TALK ABOUT THEnENSHITTIFICATION OF

@julie.says.things

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Why it worked

The video resonates because it taps into a widespread feeling of frustration and dissatisfaction with the current economic system, using relatable examples and a strong, critical perspective on capitalism's perceived negative impacts.

Summary

The speaker discusses the concept of "enshittification" in capitalism, where products and services progressively worsen while prices increase. They use examples from old appliances and modern streaming services to illustrate this trend. The speaker also shares a personal experience with healthcare billing, highlighting how even preventative care is becoming a source of unexpected charges. They argue that this exploitation is inherent to capitalism and that moving towards anti-capitalism is the only way to address the problem.

On-screen text

TALK ABOUT THEnENSHITTIFICATION OFnABSOLUTELY EVERYTHINGnAS A FEATUREnOF CAPITALISM.nWE ALL FEELnKNOW THAT PRODUCTSnAND SERVICES AREnGETTING WORSEnAND THEY'RE CHARGINGnAT THE SAME TIME.nLIMITED TO ANYnONE INDUSTRY.nEVER SEEN THOSE VIDEOS OF LIKE,nOLD APPLIANCES FROMnTHE 50S AND 60S?nREFRIGERATORS THAT HADnDIFFERENT SHELVING THATnCOULD HOLD MUCH WEIGHT.nLIKE A LAZYnSUSAN ROTATING SITUATIONnLIKE THE DRAWERS,nTHEY HAD BUTTER WARMING DRAWERS.nMANY FEATURES TOnTHESE APPLIANCES.nCARS, MACHINERY USEDnTO LAST LONGER.nPRODUCTS IN GENERALnWERE MADE TO LAST.n*although they were litterednwith lead and fiberglass etc etcnAND THAT PROBABLYnWASNT A GREATnTHE NAME OF CAPITALISM,nBECAUSE ONCE SOMEBODYnTHEY COULD JUSTnUSE IT ANDnTO KEEP COMING BACK.nSTREAMING SERVICES, THEYnCONTINUE TO INCREASEnTHEIR PRICES LIKEnONCE A QUARTER.nFEWER TVnON THERE.nAND THEN THEY,nTHEY CHANGE THEIRnTIER SYSTEM SOnTHIS TIER YOUnSTILL HAVE ADS,nFOR IT. THISnTIER YOU HAVEnFEWER ADS,nFOR IT. THISnIS THE BEST TIERnWHERE YOU DON'TnHAVE ANY ADS,nBUT YOU AREnPAYING OUT THE ASSnTO THE SUBSCRIPTIONnMODEL OF EVERYTHING.nEVERYTHING IS AnBECAUSE OF COURSEnIT WOULD HAVEnHOW CAPITALISM CANnCONTINUE TO EXTRACTnYOUR MONEY,nTIME AFTER TIMEnYOU'RE NEVER GONNAnA LOT OFnABOUT THISnTHE GOAL OFnCAPITALISM IS THATnYOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING.nOF THE PERSONAL PROPERTY.nYOU DON'T OWNnIT. THE THINGnTHAT PEOPLE SAYnSOCIALISM AND COMMUNISM IS,nTHAT CAPITALISM ACTUALLY IS,nBECAUSE THEY DON'TnWANT YOU OWNING ANYTHING,nCAN'T BE EXTRACTEDnREGULAR REGULAR BASIS.nHEALTHCARE. IT EXTENDSnTO HEALTHCARE AS WELL.nI HAD MYnPREVENTATIVE ANNUAL PHYSICAL. OKAY.nI'VE HAD MYnSAME JOB FORnALMOST SEVEN YEARS,nAND I HAVEnINSURANCE THAT InOF MONEY FOR.nDEDUCTIBLE PLAN.nLOT OF MONEYnIT IN GENERAL.nUM, I WENTnTO MY ANNUAL PHYSICAL,nAND THEY DOnBLOODWORK AS PARTnOF IT. RIGHT. OKAY.nDO A BREASTnEXAM AS PARTnOF IT. RIGHT.nI HAVE AnHISTORY OF BENIGN CYSTS.nUM, I'VE