• Lvxferre
    link
    fedilink
    733 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
      link
      263 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.

    • @[email protected]
      link
      fedilink
      16
      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
        link
        fedilink
        5
        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
        link
        -53 months ago

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

    • @Cryophilia
      link
      -123 months ago

      You…think Marx invented the concept of alienation?

      • Lvxferre
        link
        fedilink
        153 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.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        123 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.