I’m already angry about, and demoralised by, capitalism. 2020 in particular made it incredibly easy to be furious about capitalism, and I intend to carry this energy productively into 2021. However, sometimes I feel as though it is easy, or tempting, to push the chaos of it to the back of your mind just to get through the day. It’s important to keep that fire stoked, though, in the hope of driving towards real change. I find that fiction about capitalism encapsulate the internal rage and despair that I feel in the face of it, and offers an emotional dimension that I sometimes miss in nonfiction on the same subject. While it doesn’t replace nonfiction, which remains an important resource to consult and study when learning more about capitalism, fiction remains a valuable a stage on which to explore the facts and numbers. I cannot become one with the moss and forest quite yet, so instead I take to books to learn more about the impact of our money-driven society, and find the words that push me to keep standing up against it. While capitalism does not breed innovation, these works are full of it. We can use our collective anger about capitalism for good and real change, so if you’re interested in reading more about what you can do to continue your anti-capitalist thinking, check out this list of books about the importance of unions and labour in America. CW: emotional abuse CW: domestic abuse, sexual assault CW: graphic depictions of surgery and injury detail
