Unless you’re the CEO of a major corporation or you’ve been able to inherit massive amounts of money from your parents, there’s a good chance you’ve had some complaints about capitalism before. Perhaps you work 40+ hours a week, but your job still doesn’t provide enough income for you to feel secure buying groceries and paying rent each month. Maybe you have an injury that requires medical treatment, but you’re terrified of going to the doctor and being saddled with a huge bill. Maybe your boss pressures you to work late every evening, causing increased stress and forcing you to sacrifice time with your family. We all know these situations aren’t enjoyable, but those in power are happy to paint them in a much more optimistic, and frankly delusional, light.
That’s where groups like Dystopian Late-Stage Capitalism Horrors Repackaged As Heartwarming Stories come in. This community, which has amassed an impressive 19.6k members on Facebook in only 2 years, is committed to calling out all of the ridiculous propaganda late-stage capitalists try to sell us. From romanticizing hustle culture to creating “games” out of trying to pay off exorbitant medical bills, there’s nothing that big companies are above, so this page shares it all.
To learn more about how Dystopian Late-Stage Capitalism Horrors Repackaged As Heartwarming Stories came about in the first place, we reached out to the group’s creator, James Foster, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda. “The group began as a ‘tag group’ on Facebook, which is a common phenomenon that allows users to tag other users' posts and content with the @ function to display a group name they are part of,” James explained. “Initially, it was a small circle of friends who shared an interest in dissecting the way mainstream media often portrays certain aspects of capitalism as heartwarming, when, in reality, they often reflect systemic issues that deserve attention and change.”
“It was born out of a larger and more comprehensive project called ‘Metapolitic,’ under which name I also run a Facebook page and a political theory and philosophy live-stream,” the creator continued. “As someone who has been engaged in political philosophy for over two decades, I have always been passionate about promoting productive dialogue that approaches conversation from a point of mutual inquiry, rather than the more common online style of self-righteous condemnation and pedantry. I have started several other pages and groups on Facebook, and [this group] is one such example.”
“Although it was primarily meant to be just a place to share memes and poke fun at irony in journalism, its growth has opened the door for us to promote our unique take on political discourse and online dialogue, and this is evident in our group norms, particularly the concept of ‘maintaining a spirit of community’,” James added.
James went on to share that seeing the group grow so large has been both exciting and humbling. “It's inspiring to know that there are so many people out there who share similar perspectives and are eager and motivated, albeit frustrated, in the desire to see a fairer and more ethical social system, and engage in dialogue about how to realize that,” he told Bored Panda. “The exponential growth of the group is a testament to the power of social media in connecting, despite the tendency of the algorithms to promote fear and animosity for engagement.”
And when it comes to why it’s so important to share these stories, James says, “It's crucial to share these types of photos and stories because they bring to light the exploitative and alienating nature of today's labor economy and the commodification of human beings. In an era where people are often reduced to mere cogs in a capitalist machine, it's important to challenge the narratives that attempt to mask the systemic problems that underpin our society.”
“By sharing content that highlights the dystopian aspects of capitalism repackaged as heartwarming stories, we aim not only to draw attention to the either obliviousness of journalists (or ChatGPT) to the bigger picture of society and the systems that caused these creative ‘solutions’ to be necessary, especially when such solutions often merely amount to a band-aid on a bullet wound, but also to encourage people to think critically about the world they live in and question the status quo,” James explained. “When mainstream media presents these stories as feel-good moments, it can distract from the need for real, systemic change. Our goal is to counteract this by fostering a space for thoughtful and nuanced reflection, and conversations that recognize the complexities of our current economic and political landscape.”
“I am a firm believer in the power of dialogue to bridge divides and promote understanding,” the creator added. “As a long-time student of political philosophy and an advocate of the dialectic process, I am committed to facilitating conversations that resist the Goliath or Moloch that is driving so many folks mad in their consumption of media, especially on social media. By sharing these stories and encouraging open and respectful discourse, we hope to build a sense of solidarity, and encourage folks to recognize that real organization and collective action among those who are called to action is possible and necessary.”
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We were also curious what the community of “Dystopian late-stage capitalism horrors repackaged as heartwarming stories” is like. James shared that the group has experienced an increase of over 770% in the last 30 days, and over 2000% increase in engagement in the last 60 days. “Altogether, it’s a great group full of a lot of passionate and motivated individuals and I feel that as a community, our hearts are in the right place and our intentions are pure,” he noted.
However, running a tag group does come with challenges as well. James says that, unfortunately, it does tend to attract a lot of trolls and bots. “We have done a decent job of weeding those out, but lately have been asking the community itself to report things, and have seen a steady increase of reports as well.”
“Another concern is the general attitude of so many ‘doomer’ leftists that we attract,” James continued. “I believe these folks also want to see change for the better, but have gotten drawn into negative thought patterns about our own inability to affect change that many of them passively just wish for some catastrophic event to happen so we can ‘reset’ society, and otherwise have little or no hope. I see this as counterproductive in offering too real a temptation to rejoice in certain folks’ misery, or welcome violence and grid-locking debates and rhetoric. As this approach seems to do nothing to move action or conversation forward, and in many cases even naively sabotages our best efforts and best practices, these are the things we would like to turn on their heads in our work to promote productive and understanding exchanges between people who see things differently.”
“In the words of the late, great Mark Fisher, ‘We need to learn, or re-learn, how to build comradeship and solidarity instead of doing capital’s work for it by condemning and abusing each other. This doesn’t mean, of course, that we must always agree – on the contrary, we must create conditions where disagreement can take place without fear of exclusion and excommunication,’” James shared. “Despite the massive growth, it seems to me that the community is only just beginning to take shape and develop its own norms and feel. And, for my part, I’ll do my best to influence it in being a little less dystopian than society at large.”
We also asked James about some of the most shocking posts he’s ever seen shared in the group. “The most popular post recently was about lab-grown meat,” he shared. “I believe the original poster intended it to be shocking but it got a lot of engagement because it sparked a great discussion about how this could potentially help feed people. But other commenters speculated that it would likely just become another highly processed, lower quality food that companies will pump out for a cash grab, with little or no regard to how it affects real people (as long as they can make it taste good, or make it addicting).”
James went on to note that most of the posts shared in the group aren’t particularly shocking, but they do highlight the fact that so many people are oblivious to the systemic conditions that create these scenarios in the first place. “To me, the really shocking thing is how many folks either have never thought about it or have just accepted it as an inescapable inevitability of human life,” he told Bored Panda. “It may be the reality we live in, but we created these conditions, collectively, over time, and that means we can change them, collectively, over time.”
“Some other things that have shocked and scared me have been simply witnessing the immediacy with which certain people will jump to grievous insults and even threats or wishes of real life violence over disagreements in perspective or understanding,” the group’s creator added.
And while the posts in this group are often humorous, James says that their top contributors and core members never lose sight of the critical topics they touch upon. “We genuinely hope that these posts engage our followers in important conversations, but since we’ve experienced this growth, we are currently thinking about ways to inspire them to act in their own ways, or better yet, to organize and to combat the negative effects of capitalism."
James also noted that he has created other platforms to promote discussions and actions toward a more just society as well, including the Facebook page “A Post Market Futurist Society,” which sponsors the “Dystopian…” group and "Metapolitic," his overarching political theory project, which also has a presence on Twitter and Instagram. “I encourage anyone who is interested in engaging with these topics further to visit and follow these pages,” James says. “We are also on the lookout for moderators and collaborators who share our vision and are passionate about fostering a space for thoughtful dialogue and collective action. By working together, we can create a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world that values people over profits.”