Capitalism is a Monster
This book is a passionate critique of capitalism and its contradictions. Hannah vividly describes the exploitative nature of wage labour, the alienation embedded in capitalist production, and the grotesque inequality that results from a system driven by profit rather than human need. Capitalism, he argues, “suddenly confronts us as an alien force, something acting against our best interests, something beyond us.”
“Capitalism is that monster. We made it, but we cannot control it.”
His analysis cuts to the core of Marxist political economy: capitalism is not a neutral or rational system, it is a structure of domination that thrives on exploitation. While mainstream economic thought presents the market as an impartial force, Hannah exposes its brutal logic: “Billionaires control newspapers and TV, they buy up social media, constantly building ideological machines to control us.” His rejection of capitalist dogma is total, and his case for socialism is built on the understanding that the economy cannot be regulated into fairness, it must be reconstructed on a new foundation.
The Necessity of Socialist Planning
Hannah’s central argument is that a rationally planned economy is not just desirable but essential. He moves beyond the vague socialist refrain of ‘a planned economy and workers’ control’ to interrogate the mechanisms of planning itself. How do we transition from capitalism? How do we distribute resources fairly? What role should democratic participation play in economic decision-making? These are urgent questions that socialism must answer if it is to be a real alternative.
Hannah rejects the false dichotomy between planning and democracy, insisting that socialist planning must be participatory and democratic rather than bureaucratic. Planning, he argues, must be rooted in participatory decision-making, not imposed by a bureaucratic elite. “Socialist democratic planning is about using technology and the latest productive techniques in a responsible way to provide a good life for everyone without utterly ruining the climate.” This stands in stark contrast to both the authoritarianism of Stalinist command economies and the managerial tinkering of social democracy.
Unlike many contemporary left thinkers, Hannah refuses to place faith in incremental reform. He dismisses the Green New Deal as “modern-day ‘green capitalism’ that leaves the essential heart of capitalism intact” and critiques techno-utopians like Paul Mason and Aaron Bastani for assuming that socialism will emerge organically from capitalist technological development. His insistence that socialism must be actively fought for rather than expected to evolve out of automation is one of the book’s most refreshing aspects.
A Book for Marxists—But Maybe Not for Labour Centrists
This is a book that speaks directly to Marxists because it refuses to entertain the illusion that capitalism can be permanently tamed or reformed. Unlike those on the centre-right and centre-left of the Labour Party, who see the market as an imperfect but necessary mechanism for economic organisation, Hannah insists that capitalism is inherently exploitative and must be abolished, not merely regulated.
He does not call for a fairer distribution of wealth within a market economy but for a fundamental transformation of society: “We can build a world without the incomprehensible dictates of the market, without the cruel indifferences of the directors and managers, without the unbearable sense that everything is slipping away and we are powerless to stop it.” This perspective is exhilarating for those committed to revolutionary socialism, but confronting for those who still believe in incremental reform.
A Labour Party loyalist who views the state as a neutral arbiter, rather than an instrument of class rule, will struggle with Hannah’s insistence that real change requires rupture, not compromise. The book’s rejection of social-democratic half-measures will alienate those who believe capitalism can be tamed. But for a Marxist, that is precisely what makes it essential reading.
The Centrality of Growth and Crisis in Capitalism
The section on growth and crisis is among the most important because it directly addresses one of capitalism’s fundamental contradictions: its relentless drive for expansion and the inevitable crises that follow. From a Marxist perspective, the necessity of constant growth is not simply an unfortunate byproduct of capitalism, it is the system’s defining feature and its greatest weakness. As Marx wrote in Capital, capitalism “only thrives by constantly expanding”, but this expansion is “never smooth or uninterrupted, but is instead marked by cycles of boom and bust.” Hannah captures this dynamic powerfully, describing how capital’s need to accumulate “is so great, so desperate, that it will push through whatever barriers stand in its way, be they environmental, social, or even economic.”
Under capitalism, growth is not planned around human need but dictated by the demands of profit-making. As Hannah puts it, “The production of commodities is not for social use but for exchange, for sale on the market to make a profit.” This means that capitalism is structurally incapable of stability, growth leads to overproduction, which leads to crisis, which leads to the destruction of jobs, livelihoods, and even entire industries. The system operates with “no long-term plan, only an endless scramble for short-term profit.” The current climate crisis, the housing crisis, and repeated financial crashes all stem from this same basic contradiction, capitalist expansion is unsustainable, but the system cannot function without it.
Why This Must Be Central to Socialist Strategy
For socialists, recognising this contradiction is crucial. Many attempts at reform fail precisely because they do not challenge capitalism’s compulsion to grow. Social democracy, for instance, attempts to soften the worst effects of capitalist crisis through redistribution and regulation, but as Hannah points out, “Even the most progressive governments find themselves constrained by capital’s need to expand or die.” This is why reformist projects, no matter how well-intentioned, often collapse or are co-opted into managing capitalism rather than transcending it.
