aesthetics and capitalism

Verwoert asks how we can change the way our society lives as we consume our own products if we are performing and producing at a prolific rate?

When institutional financial advice assumes you have disposable income, long time horizons, and faith in market stability – none of which apply to most young people7 –

Labubu and Fartcoin are the economy people can actually participate in. They’re a form of symbolic participation, what happens when ownership is out of reach and when expression replaces accumulation.

Both represent a form of aspirational displacement . This is the idea that when you can't afford a house, you buy mystery boxes that might contain a... See more

This is the Labubu/Fartcoin economy - the attempt to maintain agency and community within constraints rather than spending energy fighting battles with Sam Altman who says things like“the whole structure of society will be up for debate and reconfiguration” due to AI. There are two core things to understand here"“

Labubu6 are functionally plush bunnies with plastic people faces and the pointed teeth of a jack-o-lantern. They are sold in blind-box packaging (you don’t choose them, you open a box and receive your fate) by a Chinese company called Pop Mart (There's something strangely poetic about importing economic nihilism from China too. We're buying... See more

For those interested in moving culture away from fads such as these, resistance requires much more than a refusal to consume.

Culture is now built around this tension: There are engaged, paying consumers of Labubus (and an army of resellers), and there are sour, reluctant consumers of the Labubu narrative.

For all the talk about Labubus as a market success — $1+ billion in sales — I think the larger story is how much these fads have taken over our mindshare without our direct participation. Culture is never a pure reflection of consumer behavior, but a narrative.

and Dubai chocolate are clear examples of fads : They fast-forming, short-lived conventions. They don't have significant intrinsic value, but moreover, everyone is aware their core value is trendiness itself. Even the most rabid consumers of Labubus know deep down that they will be replaced in the near future. Compare this to fashions , where many... See more