Monopoly concentration, imperialism, and interventionism destroyed the premise that society forms a rational system

Evidence

The tendency towards concentration which has reduced to a sham the market mechanism of supply and demand; imperialist expansion, which has prolonged the life of the market economy by pushing it beyond the area in which its own laws operate; interventionism and the planned sectors of the economy, which have penetrated the area in which the laws of the market operateall of this, in spite of the total socialization [Vergesellschaftung] of society, has made the attempt to view society as a harmonious system more than questionable. The increasing irrationality of society itself, manifested by today’s threatened catastrophes and the obvious potential for society to destroy itself, is irreconcilable with rational theory. Theory can now hardly continue to take society at a word that society itself no longer speaks. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2390

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Vergesellschaftung (total socialization) as the condition where society becomes fully socialized yet remains irrational.
• XREF: Connects to Marx’s analysis of capital concentration and Lukács on reification. The claim that theory cannot ‘take society at a word it no longer speaks’ parallels Adorno’s negative dialectics. — connects to: Monopoly capitalism destroys the very notion of property while retaining its form; Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom evaded engagement with opponents and defined away monopoly — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin: The Making…, 794; Monopoly capitalism replaces liberal-legal institutions with irrational totalitarian authority — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination: A History…, 402 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Monopoly capitalism replaces liberal-legal institutions with irrational totalitarian authority #expands (0.85) — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 402
• Monopoly capitalism destroys the very notion of property while retaining its form #complicates (0.72)
• Friedman’s Capitalism and Freedom evaded engagement with opponents and defined away monopoly #complicates (0.72) — Philip Mirowski & Dieter Plehwe (eds.), The Road from Mont Pèlerin, 794