Culture

The Capitalist Messiah Machine

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I’ve heard many people say “Capitalism ends in fascism,” but let me put in my thought – Capitalism seems to create messiahs.  Inevitably.

Lately in 2025 it seems Capitalism is filled with messiahs.  It used to be you’d get a few here and there, but now we’re awash in them and their annoying products, videos, and podcasts.  People who will save us from ourselves, who will usher in the singularity, or take us intergalactic or whatever.  It seems late-stage Capitalism produces an embarrassment of messiahs, and all of them are embarrassing.

This got me thinking.  Because Capitalism in popular imagination is often portrayed as hard-edged, about bargains, and money, and economic growth and so on.  When it’s not, it usually involves drugs (usually cocaine) and sex (when on cocaine), and excess (thanks 80’s movies).  If there was philosophy it was pseudo-Nietzsche/Ayan Rand stuff at best.  If people were Capitalists out to reshape the world they were usually villains fighting James Bond or Superman.

I think these pop culture ideas may have shielded us from the messiah Machine that is Capitalism.

Capitalism allows people to accumulate power in the form of wealth, influence, and public regard.  Capitalism has no restraints, so some people are going to get a lot of wealth and power, which lets them do whatever they want.  Most of them use that to get more wealth and power, since they’re competing with each other and you don’t want anyone to get the drop on you.

Capitalists also don’t face a lot of repercussions as they have money, power, and the backing of our culture.  When’s the last time you’ve seen someone whos rich face repercussions for their actions, even when you hear of horrific accusations of scamming, child abuse, and worse?  Exactly.  It’s easy to get used to that, and start thinking of yourself as invulnerable – and even get used to it.

Lots of power.  No repercussions.  It becomes easy to think you’re special, maybe even a messiah.

But you’re also totally abstract from human experience as one of our hyper-capitalists.  You live in a soft world where cause and effect isn’t what it is for everyone else.  Your world is a world of numbers and marketing, and nothing else. You’re just a suit of flesh around a bank account and a stock portfolio.  How easy is it to spin some messiah story to give your life meaning?

It’s probably much easier when your life is devoid of cause and effect, of meaning, so you come up with a story to make yourself special and not just a money meat suit.

Some Capitalists may not fall into such traps, but messianism is also a useful shield.  People catch on that some idiot who got a huge inheritance is still just an idiot, but an idiot deciding how large chunks of the world run.  Claiming messianism is a great way to protect yourself from people who are starting to realize you didn’t earn anything and figure you shouldn’t have it.

You might even believe you’re a messiah after awhile.  And in the isolation.  And probably the drugs.


In retrospect, Capitalism seems to be a kind of messiah machine.  Sure it may have taken awhile to get to our current state of multiple messianic money morons, but boy have we done it in spades the last ten to twenty years.  We’ve also got a lot of would-be Capitalist Messiahs with their video channels and other grifts.

It’s probably both the concentration of money and power and the media.  We’ve got powerful people with influence over the media, a media filled with bootlickers, and the chance of parasocial relationships.  That’s been a powerful force letting people find someone to worship, inviting both the manipulative and the deluded to indulge.

Capitalism leads to fascism, sure.  But it also leads to messiahs and those are a pretty integral ingredient to fascism.

-Xenofact

Preserving the Legacy

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The world is in chaos. Politics is reality show. As I write this forest fires are burning up parts of LA while a deep freeze grips the US south. Climate change is changing pretty rapidly. I fully expect humanity to survive, and in centuries, prosper again. It’s just going to be rough and cruel.

One thing I’m doing is preserving philosophical and religious books to people that I know will be interested in them, that will preserve them, and give them away to reliable folks if needed. In the disasters that are here and ones that may come, these things that guided me may guide others. It’s a chance to leave something to help those in the future, and in a personal way.

