Late-Stage Capitalism has a certain dreadful ring to it, don’t you think? The term was coined in 1923 by the German economist Werner Sombart, but the term is still very much in play.

The latest treatise on Late-Stage Capitalism was written by The New York Times journalist David Gelles in his bestselling book “The Man Who Broke Capitalism” about how Jack Welsh, the  infamous  CEO of General Electric, led the way into the darkest depths of late-stage capitalism.

What Gelles means by the term Late-Stage Capitalism is how corporations have systematically ignored the worker, the consumer and the government in their almighty quest for profit, profit and more profit for their shareholders and themselves.

And try as we might, one cannot escape the vortex of this neo-capitalist world view. The growing disparity between the super rich CEO class and the rest of us has produced a two- class society.  First we have the SR’s, or the Super Rich, and then we have the TROU’s,  or  The Rest Of Us.   There is some  comfort in being a part of this vast, oversized, lower-middle, kind of upper-class group.  We are all in the same boat  so anyone you run into is a part of your class. In time we will all become good friends.

I had a chance to see the Super Rich while I was in Zurich last week. They all get driven around in chauffeured Rolls Royce’s and most of the women driving Aston Martins are very tall and very blonde.   I’m glad I was reading “The Magic Mountain” at the time because there was a life-saving or perhaps I should say face-saving passage in the book which explained how one can find true freedom and joy when you arrive at the conclusion that you are hopelessly less than others. You can use the shame of defeat to feel free because at that point you have nothing left to lose. I think Janis Joplin used that line in one of her songs.

Post-modernists like Frederic Jameson and Jean Baudrillard refer to Late-Stage Capitalism as the end of history, but I don’t think we need be that pessimistic. After all, we still have plenty to eat and TV still remains a charming thing to watch.

Yes, you might argue that everyone seems to hate each other, people drive in an insanely hostile manner and it’s virtually impossible to connect with a human being should you have a problem that requires you to call someone. Today as I drove home after a pleasant round of golf  I witnessed a good example  of road rage and human hatred as one driver shouted at another “Okay a——e, pull over and let’s have it out.”   Charmed I’m sure. Apparently they have not realized that they are brothers in shame and have no reason to fight each other.

As we speak, there are multiples of gifted economists at Princeton, Yale and Harvard busily at work trying to  figure out what comes after Late-Stage Capitalism. How do we rein in corporate America, which is armed with Madison Avenue manipulators, credit card scams and Artificial Intelligence strategies. Just ask all those Hollywood writers how they feel about AI.

Late-Stage Capitalism means  that corporate America has taken the humanity out of the work force.   This is one reason that there is now a labor shortage and a refusal to return to the pre-COVID  work ethos.  I got a good taste of that the other day when I ordered a new pair of glasses. It usually would take them about 3 to 4 days to have them made. This time it took five weeks. They told me it was because it took time to get the anti-glare treatment, but it sounds like a labor shortage to me.   Perhaps the guys who made these glasses in the past got sick of being underpaid, making minimum wage, fearing the next layoff and said, “See ya later.”

There will be no easy fix for this mess we find ourselves in. Neo-capitalism has produced rage and a sense of helplessness  expressed in almost weekly mass shootings. The mass anxiety that is felt is dealt with through Xanax, Zoloft, alcohol use or marijuana intake. General practitioners and psychologists like myself are all over-booked and flooded with stressed-out patients complaining of headaches, stomach problems, anxiety, depression, obesity issues and more.

Humanity has been diminished as profit margins have grown. Corporations are now all- powerful and though we saw a post-pandemic  increase in wages and decrease in unemployment, I don’t think the nightmare is over.

Elon Musk and Artificial Intelligence  are a very scary duo. So Late-Stage Capitalism, formerly known as The Rat Race, speeds ever onward led by CEOs made in the image of Jack Welsh, who long ago decided “Greed is Good.”  Someone should have them all read “The Divine Comedy” and study the 4^th Circle of Hell, which is filled with greedy people hoarding their money.