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Prof. Jiang Xueqin argues that post-WWII societies embraced Marxist ideals by centering workers, but the 1980s elite revolt shifted to consumerism, perfecting modern slavery through voluntary competition and economic logic.
After World War II, industrial societies adopted Marxist ideals by making the worker the heart and center of society, prioritizing their productivity and well-being through unions, excellent healthcare, public schools, and affordable universities.
The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s marked the peak of working-class prosperity, with societies geared toward improving middle-class lives because workers create real value, unlike speculative money.
In the 1980s, the "revolt of the elite" reversed this egalitarian model, ushering in neoliberalism like Reagan's revolution in the US and Thatcherism in Britain, favoring free-market capitalism to concentrate power and wealth among elites.
CEO pay exploded from 20 times the average worker's salary in the 1970s to 200-300 times today, illustrating how inequality surged as societies transitioned from worker-centric to elite-driven structures.
Governments shifted promises from job security for citizens in the worker era to low prices and abundant goods for consumers, fundamentally revolutionizing politics and social organization.
The consumer mentality fosters competition for prestige through purchases and social media displays, leading to debt, individualism, and hatred among people, preventing collective action or solidarity.
Consumerism instills "economic logic," where individuals view the world solely through capital, reducing relationships and decisions to financial calculations, as seen in dating or career choices.
Education under consumerism is reduced to job training for earning money to buy things, contrasting with the worker-era view of school as a place for learning, imagination, and critical thinking.
Consumerism perfects slavery because people are unaware of their enslavement, voluntarily choosing it without rebellion, making it an ideal system for elites as masses remain passive.
Francis Fukuyama views consumerism as the "end of history" since it fulfills elite desires while rendering the masses unwilling and unable to protest, creating a stable, unchallenged order.
Marx's predictions held true not in communist states but in post-WWII capitalist societies, which adopted socialist worker protections under the guise of welfare states.
Money itself produces no value—only workers do—yet elites revolted against worker-centered equality in the 1980s to prioritize capital accumulation.
The subtle shift from promising "good jobs" to "low prices and variety" dismantled unions and political consciousness, replacing collective power with isolated consumption.
In a thought experiment, giving everyone a million dollars sparks immediate competitive buying, social media boasting, escalating debt, and mutual resentment, mirroring consumerism's divisive dynamics.
Consumerism "individualizes" people, optimizing them for personal gain over group solidarity, turning society into a zero-sum prestige race.
Economic logic warps human interactions, like evaluating potential partners by wealth rather than character, infiltrating every aspect of decision-making.
Modern education exemplifies brainwashing: students attend school not for enlightenment but to secure high-paying jobs for conspicuous consumption.
Slavery's perfection lies in voluntary subjugation—people embrace their chains, eliminating the risk of rebellion that traditional slavery invites.
Fukuyama's "end of history" isn't liberal democracy but consumerism's triumph, where elites rule unchallenged because the oppressed love their oppression.
This system pervades global societies, including China, training individuals from youth to see life through a capitalist lens, stifling alternative worldviews.
Post-WWII worker centrism proved Marx's core insight on value creation, but its egalitarian success bred elite backlash, revealing power's inherent aversion to equality.
Neoliberalism's genius was reorienting society around the consumer, masking class destruction with the illusion of choice and abundance, eroding collective resistance.
The consumer thought experiment exposes how social comparison via media amplifies debt and isolation, transforming natural desires into tools of social control.
Economic logic isn't neutral reasoning but a ideological filter that commodifies human relations, reducing life's richness to monetary transactions.
Consumerism's voluntary nature achieves what coercive systems couldn't: perpetual compliance without awareness, perfecting domination by aligning exploitation with personal fulfillment.
Education's shift from intellectual growth to vocational utility underscores how consumerism hollows out human potential, prioritizing material status over meaningful development.
"Workers create value. Money doesn't create any value. Money just creates more money. Okay. It's speculative. But the workers create value."
"The problem with having a society based on a worker is it becomes too egalitarian, too equal, right? But if you're like the elite, you don't want equality. You want difference. You want to have power and money in your hands."
"You all go into debt and you all hate each other, right? So that's consumerism. This is what consumerism is. Consumerism creates a competition in society for prestige."
"You use economic logic in order to understand the world and to reason and analyze the world. Okay, now let me ask you this question today. Is this how China works? Is this how the world works? The answer is yes."
"If you're a slave, you rebel, right? But you don't know you're a slave and you like this, you choose this, then you will never rebel. Okay. So the consumerism is the perfection of slavery."
Elites in the 1980s cultivated neoliberal policies to amass power, prioritizing financial deregulation over social equity.