I sit here and know the world isn’t ending but parts of it are, and many ways of life will. I ask what matters to me, what taught me, and what will help others. I ask who I can trust and who will care. I ask a lot of questions right now about a world I will one day not be in.

It’s a humbling experience. I am looking at books asking what helped me become who I am, wanting to pass it to people who aren’t me and knowing I won’t be there. I feel myself stretched forward in time, asking what’s next. I have to think about what will help someone unknown grow, what preserves what is good today.

It’s an enlightening experience. I have a large library but have to ask what truly mattered to me and will matter to others. I can see a pattern, a timeline of what books helped me grow, and it helps me understand myself. I can ask what will help others.

It’s also an experience I want to share. I recommend you do this if you have some specific holy books – or any books – to preserve. It makes you think, appreciate what you have, who you are, and who you can trust. It’s a way to think of the future.

So here, as we face a lot of challenges, take a moment to save what matters to you spiritually. Leave something for those to come. Maybe it’ll help shape the future into a better way just like it shaped you.

-Xenofact

The Cross Disintegrates

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I’ve been wondering about how people will regard Christianity in America in the future. This is for obvious reasons (the religious right, hypocrisy) and the personal (I love to speculate). Truth be told, I don’t see it being anything good.

First, it’s really obvious that the Religious Right et al has made Christianity synonymous with “Bigoted, sexist, homophobic, reality-denying wealth-worshiping asshole who’s a total hypocrite.” Yes, plenty of American “Christians” violate their own religious tenets which is obvious as hell when you have even a passing understanding of the teachings of Jesus. They also do not care that they are hypocrites and have no spiritual curiosity, if they ever had any. Honestly it’s kind of a joke how Christianity has gotten branded.

Secondly, the media has run with this because the Religious Right is loud. They have money, they are publicity hounds, and they are of course politically active – and useful. The Religious Right has been happy to get involved in everyone else’s damn life, and of course the media amplifies that. Plus the American media loves to both-sides things even when people are ranting or opportunist.

Third, the Religious Right is and will be defined by horrible things. Climate denial. Cruelty towards immigrants (despite a lot of that being critiqued in the Bible). Racism. Selling out. People will be hurt by this, people will be hurt by them, and they seem to enjoy that.

Fourth, and sadly not addressed, I think that non-religious right Christianity hasn’t really fought back. Sure I see some truly good people, you can find all sorts of people doing good things. But I don’t see a fight for the soul of Christianity in America which you’d think would be really freaking necessary. There’s so many people being utter assholes in the name of Jesus, you’d think there’d be a willingness to battle.

But I just don’t see it. Some of it sure, but not enough that’s big, bold and in your face. Christians should be utterly pissed at the legacy of grifters like Robertson and Falweel and the like. They should be out there in people’s faces. Heck, maybe some kind of big public act of repentance and penance that would name names.

For whatever reason, the Religious Right has defined Christianity these days. I don’t see that going away, barring some kind of gigantic Great Awakening/Bonfire of the Vanities type activity. Which might happen, but I’m not holding my breath.

So the future of Christianity, in America, is that the Religious Right has pretty much won. They have the dominant description of Christianity. It’s a cruel, greedy, unstable, pile of hypocrisy glad to elect and worship any grifter that comes along. I don’t see it changing too.

What this means is that in future political and social changing, Christianity – even people who aren’t religious right – will be judged as if they are. People won’t be looking to be Christian if they’re not into the whole asshole paradigm That is if anyone is even looking for a specific religion.

I feel a strange . . . sadness to all of this? First, that there’s just so many assholes, of course. But I feel bad for the non-asshole Christians even if I’d wanted them to fight more. I supposed I’d have liked to see a transition to a broader spirituality, but it feels like part of it will be utter, life-ruining, life-endangering failure.

But I don’t see a future for American Christianity where “Christian” isn’t at least secondarily associated with “awful person.” Maybe there will be some kind of syncretic reformist movement, but that’s just maybe.

–Xenofact