Capitalism's crisis theories reveal more about leftist political failures than economic reality, as deterministic approaches miss the cultural dimensions of decay while simultaneously failing to deliver the promised revolutionary outcomes.

• Examining Aufheben's' "Decadence, the Theory of Decline or Decline of Theory" as a framework for understanding how leftists conceptualize capitalism's decay
• Crisis theories traditionally mark WWI as capitalism's turning point toward decline, though interpretations vary widely among Marxist traditions
• Neoliberalism is fundamentally misunderstood by leftists who equate it with laissez-faire policies rather than recognizing its public-private partnership model
• Conservative decadence theories correctly identify cultural symptoms but propose solutions that accelerate the problems they diagnose
• Contemporary manifestations of decadence include declining literacy, rising obesity, and political systems that increasingly cannot function according to their own principles
• The business cycle's reassertion after periods of apparent stability challenges deterministic theories of capitalism's inevitable collapse
• Multipolarity's emergence in global politics creates new instabilities but also potential openings for change

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Intro and Outro Music by Bitter Lake.
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