Happiness in Capitalism

Is it even possible to be truly, authentically happy under capitalism? Obviously, the downtrodden, the abused, the poor and the marginalized are not happy, and the higher you move up in the chain, you are most likely to get a burn-out at the age of 45 by constant exposure to competition, backstabbing and constant personal availability.

But what about the ones who get paid a decent wage, have reasonable work hours, a happy family, access to all the consumer books and can travel the world? Can they be happy? I don't think so. Capitalism's constant drive for commodification, valorization and reification of social relations will make people constantly feel that they are "missing something" or that someone is "always doing it better than you". Looking at these "travel addiction" people on Instagram, I feel like while they are all sheltered suburban pricks, they are actually really inhuman people. All their exploits seem like vanity, they never /truly/ experience the place they are visiting, their inspirational quotes mean nothing, like propaganda slogans, it's like they are designed to mean nothing. Everything seems to be stripped off it's meaning.

So, there is either this life, or seeing through all this bullshit and become and addict or some shit like that. I don't think you can truly be happy in a capitalist society.

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happiness in capitalism is happiness in slavery.

Labor aristocracy happiness is incredibly hollow. It actively rots your soul and your morality as you have to grapple with your actual position so you either become reactionary or just a hypocrite/confused leftist.

The happiness one feels when reading theory or listening to wolff/cockshott/parenti et al. is genuine.

No. You cannot be happy if you are constantly on guard because of some possible fuckery, and stability, or even a stable period of life's length cannot exist in Capitalism.

Best you can do - gather friends and family as trusted and reliable people, and pick some trade that is both niche, universal and immune to technological replacement.

Most people are unhappy not because of economic situation but because of their insecurities, craving for things that are impossible to obtain/achieve or being brainwashed into hating aspects of one's life without logical reason.
I know many people that have stable jobs, their families have access to health care and education, they don't have to worry about retirement. They lack nothing when it comes to material well being yet they still have tons of reason to ruin their happiness.


The leading reason by far is hating one's job without having actual reason to hate it.
That's a good one too. I rarely hear it irl, but imageboards are full of people that crave """"""""""""""meaning""""""""""""""".

I work as a miner, get paid well, get amazing health care, company has been paying me to basically sit on my ass for 5 months while my ACL recovers after tearing it, only work half the month. Shit is fucking awesome. Capitalism is great, I'm not even trying to be a dick.

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Sounds like you're with a privileged secgion of the labour force tbh

what?

m8 im not even that guy and its pretty obvious the dude is just lucky. Or lives in fucking WV in which case im suprised he Isn't addicted to his pain meds and trying to score some more.

I live in Colorado and there's no luck involved. I applied to this job drunk as fuck; we are so desperate for people we will hire pretty much anyone with a pulse. This is a job that requires zero education. If somebody wants a good job, they are out there; the idea that are no good entry jobs is absurd, the problem is most people are lazy ass pieces of shit with no work ethic.

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some of them, like machine operators, can even afford to buy a house which is unheard of for most people in this country

The fact that there are great jobs (with special benefits other workers don't have) in demand with zero qualification, only means it's the fault of those not experiencing said benefits for not seizing the opportunity.

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I was replying to that other user, to provide another example that being a miner is a very good job to have in some countries.

OIC. My bad.

And certified, like welding, aviation maintenance or ultra sound testing.

Happy? Yes, satisfied? Unlikely, why else is it capitalist?

unironically this.

How about alienation from the product of your labor?

no


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_human_nature#Human_nature,_Marx's_ethical_thought_and_alienation

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_alienation#Philosophical_significance

...

Of course it is possible.
Being a porky makes that easy.

And if that happens, I'll get a different job. I get the money and benefits I do, because the company calculates that that's what it takes to keep employees. If they fuck with that and take it away, they will start hemorrhaging employees and start losing profit.

Well look at you, you've got a good job and good benifits under the capitalist system, and while your employers might technically have power over you you have a good life and that's nice. Turns out all us lazy commies and poors all just had to go to the good job tree and pick a good job rather than a shitty job from the shit job tree. I didn't know there are so many good jobs that all I had to do was choose that one. It's just like Christianity, I just have to CHOOSE to accept Jesus/Good Job, and repent of my sins/do my job. All glory to God/Market.

Good jobs and shitty jobs are all on the same tree. If you can't be bothered to climb a couple branches for some better fruit, that's your problem. I don't know where you're getting that religious shit from, it has nothing to do with jobs.

I see the thread's going into the real world examples relatively well, so I might as well talk about the philosophical angle.

1. A happy man is a man that has fullness of life, wellness of body and peace of mind.
>Wellness of body: physical health, it also implies that the education, social resources and needed time to maintain and increase his health must all be prerequisite. A man who has this attribute is not plagued by ailments against his body nor his mind and is sufficiently strong as to protect himself and others from harm.

2. The capitalist seeks to accrue capital for himself by accumulating capital via the extraction of surplus value from labor time. This requires the structure of capitalist markets, the existence of laborers and a bourgeois state to protect his right to property

3. Theoretically, there is nothing preventing the happy man and capitalism from coexisting, they are not mutually exclusive by definitions, theoretically the capitalist and the laborer could be happy.

4. Conversely, if we were to examine the motivations for capitalist markets, the bourgeois class and the laborers, we would see that the Happy Man is a difficulty and not a boon to the capitalist, lest only the capitalist happy. The Happy Man does not need to consume, nor work for a wage to increase his happiness, should he exist in de facto as a Happy Man. The capitalist requires that the majority labor for him and by from him. Thereby the capitalist must either be the only Happy Man, or his product must be what makes men happy.

5. As shown, theoretically the capitalist and laborer relation is compatible with happy men, should the product of the labor be what makes men happy. However, this is only possible if there is only one capitalist, and he is content selling only one product and extracting very, very little from his laborers' produced value and also provides them surety and means of health and the hypothetical perfect commodity that makes men happy at reasonable price. There may be only one capitalist or united group thereof, obviously, because those who partake of the perfect product will not buy more perfect products from others, already possessing Fullness of Life and not needing more.

6. Given the above, we can see that the system of markets and the potential wealth of the capitalist would benefit greatly if men were not happy, in that those without Fullness of Life, Peace of Mind, and Wellness of Body would seek those things, which a capitalist could theoretically offer them in exchange for capital. Further, the capitalist would obviously be able to accrue more capital if his product only made men happy for a time. He could accrue even more if his product did not make men happy at all, rather only partially sating the desire for happiness. He could accrue the maximal amount of capital if his product not only did not make men happy but also merely created an illusion of partial satisfaction while making the true desire for happiness worse.

7. In conclusion, logically, it is the most rational course of action for the capitalist to frustrate the natural hunger in man for happiness and to redirect it to his product, which not only does not make them happy, but increases their hunger. Thereby, capitalism and the Happy Man, while not mutually exclusive of definition, do not naturally occur in the same space, Happy Men do not create capitalist relations, capitalist relations do not create or benefit Happy Men. For Mankind to be truly Happy, capitalist must be abolished.

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