The mysterious netherworld in which commodities, having seduced investors and subjugated producers, compete to complete their subjection by reducing them to consumers. Capitalists are governed by their capital; the economy grants less security and freedom of movement to its human participants than to the objects they consider themselves to possess and control.

In the words of a former addict of heroin (the commodity par excellence),

“The junk merchant does not sell his product to the consumer, he sells the consumer to his product; he does not upgrade and refine his merchandise, he degrades and simplifies his client.”