What distinguishes Wark’s theological critique is a focus on the current forces of production themselves, just as socialists did in originally articulating capitalism. For example, Bertrand Russel was famous for making such a comparison. Such a theological analysis of Marxist thinking is not new. Capitalism, even critiques of it, have become like theology, with an ahistorical and unchanging god central to all thinking. Wark argues that not only do we face a failure to articulate alternatives to capitalism, but we often fail to analyse the present outside of the frame of capital. McKenzie Wark finds herself engaged in an act of self-professed heresy within Capital is Dead. A near wholescale rejection of an intellectual tradition always upsets. Most of the time, individuals find themselves rejecting out of hand the initial message, but slowly over time they begin questioning and probing. It feels like a pressure washer to the brain. There is something quite refreshing about heretical writing. Image credit via Gerd Leonhard, Creative Commons
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