There is no guarantee that one’s efforts are not in vain: There is a leap of faith between labor-power and surplus-value. Marxism sutures this gap by the process of valorization: Since work is useful, every worker deserves credit and compensation for the value (s)he produces.

Valorization occurs through “market prices” on the surface but there is another level: the symbolic economy of gratitude and acknowledgement. This is why exploitation –the original sin of the capitalist ruling class– has two aspects:

1) The technical fact of optimization is that the capitalist minimizes the cost and extracts the maximum surplus-value from the worker.

2) The more fundamental fact is that the capitalists are a bunch of ungrateful jerks and swindlers taking part in a perverse collusion.

These two sides of exploitation link surplus-value to surplus-enjoyment:

His overlooker and his manager try to hide their smiles. Meanwhile, after a hearty laugh, he re-assumes his usual mien. (…) Our capitalist foresaw this state of things, and that was the cause of his laughter. (Karl Marx, Capital Volume One)

This hearty laughter is for bringing lambs to the slaughter, as it were [1].

Accordingly, democratic and Marxist organizations make two kinds of demands:

1) The economic/reformist demands –mainly by trade unions & civil society– to put the brakes on the exploitative drive of the capitalist class.

2) The political/revolutionary demands –mainly by the political parties– to delegitimize and overthrow the ruling class of ungrateful jerks and swindlers.

The reformist stance –unlike the revolutionary stance– disavows (or sometimes attempts to repress) the link between surplus-value and surplus-enjoyment: “I know very well that the ruling class consists of a bunch of ungrateful jerks and swindlers, but still I only dare treat the problem as a technical issue of finding the optimal balance between different interests.” (je sais bien, mais quand même)

I deliberately emphasize ingratitude because that’s the aspect that was boosted by the media:

1) The age of television substituted acknowledgement of value with the recognition of “coolness”: Veiled expressions of ingratitude became the basis of neoliberalism.

2) The age of social media “upgraded” this state of affairs by bringing about an explosion of envy and producing masses of ungrateful jerks: Openly expressed ingratitude became the basis of neofeudalism.

This evolution eventually brought about the hyperego: Cynical subjects, unable to trust one another, unable to establish symbolic links, without principles, ready to sell out in the first opportunity [2].

There is certainly a need to rebuild “trust in the people” but this does not require us to settle for “the people” as they currently exist. As Bertolt Brecht once said, it’s sometimes more appropriate “to dissolve the people and elect another”. If we don’t want to live like lambs to the slaughter, we must find a way to make gratitude cool again and rebuild “trust in the people” on that basis [3].

(Turkish)

Işık Barış Fidaner is a computer scientist with a PhD from Boğaziçi University, İstanbul. Admin of Yersiz Şeyler, Editor of Žižekian Analysis, Curator of Görce Writings. Twitter: @BarisFidaner

Notes:

[1] During the still ongoing economic depression in Turkey, a weird dialogue took place on TV:

Finance Minister (enthusiastic): “I don’t want to give you numbers but it’s very good! Will you just look at my eyes? What do you see?”
Anchorwoman (puzzled): “Yes I see your joy but I would like to hear numbers, because economy is about numbers.”
Minister (sermonizing): “Economy is about wishes, trusting, stability, expectations. Economy is the spark in the eyes.”

The problem with this perspective was noted by people recently protesting against astronomic increases in bills and prices: “Perhaps the spark in your eyes is because you are stealing from us? You might also consider this perspective.”

[2] See “The Conning of Reason Brought About The Hyperego”

[3] See “Make Gratitude Cool Again”

Image source.