There is a common saying on the left, usually attributed to the Marxist critic Fredric Jameson, that “it is easier to imagine the end of the world than it is to imagine the end of capitalism.” The late writer Mark Fisher once described this as “capitalist realism,” or the “widespread sense that not only is capitalism the only viable political and economic system, but also that it is now impossible even to imagine a coherent alternative to it.”



This sense has prevailed since the collapse of communism three decades ago, which led to a triumphalism throughout the capitalist world right up until the 2008 financial crisis and ensuing global recession, which triggered different anti-capitalist movements. But in the ten years since then, a true political and economic alternative has yet to materialize. Though many now believe that capitalism should end, this doesn’t make it any more likely—not even if Senator Bernie Sanders becomes president.

The Vermont senator made that clear with a speech on Wednesday whose very title proves the limits of his revolution: “How Democratic Socialism Is the Only Way to Defeat Oligarchy.” He did not denounce capitalism itself, but “unfettered capitalism” specifically, and even used “socialism” as a sort of epithet.

“Let us never forget the unbelievable hypocrisy of Wall Street, the high priests of unfettered capitalism,” he said. “In 2008, after their greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior created the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression—with millions of Americans losing their jobs, losing their homes, losing their life savings—Wall Street’s religious adherence to unfettered capitalism suddenly came to an end. Overnight, Wall Street became big government socialists and begged for the largest federal bailout in American history.”

Sanders’ hesitance to go any further may come as a disappointment to many on the far left today, but it’s not surprising given recent history. One of the first major signs of a socialist resurgence was the outbreak of Occupy Wall Street back in 2011. Though decentralized and leaderless, it was perhaps the biggest anti-capitalist movement since “the end of history” was declared 20 years earlier. While the movement spread globally and the “occupations” lasted for months, it didn’t produce any coherent vision of what was to replace capitalism. At the time, Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek commented that the Occupy movement recalled Herman Melville’s famous short story about the law clerk Bartleby: “The message of Occupy Wall Street is ‘I would prefer not to play the existing [capitalist] game.’... Beyond this they don’t have an answer.”