A planned socialist economy, by contrast, would break from the capitalist growth imperative by producing for use, not profit. Instead of being trapped in cycles of crisis, an economy driven by democratic planning could focus on sustainable development, ecological balance, and the meeting of social needs rather than endless accumulation. This is why Hannah insists that “breaking from capitalism is not just desirable—it is necessary for survival.” This relentless drive for growth does not just destabilise economies, it is also the root cause of ecological collapse.
Capitalism and Ecological Collapse
One of the book’s strongest aspects is its engagement with the ecological crisis. Hannah rightly identifies capitalism’s relentless drive for growth as the primary cause of climate breakdown, warning that “the paradox of the modern age is that the need to improve the lives of billions through raising their standards of living seems to conflict terminally with the need to keep production and economic activity within planetary limits.” The dominant class, he argues, attempts to “gaslight the public through greenwashing, a mass act of gaslighting and sinister manipulation to hide the truth.”
He also draws on the Marxist concept of the ‘metabolic rift’ the severing of the relationship between human society and nature under capitalism. “The relentless drive to create value as something that can be exchanged to generate surplus value has severed the metabolic unity of us with the planet.” This crisis, he argues, is not an external malfunction of capitalism, it is capitalism itself.
Importantly, and correctly, Hannah avoids the trap of eco-Malthusianism. He rejects reactionary calls for population reduction or ‘degrowth’ at the expense of the global working class. Instead, he insists that a socialist economy could both meet human needs and restore ecological balance. In an era where sections of the left are drifting towards anti-humanist environmental politics, this stance is a vital intervention.
”In an era where sections of the left are driftin g towards anti-humanist environmental politics, this stance is a vital intervention.”
Reading Alongside Malm and Bellamy Foster
Hannah is one of the most important Marxist authors writing in Britain today, and his work deserves to be read alongside international figures like Andreas Malm and John Bellamy Foster. While Hannah provides a rigorous analysis of socialist planning and class struggle, Malm offers a sharper focus on climate catastrophe and revolutionary strategy. In How to Blow Up a Pipeline, Malm argues that mass mobilisation alone is insufficient and that direct action against fossil capital is necessary.
John Bellamy Foster, meanwhile, provides the deep ecological and theoretical foundation that underpins the urgency of socialist planning. In works like Marx’s Ecology and The Ecological Rift, Foster revives and expands Marx’s concept of the metabolic rift, demonstrating how capitalism’s insatiable drive for accumulation is the fundamental cause of planetary breakdown. Where Hannah focuses on how to plan a post-capitalist economy, Bellamy Foster exposes why capitalism and ecological survival are structurally incompatible.
Together, their work represents a vital synthesis of revolutionary strategy, ecological Marxism, and post-capitalist planning. Where Malm focuses on the necessity of rupture, Bellamy Foster provides the theoretical depth, and Hannah offers the practical vision of what must replace capitalism. All three reject the fatalism of social-democratic gradualism and insist that rupture is not just desirable, it is necessary for survival. In an era where capitalism accelerates towards disaster, their work is essential reading for any socialist serious about what comes next.
A Vital Contribution to the Debate
Hannah’s Reclaiming the Future: A Beginner’s Guide to Planning the Economy is more than just an introduction to socialist planning, it is an urgent intervention in a world hurtling towards disaster. He makes it clear that capitalism’s crises are not temporary malfunctions but permanent, systemic failures. The choice before us is stark: “One road leads to runaway global warming… fascist governments… a world of slums, ingrained poverty and starvation.” The other road is socialism, but only if we have the political will to take it.
This book is not for those who believe capitalism can be nudged into decency. It is not for those who think a fairer market economy is possible. It is for those who understand that the market is not broken, it is functioning exactly as designed: to concentrate wealth, extract surplus, and deepen inequality. If we do not break from it, the crises of today will only deepen into the catastrophes of tomorrow.
Hannah offers not just critique, but vision. He challenges us to move beyond protest and resistance towards the serious work of planning a post-capitalist future. If capitalism has taught us anything, it is that chaos is inevitable when the economy is left to the whims of profit. Socialists cannot afford to remain on the defensive, reacting to crisis after crisis, we must take the offensive, demanding and designing a system based on democratic control, sustainability, and human need.
In an era where the dominant class is more than willing to sacrifice the planet to maintain its power, the necessity of economic planning is no longer a question of ideology—it is a question of survival. Reclaiming the Future is a book that every socialist should read, debate, and act upon. Because the question is no longer whether capitalism will collapse under its own contradictions. The question is whether we will be ready to build what comes next.
“The other road is socialism, but only if we have the political will to take it.”
Reclaiming the Future: A Beginner’s Guide to Planning the Economy by Simon Hannah can be purchased here.
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