Consumers habitually post purchases on social media to signal prestige, fueling endless competitive spending.
Individuals apply economic logic to personal decisions, like assessing relationships based on financial potential.
Students focus schooling on job acquisition for wealth accumulation, sidelining broader learning pursuits.
Societies under consumerism avoid collective organizing, opting for individualized optimization through debt-financed consumption.
Post-WWII, US and European societies provided excellent healthcare, great public schools, and cheap universities, centering the working class.
In the 1970s, average US CEO pay was $1 million annually, about 20 times the average worker's salary.
Today, average US CEOs earn $20 million yearly, 200 to 300 times more than their workers.
The Reagan revolution in the US and Thatcherism in Britain marked the 1980s shift to neoliberalism and free-market capitalism.
Francis Fukuyama described consumerism as the "end of history" for its ability to stabilize elite power without mass rebellion.
Karl Marx's ideals on workers as society's center, realized in post-WWII socialism.
The Singh Twins' collection "Slavery of Fashion," featured in background paintings.
Francis Fukuyama's concept of the "end of history" applied to consumerism.
Reagan revolution and Thatcherism as neoliberal turning points.
Recognize worker-centric history: Study post-WWII policies to appreciate how prioritizing labor led to broad prosperity, then contrast with today's inequalities to build awareness.
Identify elite revolt signs: Analyze CEO pay gaps and policy shifts from the 1980s to spot how neoliberalism concentrates wealth, using this to advocate for equitable reforms.
Conduct the consumer thought experiment: Imagine sudden wealth distribution in your community to simulate competitive buying and resentment, fostering mindfulness against prestige-driven spending.
Challenge economic logic in decisions: When evaluating relationships or goals, pause to question financial biases, redirecting focus toward character and shared values.
Redefine education's purpose: Shift from job-focused studying to critical thinking and imagination, perhaps by joining discussion groups that explore non-monetary life meanings.
Consumerism perfects slavery by making people voluntarily compete in debt for prestige, eliminating rebellion against elite control.
Dismantle consumer mentality by limiting social media exposure to curb prestige competition and rebuild genuine social bonds.
Revive worker consciousness through union support and political activism, echoing post-WWII gains for equitable societies.
Reframe education as personal growth, not just job training, to foster critical thinking over economic logic.
Question economic evaluations in daily life, prioritizing human qualities to counteract commodified relationships.
In the shadow of World War II's devastation, industrial nations quietly embraced Karl Marx's vision—not in the iron grip of communism, but through the soft embrace of socialism. Prof. Jiang Xueqin, a historian and educator, illuminates this paradox in a compelling lecture: societies in the United States and Europe made the worker the "heart and center," recognizing that true value springs from labor, not the speculative churn of money. Unions flourished, securing reforms that delivered stellar healthcare, robust public schools, and affordable higher education. The 1950s through 1970s gleamed as an era of working-class triumph, where governments pledged lifelong job security to citizens, fostering a middle class that thrived on productivity and shared prosperity.
Yet this golden age unraveled in the 1980s with what Xueqin terms the "revolt of the elite." Egalitarianism, once a postwar virtue, became anathema to those craving distinction and dominance. Enter neoliberalism: Ronald Reagan's revolution in America and Margaret Thatcher's in Britain dismantled worker protections, unleashing free-market fervor. CEO salaries ballooned from 20 times the average worker's pay to 200 or 300 times, inequality erupted, and the social contract morphed. No longer did states promise stable employment; instead, they offered low prices and endless consumer choices, elevating the shopper above the laborer as society's organizing force.
Xueqin drives the point home with a vivid thought experiment: Imagine distributing a million dollars to every student in a school of 500. Initial excitement yields to frenzy—houses bought, furniture furnished, photos flaunted on social media. Envy ignites a prestige arms race: bigger homes, flashier displays, mounting debts. Camaraderie dissolves into resentment; lunch tables empty as hatred festers. This, he argues, is consumerism's essence—a system that individualizes ambition, shreds solidarity, and imposes "economic logic," where even romance is appraised by bank balances. Education twists from enlightenment to income-chasing, brainwashing generations into voluntary servitude.
At its core, Xueqin contends, consumerism refines slavery to perfection. Traditional bonds invite rebellion; this one seduces with choice, blinding the masses to their chains. Drawing on Francis Fukuyama, he posits it as history's endpoint: elites ensconced in power, the oppressed too enthralled to revolt. In a world from Beijing to New York now wired this way, Xueqin urges awakening—to reclaim worker dignity, reject prestige traps, and rediscover education's soul. Against the backdrop of The Singh Twins' haunting "Slavery of Fashion" paintings, his words resonate as a call to dismantle the illusion before it consumes us all.