HADnTO GET, LIKE, ULTRASOUNDS,nBREAST ULTRASOUNDS, LIKE,nYEAR AFTER YEARnBECAUSE THEY KEEPnAND THEY CONTINUEnBENIGN CYSTS.nSO, UH,nMY DOCTOR WHOnWAS GONNA PERFORMnTHE BREAST EXAM,nSHE "FOUND" ANOTHERnCYST THAT InAND I WASnAND THAT THEY ALREADY KNEW I HADnBECAUSE THEY FOUND IT LAST TIMEnWELL, I.nTHIS IS MYnHISTORY OF IT.nREFERRED ME TOnGO GET ANOTHER ULTRASOUND.nTHEY CHARGED MEnFOR IT. THEYnCHARGE ME FOR THAT.nTHAT'S NEVER HAPPENEDnTO ME BEFOREnINSURANCE THAT I'VE HAD,nBUT BECAUSE MYnINSURANCE JUST DECIDED, UH,nTHEY SAY THATnIF YOUR DOCTORnFINDS ANYTHING ABNORMAL,nTHEN IT NOnPREVENTATIVE EXAM.nTO THE DOCTOR,nSIGN A LITTLE PAPERnSAYING THAT I'MnUP ANYTHING OUTnUNLESS I UNDERSTANDnTHAT I WOULDnBE CHARGED. OKAY.nBECAUSE THAT'SnEXAMS WORKnTHAT'S THE PLANnNOW.nIT'S WILD THATnIN THIS SHITHOLE COUNTRY,nOUR DOCTORS A QUESTION,nDURING A PREVENTATIVEnEXAM,nWOULD MEAN THATnWE WOULD BE BILLEDnAND THEN, UH,nMY BLOOD WORK,nWHICH THEY DOnAND THEN THEYnA FOLLOW UP CALLnWHERE YOU TALKnWORK AND YOUR LABS.nAND THEY DOnTHIS EVERY YEAR.nDONE THIS.nUM, IT WASnTHEY SAID, YOURnBLOOD WORK LOOKS GOOD.nAND THEN InSAID, THERE'S NOnFERRITIN ON HERE?nON HERE.nFOR THAT ANYMORE.nWE DON'T CHECKnFOR THAT ANYMORE.nI HAD LOWnIRON IN THE PAST,nJUST SOMETHING THATnKNOW ABOUT.nTHEY DON'T CHECKnI HAVE TOnPAY MORE IFnIRON CHECKED ASnPART OF MYnTHEN THEY BILLEDnTWO MINUTE CONVERSATIONnWE DIDN'T DISCUSSnANYTHING OF CONCERN.nAND MY INSURANCEnTHAT I WENTnWERE LIKE THEY,DID YOU DISCUSSnANYTHING CONCERNING?nNOPE.nTHEY TOLD MEnEVERYTHING LOOKED GOOD.nAND I WASnCHARGED FOR THAT CONVERSATION,nWHICH IS PARTnPHYSICAL THAT InHAVE DONE FOR YEARS.nOKAY, THAT WASnA TANGENT ONnBECAUSE I'M JUSTnREALLY ANGRY ABOUTnBUT ALL OFnIT IS THEnENSHITTIFICATION OFnEVERYTHINGnINDUSTRY LEFT UNSCATHED.nSTONE LEFT UNTURNED.nTHEY WILL ENSHITTInEVERYTHING TO EXTRACTnEVERYTHING FROM YOU.nLOOK AT THEnJOB MARKET.nI'M SO FORTUNATEnI'M SO FORTUNATEnA JOB RIGHT NOWnAND I HATEnMY JOB RIGHT NOW.nFOR OTHER JOBSnTHAT IS AnDO BECAUSE HOWnFUCKING DARE InIN 2026nJOB? PEOPLE WITHnMASTER'S DEGREES CAN'TnGET JOBS.nI DON'T THINKnI SAW AnJOB LISTING THEnOTHER DAY THATnWANTED CANDIDATES TOnA DAYnUNPAID TO SEEnBE A GOOD FIT.nYeah, we're justnEXTRACTING FREE LABORnIN HOPES,nON A WISH,nTHAT THEY CANnMAYBE BE EXPLOITEDnMORE UNDER CAPITALISM.nJUST TO GETnAND BE ABLEnTO HAVE ANYTHINGnTO LIVE ATnBUT HERE'S THEnNONE OF THISnIS RUNAWAY CAPITALISM.nIS CAPITALISM LEFT UNCHECKED.nTHIS IS ALLnINHERENT TO AnCAPITALIST SYSTEM.nTHIS IS INHERENTnI WANT TOnSEE MORE PEOPLEnNAMING CAPITALISM ASnTHE PROBLEM.nNOT JUST LIKEnBILLIONAIRES,nNOT JUST THEnTRUMP ADMINISTRATION.nALL OF ITnIS MADE POSSIBLEnBECAUSE OF CAPITALISM.nAND BECAUSE WEnCONTINUE WITH THIS SYSTEM,nTHE ENSHITTIFICATIONnWILL CONTINUE UNTILnTHERE IS ABSOLUTELYnNOTHING LEFT.nSO MOVING LEFTnIS THE ONLYnPATH FORWARD.nAND THAT MEANSnSTARTING WITH ANTI CAPITALISM.

