From Capitalist Realism to Anarchist Idealism, Part Six

Daniel Pinchbeck
6 min readNov 21, 2021

This is Part Six of an ongoing thought-stream. Here are links to Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, and Part Five.

Where Do We Go from Here?

In recent years, a number of authors on the Left have tried to define a new utopian vision and pragmatic program for the future. Relevant manifestos include Fully Automated Luxury Capitalism by Aaron Bastani, Post-Capitalism by Paul Mason, Inventing the Future by Nick Srnicek, and Four Futures by Peter Phrase. Similar ideas and proposals repeat in all of these books. Inventing the Future boils it down to a lucid four-point program:

Institute Full Automation

Distribute a Universal Basic Income

Reduce Working Hours to the Minimum

Establish the Right to Be Lazy / Diminish the Work Ethic

To this list, I propose adding:

Remove Restrictive Intellectual Property Rights

To accomplish these objectives, Srnicek believes the Left must reinvent itself, rediscover its power to reach the…

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Daniel Pinchbeck

Author of Breaking Open the Head, 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl, and When Plants Dream. I teach online seminars at www.theliminalinstitute.com