Left-wing accelerationism

Left-wing accelerationism is a philosophy that aims to achieve Sustainable Growth by pursuing Singularity before the collapse of the current system. It is based on the assumption that the current system is on the verge of collapse and proposes to go beyond it through acceleration.

After reading Capitalism in the Anthropocene, my understanding of Accelerationism (specifically, left-wing accelerationism) deepened. I may have had some misconceptions before, but I believe my understanding can be seen through my tweets about accelerationism.

In Capitalism in the Anthropocene (Chapter 5: Escaping into Accelerationism), it is introduced that this book has a consistent argument that humanity cannot survive under the current capitalist system. One of the ideologies that opposes it is accelerationism. However, the book remains critical of accelerationism.

There is a movement called "left-wing accelerationism" that seeks to achieve Communism by accelerating economic growth. It argues that in communism, which lies beyond the technological innovation of capitalism, completely sustainable economic growth becomes possible.

For example, how do we deal with the need for vast amounts of land to raise cattle? The answer could be to replace it with lab-grown meat produced in factories. And what about diseases that afflict people? They can be solved through genetic engineering.

However, accelerationism is not about redistributing surplus to expand reproduction, as some may think. It is more about aiming for Singularity before the collapse of the world, ignoring the ideas of tkgshn.

On the other hand, there is a movement called "eco-modernism" that advocates for managing and operating the Earth using technologies such as nuclear power and NET (refer to Chapter 2: The Limits of Climate Keynesianism). It aims to manage nature for the survival of humanity rather than coexist with it. This is promoted by the Breakthrough Institute. Capitalism in the Anthropocene is critical of this approach, arguing that it is based on capitalist super growth and aims to eliminate disparities later.

French philosopher Bruno Latour expresses this as "Love Your Monsters" and defends eco-modernism, stating that we cannot abandon the "monsters" of technology created by humanity. It has a Evangelion vibe to it, like "the things created by humans...!"

Accelerationism has repeatedly criticized the left after the collapse of the Cold War System. It targeted movements such as organic farming, slow food, local production and consumption, and vegetarianism as part of the Environmental Conservation Movement. According to accelerationism, these movements are inevitably limited to local small-scale resistance and are therefore powerless against global capitalism.

Nick Surunichek and Alex Williams, who also take an accelerationist stance, call this kind of local resistance "folk politics." According to them, Degrowth can also be seen as a typical example of "folk politics."