The Algorithmic Cargo Cult: Baudrillard, Desire, and the Signs of Happiness
Lego Airplane: Waiting for Happiness to Land . AI image Thesis This article argues that Jean Baudrillard believed classical Marxism no longer adequately described late capitalist society because capitalism had shifted from the organization of production to the organization of consumption, signs, and desire. Using the anthropological metaphor of the cargo cult ( le culte du cargo ) , Baudrillard shows how modern consumers surround themselves with signs of happiness while endlessly waiting for fulfillment that never fully arrives. In the digital era, this logic intensifies through algorithmic systems, social media, and the continuous circulation of symbolic lifestyles. Introduction Karl Marx understood capitalism primarily through production. Factories, labour, machinery, exploitation, and commodities formed the conceptual center of his critique. Alienation emerged because workers became separated from the products they created, from the labour process itself, and ultimate...