Pay to Play

As extensions of a Kapitalistic institution, existence is pre-emptively conditioned by mechanisms that subtly coax one's desire to an attachment of an ideology that which an institution deems valuable, and in the Kapitalistic sense, they remain pecuniary. Thus, it seems that desires becomes polished so to associate a given appetite for "culture" and/or "refined tastes" with the pecuniary.

On a side note, consumption of non-consumption may also be associated with the "culture," or "anti-culture." In other words, it's cool or fashionable to not have that which everyone else has (e.g. a knock off pair of designer whatever in place of the genuine, or the lesser known brand). Hipsterism thrives on this type of "anti-consumption." 

Thus, desires do not only seem coaxed into the pecuniary, but also into the idea of "not having," or, rather, the idea that one possess' the luxury and class to not consume, which can be expressed through pirated or parodied goods and materials.

However we choose to expend our energy or agency, or our “quality time,” (to whatever degree we are indeed able to genuinely choose) is but a fabrication; by this I take after the Latin root fabrica, which means, from a quick google search,“something skillfully produced.” This skillful production relates back to the mechanism mentioned above (advertisement, education, desensitization, etc.) and it does not remain solely of materiality, but extends into the consciousness, and these two realms are not mutually exclusive, but rather dependent on each other. 

For example, the idea to purchase a trip to a foreign country registers as a “choice” one makes in order to experience a memory of forgetfulness but also a material experience of escape. One travels, and to some extent remains a tourist indulging in exotic/foreign culture, food, clothes, experience, while ideally entering a space of pleasure. The desire for such a trip can be seen as a by-product to escape the Kapitalistic institution itself while ironically feeding into the institution itself. From a privilege of leisure (a by-product afforded by the pecuniary) comes the ability to seek pleasure.

Dependng on the degree of knee deep­-ness in the shit, i.e. in the ideology, one is in, “individuals” register as cartoonish reflections of reality. One's consumption and “choice” reflects but a fabrication.

"your choice" is illusory and very real joke. 

The manufactured choices which one takes as defining one's self render themselves as ridiculous reflections. The million dollar watch worn by the leisured individual at the coffee bistro screams of pleasurable existence; this individual has the time to waste and he/she flashes this in the face of others whom in turn consume through observation the expenditure of pleasure and luxury in another. As much as we may try to not covet thy neighbor's wife (or property, and in some cases these terms seem synonyms), the distinction inevitable encroaches.

Thereby, and by and by, we purchase items in order to acquire the experience, and thereby acquiesce into the ideology of Symbol as Status (in the Thorstein Vebleneian sense) that which yield a particular experience. A product, and in some cases the lack of a product, facilitates an experience, and thus we want the experience and not necessarily the product. The product can validate. The product can superficially fill the void. And at the end of the day, the consumption only seems to widen the gap to attaining any sense of attachment to a world stripped bare of consumerism. What else would people do without their TV shows, weekend trips, and chit-chats of taste?

Once awareness comes (perhaps through education or some mid-altering substance, and indeed education can be such a substance) of such carefully generated mechanisms, reality seems bizarre, i.e. cartoonish reflections. Perhaps the key remains in co-opting the iconography and symbols that communicate Das Kapital.

In Re-structurization.
In Hyper-kapitali$m.

The next step for the Kapital machinery is the profit of experience. Purchase not the trip, but the experience! Take the pill or implant the memory, and voila! You just squeezed 2 weeks into one day and saved 20% on car insurance while you were at it.

Why go through the little things? Why deal with the headache of a receptionist? The navigating of local bus routes? the danger of encountering locals? The possibility of loosing reception, or your GPS, and feeling lost?

References:

Zizek!
Thorstein Veblen
Marx
Mi Vida Loca