Enjoying the Irrational Social Contract in Late Capitalism

Studies of capitalism have focused on the economics of capitalism, and within economics the dominant object of study has been the theory of demand and supply. In this theory, it is assumed that social forces fix prices without intervention (or regulation) through the “natural” play of demand and supply of the goods produced in the economy. What we will be arguing is that such a theory is now completely outdated in “late capitalism,” which implies a more intense focus on populations demanding and supplying the goods rather than on the goods themselves. Indeed, we may even see that the notion of there being a good or product at the center of capitalism is itself an illusion. Rather, there is something like the Lacanian Real at the center, a lack of symbolization (a set of social relations without objectives or goods), or even more radically a void, at the contours of which is the service oriented capitalism of today. There is no such thing called a service-based capitalism; the concept has only arisen to show that capitalism can still be rational, progressive, innovative, enterprising etc. There is only what can be called “social capitalism,” a capitalism of the irrational social contract.

Let us first look at the model of demand and supply in a more contextual manner. It is assumed that demand for a good comes when there is a felt necessity or need of that good. The good is produced first, but exists outside of social relations, and at this moment it is enriched with all forms of knowledge, making the good sacred rather than demanded; the supplier itself special/exclusive rather than a subject of mechanical production. Then comes the demand, at which point the knowledge around the good undergoes a transformation...the good becomes defined for its “use value” . The good becomes necessary for some purpose. It is with such a demand that we first have the notion of a supply, that is, more than one good; mass production. The things operating behind the supply of a good bring about the good's availability and shortage. Such is the dynamic of demand and supply of interest here...

However, we have come to a period of capitalism which is defined by a more sturdy/permanent shortage of the good, or the overwhelming of the good by its demand, known as mass consumerism. No matter how many goods there are, and no matter what the price of the good, there is never enough of it. Advertisement, as the excess production of only the essence of a good (the advert as only the essence of the real thing), is everywhere, yet people are never tired of it, never sick of it. Advertisement, as the alternative fantasy to the real good, is all around us, telling us that we will get the goods, but in the future...right now we have to make do with advertisements of the good. In short, there are testaments to the fact that the good itself is now dead...there is no real good for us today; something has gone wrong in the supply mechanism and mass consumerism has not been reflected by an adequately performing supply mechanism.

One would tend to think that this end of goods-based capitalism entails the arrival of service-based capitalism. But, with an example, let us show that this is not so. In Nepal, there is a superstitious belief among families that when they cut their nails, they mustn't throw the nails in their own home because it brings bad luck. As part of a social contract, then, one family throws its nails in the neighbor's compound and the other family does the same to another neighbor. Everyone is getting everyone else's nails. What is most important to understand is that, as things stand, it is a “consumer” of a capitalist economy himself who is actively expending labor by cutting his nails, but all the while getting privileges for it by bringing himself good luck. He is shedding something of his and getting lucky for it. As long as nails grow on his fingers (for which he may or may not have to labor, it does not matter whether the person cuts his nails once or a hundred times in this logic of good luck with shedding), he will throw them in another's land and ensure his good luck. To make a quick generalization, capitalism has gotten so efficient that it no longer actually enslaves you or occupies you with work, rather, it pays you for doing something ultimately good for your own self. The circuitry of supply-demand has also been localized to small clusters, neighborhoods, small communities, small villages...Gone are the days when capitalism meant the whole city doing something productive under a capitalist model of demand and supply. Today, the imperative, as Zizek would say, is to enjoy, in other words, to do something (expend labor) which benefits yourself only and yet get paid (in 'good luck') for it. And what allows this imperative to enjoy to function is the social contract between people with an irrationality in the middle of it.

There is neither good nor service in late capitalism. So what is the location of the service? The service is next to the void (the Real) left by the absence of the good; it is capitalism's last-ditch attempt at rationality. The service-centered, rational capitalism operates when people pay for their hair to be cut, but, to be truthful to ourselves, we have to imagine a set of social relations, a social contract, today, where the person is paid by the barber to have his hair cut...no longer is the accurate model of capitalism prostitution (where you get paid to work) but rather the accurate logic is promiscuity (where you get satisfaction/"payment" for enjoying, payment for having the other do work).