This is hegemony working perfectly in modern times : "blame yourself, optimize, you're on your own the master of your destiny, you're free". It keeps the system as is with people atomized. Then interestingly when we realize it is not working loud solutions come pointing to scapegoats: "foreigners, Muslims, gay people, the others"... Another way to keep the system. We're living Italy's 1920s and Germany's 1930s all over the west again. Since 2025 it's hard to ignore, some symptoms were visible earlier. Néolibéralism (self blame) and fascism (scapegoating) are not opposites : They are sequential stages of the same system defending itself. At no point does class consciousness develop. At no point do workers recognize their shared interests against oligarchy. At no point does solidarity across race, nationality, religion, gender emerge. The oligarchy remains unchallenged. Worse now (which didn't exist 100 years ago) many see oligarques as heros and role models (for what? Mere accumulation which becomes the end... Also didn't exist as value 100 years ago). What to do? Reject productivity culture, confront scapegoating, reject billionaires as heros, ask yourself questions (why are so many people feeling in liquid state? is there something structural? why is that? who benefits?), build community / be a villager, seek alternative narratives, organize, practice compassion, build new narratives, darr to imagine a new system, win elections, make change happen!
The key word for me here is “commit”, or “commitment”. Are we humans truly committed to each other, like we used to, and need to, as species? Hasn’t individualisation gone way to far? It feels like the ultimate “devide and conquer” has been reached, groupsize = 1… and society has become ultimately malleable, or no: liquid, for easiest extraction… Just think about this.
Finally, something that I can take away. I am not broken. I am tending to what is dying. And I am patiently waiting for what might emerge - in my professional and personal life. This is not easy. Thank you.
Damn, this hits. Especially, letting go of all the self-blame and self-help strategies, recognizing the problem is the system and structures around us. That they are crumbling and there is no stability nor security, nothing real to grasp onto. How to live within that uncertainty is terrifying, witnessing all my hopes and dreams also dying right along with that.
I love how you phrased a well known problem! I want to recommend a book, to everyone: "Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death in a world gone mad" by Jamie Wheal.
He breaks down our current situation and explains how we can indeed 'swim' in the late-modern world. :)
All me but AI was used for spell check and to help rephrase certain points, since I am not a native speaker.
AI isn’t the problem our system is. Suggesting that a post becomes less legitimate simply because AI was involved is misguided. What matters is the context: was AI used to shape the narrative, to refine formulations, to boost quantity, or to improve quality? You call for a holistic perspective, yet seem to frame the issue in binaries. AI can amplify voices that were previously unheard, but it can also be used to silence them. The fault never lies with the tool itself, it lies in how we choose to use it.
Hi… I loved the article, I feel it describes perfectly my last 3 years 🥵
I want to read more about Vanessa Andreotti perspectives but I don’t know where I can find more information. I only found some of her books in Amazon, but I don’t buy in Amazon anymore. Do you guys know where I can find more information about her?
I love your article!
It puts exactly into eloquent and thought-through words what I perceive and think.
Thanks also for mentioning Bauman and Andreotti for further exploration!
This is hegemony working perfectly in modern times : "blame yourself, optimize, you're on your own the master of your destiny, you're free". It keeps the system as is with people atomized. Then interestingly when we realize it is not working loud solutions come pointing to scapegoats: "foreigners, Muslims, gay people, the others"... Another way to keep the system. We're living Italy's 1920s and Germany's 1930s all over the west again. Since 2025 it's hard to ignore, some symptoms were visible earlier. Néolibéralism (self blame) and fascism (scapegoating) are not opposites : They are sequential stages of the same system defending itself. At no point does class consciousness develop. At no point do workers recognize their shared interests against oligarchy. At no point does solidarity across race, nationality, religion, gender emerge. The oligarchy remains unchallenged. Worse now (which didn't exist 100 years ago) many see oligarques as heros and role models (for what? Mere accumulation which becomes the end... Also didn't exist as value 100 years ago). What to do? Reject productivity culture, confront scapegoating, reject billionaires as heros, ask yourself questions (why are so many people feeling in liquid state? is there something structural? why is that? who benefits?), build community / be a villager, seek alternative narratives, organize, practice compassion, build new narratives, darr to imagine a new system, win elections, make change happen!
The key word for me here is “commit”, or “commitment”. Are we humans truly committed to each other, like we used to, and need to, as species? Hasn’t individualisation gone way to far? It feels like the ultimate “devide and conquer” has been reached, groupsize = 1… and society has become ultimately malleable, or no: liquid, for easiest extraction… Just think about this.
Finally, something that I can take away. I am not broken. I am tending to what is dying. And I am patiently waiting for what might emerge - in my professional and personal life. This is not easy. Thank you.
Inspirational view. Learning how to dance with lava and showing my community as a parent and youth worker is a challenge I am taking on.
“The floor is lava. It always was. And somehow, we have to learn to dance anyway.”
For me, this line should read dance again. It’s a small and seemingly pedantic thing to bring up, and yet it speaks firmly to the point.
Humanity took a wrong turn.
We might yet survive if we can climb out of the swamp.
Damn, this hits. Especially, letting go of all the self-blame and self-help strategies, recognizing the problem is the system and structures around us. That they are crumbling and there is no stability nor security, nothing real to grasp onto. How to live within that uncertainty is terrifying, witnessing all my hopes and dreams also dying right along with that.
I love how you phrased a well known problem! I want to recommend a book, to everyone: "Recapture the Rapture: Rethinking God, Sex and Death in a world gone mad" by Jamie Wheal.
He breaks down our current situation and explains how we can indeed 'swim' in the late-modern world. :)
Sigh. So much AI writing.
All me but AI was used for spell check and to help rephrase certain points, since I am not a native speaker.
AI isn’t the problem our system is. Suggesting that a post becomes less legitimate simply because AI was involved is misguided. What matters is the context: was AI used to shape the narrative, to refine formulations, to boost quantity, or to improve quality? You call for a holistic perspective, yet seem to frame the issue in binaries. AI can amplify voices that were previously unheard, but it can also be used to silence them. The fault never lies with the tool itself, it lies in how we choose to use it.
(Help request in the bottom 😇)
Hi… I loved the article, I feel it describes perfectly my last 3 years 🥵
I want to read more about Vanessa Andreotti perspectives but I don’t know where I can find more information. I only found some of her books in Amazon, but I don’t buy in Amazon anymore. Do you guys know where I can find more information about her?
Thank you so much for this article!
I love it! You've eloquently said what most people feel but can't put into words, thank you 🙏