Herein lies then the crucial feature: the psychotic subject's distrust of the big Other, his idée fixe that the big Other (embodied in the intersubjective community) is trying to deceive him, is always and necessarily supported by an unshakable belief in a consistent Other, an Other without gaps, an "Other of the Other" ("they" in Heinlein's story). When the paranoid subject clings to his distrust of the Other of the symbolic community, of "common opinion," he implies thereby the existence of an "Other of this Other," of a nondeceived agent who holds the reins. The paranoiac's mistake does not consist in his radical disbelief, in his conviction that there is a universal deception—here he is quite right, the symbolic order is ultimately the order of a fundamental deception—but rather, in his belief in a hidden agent who manipulates this deception, who tries to dupe him into accepting that "The Woman does not exist," for example.1
Capitalism is a paranoiac mode of production. Pre-capitalist economies functioned with personal domination (slave-master; serf-lord), but capitalism operates entirely impersonally. The leader-person is replaced by commodity fetishism and relations of power transition from transcendence to immanence. There is no Sovereign that exists over and above capital. Everyone is subordinated to the movements of capital.
There are obviously still leader-persons: presidents, prime ministers, dictators. None of these figures control the capitalist world system, however, and all of them are limited in their power. It is capital, an omnipotent, diffuse logic, that runs the show. The paranoiac is not satisfied with this answer, though. In a world where even CEOs and capitalists are enslaved by the economic system and unable to stand outside it, it becomes impossible to recognize where the genesis of domination lies. The paranoid subject cannot comprehend the working of impersonal domination so they transform it into a person or a collection of persons.
This hidden authority, this secretive cabal, is pitted as the basis of the paranoiac’s dissatisfaction with the capitalist system. Lack is coded into capitalism: one can never be satisfied with their interactions on the market. One has a desire and one buys the object of desire to satiate themselves, but it doesn’t, and they find themselves desiring yet another object. Here we find a contradictory problematic: we have both a persistent lack and a drive to overcome this lack—the result is a constant failure to enjoy. The capitalist subject simply cannot enjoy the lack due to the socialization of capital. As such, because they cannot enjoy how they are “supposed” to enjoy, a very personal scapegoat for these very impersonal mechanisms materializes.
Short, clear and concise!
I'm honored that you would quote me! Referring the substack/alias would be just fine. What's your project?
Writing something about the figure of the Other in the context of a public art space program.
That sounds amazing. I'd love to see it when you're done, even if it is in German! (I can use DeepL translation). I hope it goes well.
It’s gonna take a while. I can only write stuff when I am not busy with family or work. But this short text of yours really motivated me.
I'm so glad. You've justified my entire substack.
It’s a bunch of good reads!
Were I to quote/use/translate part of this into German for a thing I’m working on, do I refer to this Substack/alias or is there a proper name?