Capitalism must ultimately produce a world of narcissists and then destroy it

It is becoming clear to many that capitalism is nearing its end. Tying the human symptoms together is Anselm Jappe, whose Self-Devouring Society is a remarkable, wide-ranging effort. And it is as deep as it is wide. Underlying it all is the premise that capitalism must continually grow, ceaselessly producing more, eliminating labor as it goes, until there is nothing left. It is not merely self-devouring economically, but will take down society as well. Because its residue is narcissists, like we have never seen them before. So far, Jappe is right on track, as narcissists are suddenly everywhere.

The book is a translation from the original French, published in 2017. It consists of four chapters. The first deals with philosophers, the second, psychoanalysts, the third with the rise and entrenchment of capitalism (and worst of all, neoliberalism), and the fourth with its unintended consequences, such as constant massacres by ordinary people, depression, alienation and doomscrolling. These are the legacies of capitalism as seen from 2017.

The first chapter was easily the least valuable and the least readable. In the 18th and 19th centuries, philosophers did not do much work with capitalism, because until Karl Marx, it was not thoroughly defined or even conceivable. Yes there were political…