In their analysis of the movie Fight Club, the hosts of PsyOp Cinema speak about the “second matrix,” or the idea that while the first matrix involves rebellion against consumer capitalism, the second matrix reveals that this rebellion is an artificial one sold by capitalists in order to dismantle institutions and further their own agendas. This sounds farfetched, except that in 2020 it felt like a curtain came down, messaging was rearranged backstage, and when the curtain came up, corporations suddenly cared passionately about racism, inequality, and environmental degradation. I turned fifty in 2020, and up until then, corporations cared about none of those issues, and if anything, exacerbated them. The sudden switch seemed curious.
In this Winter Oak article, Paul Cudenac describes how, in 2013, Sophie Pritchard from Edge Fund (a play on “hedge fund”) sent a message to a list of UK Anarchists stating, “We wanted to reach groups that don’t normally hear about funding opportunities.” From this intriguing nugget, Cudenac unravels the story behind Edge Fund as well as other groups involved in social impact capitalism. Like Cudenac, I too was an attendee of the Anarchist BookFair, albeit the one in L.A., and I certainly would not have thought it was funded, even partially, by big money.
Is this a problem? Won’t funding help social justice groups, forever hobbled in their efforts due to lack of funds, succeed? Cudenac writes, “When an arm of the capitalist system surreptiously pours money into networks which are often avowedly anti-capitalist, there is obviously a question of control at stake.” He further describes the corrosive effect this funding has had on the left, writing:
Firstly, this compromised left actively promotes and amplifies the causes and ideologies favoured by the wealthy elite, namely those calling for a more “inclusive” capitalist system.
Secondly it enforces this “new normal” way of thinking within what used to be the anti-capitalist movement, taking on a “thought police” function in shaming and excluding all those radicals who refuse to toe the line.
This is why the “woke” die-hards never seem prepared to discuss the issues, or to “agree to disagree” like most of us are prepared to do with comrades.
Their job is to impose a particular, very narrow, way of thinking and so they jump to insult and intimidation to try and get their way, with no interest in consensual compromise.
It seems very telling to me that many of the people and groups imposing “politically correct” identity politics also turned their back on any questioning of the climate capitalist agenda, dismissing all such analysis as “conspiracy theories”.
They have also generally taken the side of the system since the Covid crisis began, supporting lockdowns and masks and shaming dissidents (see this article or this one).
Cudenac provides another example of why investigating funding is another important piece of the research puzzle. His article is quite long, but it represents real investigative journalism, something that has been in short supply. As such, it is worth a read.
Top image: Fight Club Soap - Omni Consumer Products (8646725933).jpg/ Wikimedia Commons
Take a look at the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International. http://www.wsws.org
Notice how out of step they are with what passes for "the left" in the popular imagination now. They criticize the very sorts of "causes and ideologies favoured by the wealthy elite"--and their untouchable idols-- with a free hand: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/25/cznk-f25.html
I'm not an anarchist, but I get around.
Take a look at the website of the International Committee of the Fourth International. http://www.wsws.org
Notice how out of step they are with what passes for "the left" in the popular imagination now. They criticize the very sorts of "causes and ideologies favoured by the wealthy elite"--and their untouchable idols-- with a free hand: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/02/25/cznk-f25.html
Thanks for the link!
That's amusing.
Somewhat related: "Who funds Antifa protests? We all do" by Andy Ngo https://nypost.com/2023/03/26/who-funds-antifa-protests-we-all-do/
Hmmm... I wonder if some of that has to do with redevelopment zones. https://northwestobserver.com/index.php?ArticleId=703