Original caption

I love paying premium prices on crappy products and services, many of which I am forced to buy just to survive! Let’s all go analog and run away into the woods. #capitalism #unitedstates

More from @julie.says.things

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Transcript

We have to talk about the enshittification of absolutely everything as a feature of capitalism. We all feel it. We all know that products and services are getting worse, and they're charging more for them at the same time. And it's not limited to any one industry. Ever seen those videos of like, old appliances from the 50s and 60s? Refrigerators that had different shelving that could hold much weight. Like a lazy Susan rotating situation. Like the drawers, they had butter warming drawers. Many features to these appliances. Cars, machinery used to last longer. Products in general were made to last. Although they were littered with lead and fiberglass etc etc. And that probably wasn't a great business strategy in the name of capitalism, because once somebody had that product, they could just use it and didn't need to keep coming back. Streaming services, they continue to increase their prices like once a quarter, and they have fewer TV shows and movies on there. And then they, they change their tier system so this tier you still have ads, but you're paying for it. This tier you have fewer ads, but you're paying for it. This is the best tier where you don't have any ads, but you are paying out the ass to the subscription model of everything. Everything is a subscription because of course, it would have to be because that is how capitalism can continue to extract your money, time after time. You're never gonna own a lot of things. About this, the goal of capitalism is that you don't own anything. Of the personal property. You don't own it. The thing that people say socialism and communism is, that capitalism actually is, because they don't want you owning anything, can't be extracted on a regular basis. Healthcare. It extends to healthcare as well. I had my preventative annual physical. Okay. I've had my same job for almost seven years, and I have insurance that I pay a lot of money for. Deductible plan. Lot of money. It in general. Um, I went to my annual physical, and they do bloodwork as part of it. Right. Okay. Do a breast exam as part of it. Right. I have a history of benign cysts. Um, I've had to get, like, ultrasounds, breast ultrasounds, like, year after year because they keep and they continue benign cysts. So, uh, my doctor who was gonna perform the breast exam, she "found" another cyst that I and I was and that they already knew I had because they found it last time. Well, I. This is my history of it. Referred me to go get another ultrasound. They charged me for it. They charge me for that. That's never happened to me before. Insurance that I've had, but because my insurance just decided, uh, they say that if your doctor finds anything abnormal, then it no longer becomes a preventative exam. When I went to the doctor, I had to sign a little paper saying that I'm not going to bring up anything out of the ordinary unless I understand that I would be charged. Okay. Because that's how the preventative exams work. That's the plan now. It's wild that in this shithole country, we can't ask our doctors a question, during a preventative exam, because then it would mean that we would be billed. And then, uh, my blood work, which they do through the portal, and then they have you do a follow-up call where you talk through your blood work and your labs. And they do this every year. Done this. Um, it was they said, your blood work looks good. And then I said, there's no ferritin on here? Why isn't there ferritin on here? Oh, we don't check for that anymore. It's no longer included. We don't check for that anymore. I had low iron in the past, just something that I want to know about. They don't check. I have to pay more if iron checked as part of my, then they billed me for that two-minute conversation, in which I asked no other questions. We didn't discuss anything of concern. And my insurance that I went were like they, did you discuss anything concerning? Nope. They told me everything looked good. And I was charged for that conversation, which is part of the annual physical that I have done for years. Okay, that was a tangent on the healthcare piece because I'm just really angry about it. But all of it is the enshittification of everything. Not an industry left unscathed. Not a stone left unturned. They will enshittify everything to extract everything from you. Look at the job market. I'm so fortunate to still have a job right now. And I hate my job right now. I've been looking for other jobs. That is a silly thing to do because how fucking dare I in 2026 look for a job? People with master's degrees can't get jobs. I don't think want me. I saw a job listing the other day that wanted candidates to work for a day, unpaid to see be a good fit. Yeah, we're just extracting free labor in hopes, on a wish, that they can maybe be exploited more under capitalism, just to get and be able to have anything to live at. But here's the thing. None of this is runaway capitalism. None of this is capitalism left unchecked. This is all inherent to a capitalist system. This is inherent. I want to see more people naming capitalism as the problem. Not just like billionaires, not just the Trump administration. All of it is made possible because of capitalism. And because we continue with this system, the enshittification will continue until there is absolutely nothing left. So moving left is the only path forward. And that means starting with anti-capitalism.