What's the main point of the article? Does the modern world have more fancy stuff that the world before? Yes, without any doubt.
I think the "capitalist" discourse revolves around the price society pays to get "stuff" related to the utility value of the "stuff".
So the question would rather look like:
- You live competitive capitalist style, but get iphones, uber and google.
- Or you have relaxed four-hour four-day workweek, with button phones, no uber and website catalogs serving under 5kb/s dial-up.
I'd choose the second option without a second thought. The utility of having fancier screen doesn't fit the loss from switching from chill lifestyle to the competitive "capitalistic" one. Even with 5kb/s internet you're able to achieve a lot of things. You still have access to online libraries and forums. Bicycle commute and public transport aren't so terrible (In Europe). You still can hear your loved ones using a button phone. And the most important you'll have a lot of time and energy to enjoy all this stuff.
- You live competitive capitalist style, but get iphones, uber and google.
- Or you have relaxed four-hour four-day workweek, with button phones, no uber and website catalogs serving under 5kb/s dial-up.
I'd choose the second option without a second thought. The utility of having fancier screen doesn't fit the loss from switching from chill lifestyle to the competitive "capitalistic" one. Even with 5kb/s internet you're able to achieve a lot of things. You still have access to online libraries and forums. Bicycle commute and public transport aren't so terrible (In Europe). You still can hear your loved ones using a button phone. And the most important you'll have a lot of time and energy to enjoy all this stuff.