OnlyFans and Capitalism
A problem that arises in any capitalist system is lack of clarity as to what is valuable.
A problem that arises in any capitalist system is lack of clarity as to what is valuable. Mis-valuing goods and services out of ignorance is expressed on a societal scale as financial bubbles, where investments are put into empty facades, or literal illusions and temptations (Theranos, Dot Com, etc). But hey, who is anyone to say what is valuable and what isn’t?
Every few months or so, OnlyFans will report a bunch of growth and earnings and people will use it as proof for the decline of western civilization. You might say OnlyFans does not deserve this much attention. $6.6B is really only .03% of total 2023 household expenditure, so who cares? But it’s a symbol of a larger issue! Maybe not of the decline of the west and the necessity of a return to orthodoxy, but of a lack of inner clarity of what is valuable that spreads throughout the the economy.
In today’s world, it is not so far fetched to imagine a man living with his parents, who is para-socially obsessed with an OnlyFans model, but does not appreciate his mom cooking all his meals.
The die-hard economics worshipper with no moral intuitions1, who believes only in the absolute good of economically efficiency, might say the OnlyFans model is able to meet a need of OnlyFans man that his mother is not able to meet. And so this is rational and economically productive behavior. But of course, what is rational is not always what is good. If one reasons “rationally”, but from false premises that come from a misunderstanding of one’s self and the environment, is it really a sound decision?
For example: "I like scrolling through this OnlyFans page and do not see much harm in it. Therefore, I will pay for it."
This is rational, sure, but such a person surely has a shallow understanding of why he likes what he likes. And on further investigation, will surely see that there is a deeper, and, dare I say, more important, part of him, that is actually repeatedly harmed by this transaction, as the habit of avoiding reality through the illusion of romantic or sexual companionship is being cemented deeper and deeper into his psyche.
…or am I being too moralistic? Can we really separate drives into lower and higher, or decisions into good and bad?
What if we said good actions arise from higher clarity of the situation at hand, and bad actions arise from ignorance? Isn't that kind of fair? I mean, we don't have to judge people, or tell OnlyFans man that if he looks at OnlyFans one more time we'll throw him in prison. But actions arising from ignorance just seem... not as good.
So, then, have any of you ever subscribed to an OnlyFans page in a moment of insight and clarity? Have any of you ever had an experience where the world looked vivid, your head felt clear, and everything about life seemed ok, and in this blessed state, you received this divine guidance: "You must tip Bhad Bhabie $20 for VIP access to her unreleased nudes"?
I’m asking sincerely. I'm open to anything at this point. Maybe you have some daemon by your side whose muse is Bhad Bhabie, and demands a certain amount of content each week in order to maintain creative inspiration.
He doesn’t regret it. Maybe OnlyFans is good. Maybe the OnlyFans executive team is spreading genuine joy to men in need. Maybe they are actually undervalued, both morally and economically, for their benevolent healing services.
“Moral intuitions” is a technical term of Rudolf Steiner’s, referring to intuitions about morality that come from higher worlds. I think that, for him, morality is not a human construction, but moral truths have an independent existence that humans can tap into through the faculty of moral intuition.