by George Dorgan
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The economic philosophy behind Tyler Durden in the 1999 movie Fight Club:
based on Chuck Palaniuk’s experience in the Cacophony society, a real Fight Club
- minimalism and Buddhism
- fight against the establishment, against the things that you own and that own you
- first go down to the bottom, then follow your vision
- destroy our panem et circuses system (bread and circuses) that obliges many to work and – at the same time – to consume
- set the debt counter to zero because debt got caused by consumerism and media manipulation
Some economic ideas following Zerohedge (less violent than above):
- In the US and even in the Germany most people own nothing, they live on panem et circuses
- GDP growth is a nonsense concept because it relies on 80% consumption (via Bawerk)
- become an adult consumer:
do not go into debt !
don’t follow the suggestions by mass media !
save of half of your income, increase your savings rate to 50% like the Chinese do! - take Switzerland: people work hard, to buy every 5 years new condo furniture, each time more expensive than the last time
- take India: economic growth comes from buying durable goods that are not really durables and from throwing away and buying them anew
- take the U.S.: economic growth comes from masses of black uneducated people that consume what they see on T.V.
- the asset price bubble is just the start, finally people will find out that assets like condos have a far lower intrinsic value (principle of Austrian Economics)
- be prepared for the day when consumers become adults
- competition will drive down prices, deflation but also higher productivity will reign
- Sooner or later China will own the world, because they are not that consumerist
- At that moment the dollar will collapse and
- with the dollar it all central banks because they own too many of them.
Quotes
thanks to
On Consumerism and Freedom of Material Possessions
Quote 1. Man, I see in fight club the strongest and smartest men who’ve ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don’t need. We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war—our Great Depression is our lives. We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.
Quote 2. The things you own end up owning you.
Quote 3. Reject the basic assumptions of civilization, especially the importance of material possessions.
Quote 4. What do you want? Wanna go back to the shit job, fucking condo world, watching sitcoms? Fuck you, I won’t do it.
Quote 5. We’re consumers. We are the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, crime, poverty, these things don’t concern me. What concerns me are celebrity magazines, television with 500 channels, some guy’s name on my underwear. Rogaine, Viagra, Olestra…Fuck Martha Stewart. Martha’s polishing the brass on the Titanic. It’s all going down, man. So fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns.
Quote 6. Do you know what a duvet is? It’s a blanket. Just a blanket. Now why do guys like you and me know what a duvet is? Is this essential to our survival, in the hunter-gatherer sense of the word? No. What are we then? We are consumers. We’re the byproducts of a lifestyle obsession
7. Talking about consumerism: We are all part of the same compost heap.
A metaphor for modern consumer-driven life:
8. How embarrassing: a house full of condiments and no food.
9. Fuck off with your sofa units and strine green stripe patterns. I say never be complete, I say stop being perfect, I say let’s evolve, let the chips fall where they may.
About hitting the bottom
Quote 10. It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.
Quote 11. Hitting bottom isn’t a weekend retreat. It’s not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!
Quote 12. Only after disaster can we be resurrected.
After Tyler threatened Raymond Hessel with a pistol but finally Raymond survived:
Quote 13. Tomorrow will be the most beautiful day of Raymond K. Hessel’s life. His breakfast will taste better than any meal you and I have ever tasted.
Quote 14. Fuck what you know. You need to forget about what you know, that’s your problem. Forget about what you think you know about life, about friendship, and especially about you and me.
About starting the fight
15. Time to stand up for what you believe in.
16. Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
17. If you are reading this then this warning is for you. Every word you read of this useless fine print is another second off your life.
Don’t you have other things to do? Is your life so empty that you honestly can’t think of a better way to spend these moments?
Or are you so impressed with authority that you give respect and credence to all that claim it?
Do you read everything you’re supposed to read? Do you think every thing you’re supposed to think? Buy what you’re told to want?
Get out of your apartment. Meet a member of the opposite sex. Stop the excessive shopping and masturbation. Quit your job. Start a fight. Prove you’re alive. If you don’t claim your humanity you will become a statistic. You have been warned.
His Tyler Durden illusion shall be the spiritual leader:
17. Talking to himself about himself: Hey, you created me…take some responsibility!
18. The liberator who destroyed my property has realigned my perceptions.
Tyler might be upset, but our readers are members of the club.
but our readers are member
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