Humanistic Capitalism. Manipulation of Meanings

The features of the modern social system, which has several names (new capitalism, post-capitalism, humanistic capitalism) are examined. The tendencies of humanization and humanitarization of society, their consequences are discussed. The focus is on the question of how and for what reasons the axiological dominants of modern society change. Manipulation of meanings acts as a means of overcoming existential emptiness. Human life in the capitalist paradigm has led to the alienation of labor, which has as its consequence a feeling of meaningless existence. Capitalist stratification of society has created conditions for the total acquisition of benefits by a certain social stratum. The gap in the well-being of different groups of the population has caused a feeling of existential emptiness in both the higher and lower social strata. The limitless acquisition of benefits on the one hand, makes it meaningless for the owner, on the other hand, the activity of acquiring benefits by the exploited stratum is meaningless. This led to the desire of the elites to transform the system of their own consumption and create new meanings of life and work for the working class. The increasing humanization and humanitarization of modern society allowed it to acquire a new meaning – development, which as a value and goal of life for the average person has become a discovery of the modern theory and practice of manipulation. Development can, and now should continue indefinitely, it is difficult to evaluate it in terms of the results, since it is a process. If previously the average person had quite specific goals to achieve (a certain level of career/financial well-being, recognition, power, independence) now development is hard to estimate by the criterion of result since it is a process.