Love requires attention, affection, and reciprocal flow — a natural cycle of giving and receiving. Capitalism can easily commodify the first two, but the third resists the market. That’s precisely why our economic system is so determined to destroy it.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2025 issue of the German edition of Jacobin.

Each time I relocate to Germany, I buy a mug. This usually entails a trip to the nearest TK Maxx, where I purchase a €4, extra-large vessel for my herbal tea. The dainty European mugs found in my prefurnished lodgings just can’t hold the quantities I need. My criteria are simple: it must be large and sturdy. I don’t care what it looks like or who manufactured it. In Marxist terms, I’m concerned only with its use value.

If, however, I wished to seem fanc

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