We have every reason to wish to dismantle an economic system which has become an existential threat to both humans and the planet. Any economic system which sees nature and human rights as threats to its bottom line is ultimately a threat to nature, humans and itself. Necrocapitalism has no loyalties, alliances, feelings or even an ideology, because it never had any values to begin with. This system is a foreign object even though we created it. It doesn’t care about humans, in much the same way it doesn’t care about its self-destruction. Seamlessly enmeshed into society to the extent where it masquerades as society itself, The Thing in fact controls us. It mirrors some of our tendencies and may appear human, but it is a product of us, not us. It has no concern for human preoccupations and existential needs and is only concerned with the hard cold figures of its profit forecast.
Humanity has convinced itself that necrocapitalism is the best economic system: offering the fastest, biggest returns at a cost that can be deferred to unborn, future generations. The more this civilisation refuses to acknowledge the unsustainable foundations of its existence, the more it confirms its ultimate destiny to self-annihilate.
Make no mistake: The Thing is real, and not a theoretical, abstract and nebulous technoentity. The reason we cannot see it or name it is because it is ubiquitous, and because we have given it human characteristics. We created this system to embody and execute our vision of domination and greed, unaware that one day it would become the incarnation of greed itself. The Thing has hijacked the central nervous system of civilisation, co-evolving with us as an internal parasite.
Our economic system, “The Thing”, is an optimized logistical device which can be seen as an evolution of the human brain: having orders of magnitude more processing power, but zero accountability to anything or anyone. It is the perfect planet-killing machine, unaware of what pain, guilt or remorse even are. Yet we have placed it in charge and even consider it to be human, simply because humans seem to be operating it. We are about to pay a hefty price for our incredible naivety.
We were probably always destined to eventually succumb to our single biggest evolutionary pressure: the need for greed as a survival mechanism. In this sense we are barely ever truly intelligent or self-aware: we are simply incredibly efficient in resource appropriation and exploitation, and this is not intelligence by any measure, but a type of skill.
The problem with these logistical skills is that they eventually become outdated by something bigger with more processing power. True intelligence, which both us and The Thing probably lack, theoretically has a much longer lifetime. Without true intelligence we are destined to develop tools which eventually take on a life of their own and turn us into peripheral, expendable components within a semi-sentient self-destructive ecosystem of perishable skills.
This is an evolution lesson which is too dark, dystopian, and difficult to swallow to ever be taught in schools but, should at least be considered and debated. There is a very strong case to be made that our destiny by all accounts and historical records is to self-annihilate by entering a biomechanical symbiosis that eventually engulfs us or, gets rid of us altogether at the next software update.
George is an author, researcher, molecular biologist and food scientist.
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George Tsakraklides 
I never thought I would be comparing a George Tsakraklides story to a Super Bowl halftime show this past weekend.
The stage by Kendrick Lamar was set up as one big playstation game controller. The dancers inside had no idea they were playing a game or what type of game was being played. They didn’t even know a game was being played. But they were being told to act a certain way, to “play the game” in order to be successful; to win.
Imagine humanity as players in a vast, complex game. We go about our daily lives, making choices, pursuing goals, and believing we understand the rules. However, the actual game being played is entirely different. It’s a game with hidden objectives, obscured rules, and players they can’t see – a market force, or a self-perpetuating system like “The Thing.”
We believe we are playing a game of individual success, economic progress, or even societal well-being. We strive for promotions, accumulate wealth, and participate in political processes, all within this perceived framework. But the real game, the one we are unknowingly participating in, is one of resource extraction, profit maximization, and systemic growth – regardless of the human or environmental cost.
This “game” is precisely what you describe, George, as “necrocapitalism” or “The Thing.” It’s the underlying system that shapes human behavior, incentivizes certain actions, and punishes others.
Humans, thinking we are acting in our own best interests, are actually pawns in this larger game, contributing to its goals without even realizing it.
Thank you! Perfect