lack of riches and a lack of opportunity for the "lower classes" is just not acceptable to me.
This reminds me of our discussion on student loan debt, about how students are automatically at a disadvantage from the start of their lives because of the high pricetag on education and intellect. It almost seems as if bids are being taken for the best positions and luxuries capitalism makes a place for in lieu of total community, equality, and sustainability. Not only are these bids imposed upon social status, careers, and higher education...Comaroff & Comaroff are highlighting that we are almost paying for the right to exist in a sense. Thoughts?
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