--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I think one of the problems with the…" description: "\"I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream is this: no matter what you create to respond or resist it they will buy it.\" — Eve Ensler" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg" --- # I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream… ![“I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream is this: no matter what you create to respond or resist it they will buy it.” quote by Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg) > “I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream is this: no matter what you create to respond or resist it they will buy it.” [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Capitalist systems co‑opt resistance; even dissenting creations become marketable, diluting impact. **In simple terms:** Resistance gets commodified. Key Takeaway Find non‑commercial avenues for change. Themes consumerism activism co‑optation Mood critical urgent Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - art activism - grassroots movements - alternative economies Key Concepts political economy cultural critique Questions to Reflect On - How can activism stay authentic? - What alternatives exist beyond profit? A Different Perspective Market forces are pervasive. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Capitalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) [Capitalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist/) [Capitalist Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalist-mainstream-2074376/) [Mainstream](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream/) [Mainstream Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mainstream-matter-2074378/) [Matter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/matter/) [No matter what](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/no-matter-what/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Problems Capitalist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problems-capitalist-2074375/) [Resist Buy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/resist-buy-2074377/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [ Now \[in China\] within the framework of socialism - which is really social welfare in a social democratic framework - all they want to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-magdoff/now-in-china-within-the-framework-of-socialism-which-is-really-social/) [Harry Magdoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-magdoff/) > [Between the combination of Judeo-Christian religious 'be good be good be good' and Capitalist 'something's wrong with you, buy this' and the parental upbringing,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/between-the-combination-of-judeo-christian-religious-be-good-be-good/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [The Enron scandal calls into question the integrity of the entire capitalist system, which previously we assumed was based on honest, straightforward greed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-achenbach/the-enron-scandal-calls-into-question-the-integrity-of-the-entire/) [Joel Achenbach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-achenbach/) > [When you come from a family of communists and you go through your teenage rebellion, what's the best way of rebelling from a family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-browder/when-you-come-from-a-family-of-communists-and-you-go-through-your/) [Bill Browder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-browder/) > [... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-mccaughey/what-we-should-be-looking-for-is-fresh-ideas-of-how-we-make-moral/) [Davis McCaughey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/davis-mccaughey/) > [Capitalism has created a situation called scarcity. And that scarcity is not natural, it's socially induced. Along with that sense of scarcity, or feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-bookchin/capitalism-has-created-a-situation-called-scarcity-and-that-scarcity/) [Murray Bookchin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-bookchin/) > [Will capitalist economies operate at full employment in the absence of routine intervention? Certainly not. Are deviations from full employment a social problem? Obviously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-yellen/will-capitalist-economies-operate-at-full-employment-in-the-absence/) [Janet Yellen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-yellen/) > [As someone from the working class I was always interested in Russia and China and everything that related to the working class, even though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lennon/as-someone-from-the-working-class-i-was-always-interested-in-russia/) [John Lennon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lennon/) > [For me, it is clear that we are currently in a period of structural crisis of capitalism going back to the 1970s, but deepening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bellamy-foster/for-me-it-is-clear-that-we-are-currently-in-a-period-of-structural/) [John Bellamy Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bellamy-foster/) > [“Capitalist cycle of profit. The rancher sells a cow for profit. The butcher sells cuts for profit. The restaurant sells meals for profit. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jarod-kintz/capitalist-cycle-of-profit-the-rancher-sells-a-cow-for-profit-the/) [Jarod Kintz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jarod-kintz/) > [When I was young, I worked for a capitalist twelve hours a day and I was always tired. Now I work for myself twenty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikita-khrushchev/when-i-was-young-i-worked-for-a-capitalist-twelve-hours-a-day-and-i/) [Nikita Khrushchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikita-khrushchev/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [Capitalists have done more good for society through their charitable giving, philanthropy and generosity than all their critics combined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-cook/capitalists-have-done-more-good-for-society-through-their-charitable/) [James Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-cook/) > [As the variable capital always stays in the hands of the capitalist in some form or other, it cannot be claimed in any way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-marx/as-the-variable-capital-always-stays-in-the-hands-of-the-capitalist/) [Karl Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-marx/) > [The popular mind often pictures gigantic flying machines speeding across the Atlantic carrying innumerable passengers in a way analogous to our modern steam ships.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-pickering/the-popular-mind-often-pictures-gigantic-flying-machines-speeding/) [William Henry Pickering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-pickering/) ## More by Eve Ensler > [I have been struggling to find my way back into my body my whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-have-been-struggling-to-find-my-way-back-into-my-body-my-whole-life/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [When I wrote 'The Good Body,' I turned 40 and suddenly had this stomach. It seemed like the end of the world. Because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/when-i-wrote-the-good-body-i-turned-40-and-suddenly-had-this-stomach/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/cherish-your-solitude-take-trains-by-yourself-to-places-you-have/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Why are women immobile? Because so many feel like they're waiting for someone to say, 'You're good, you're pretty, I give you permission'.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/why-are-women-immobile-because-so-many-feel-like-they-re-waiting-for/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Terence McKenna says, "The culture is not your friend." I am not sure we can change this culture. But I think we can rise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/terence-mckenna-says-the-culture-is-not-your-friend-i-am-not-sure-we/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [What neo-capitalism does so brilliantly is that it's always subdividing and dividing, so that people are never able to be joined in their numbers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/what-neo-capitalism-does-so-brilliantly-is-that-it-s-always/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [The verb that's been enforced on girls is to please. Girls are trained to please...I want us all to change the verb. I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/the-verb-that-s-been-enforced-on-girls-is-to-please-girls-are-trained/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [“De acordo com os congressistas, ouvir as experiências reais de mulheres vítimas de violência era diferente de ler as estatísticas de violência contra mulheres.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/de-acordo-com-os-congressistas-ouvir-as-experi-ncias-reais-de/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [The clitoris is pure in purpose. It is the only organ in the body designed purely for pleasure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/the-clitoris-is-pure-in-purpose-it-is-the-only-organ-in-the-body/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [stop fixing your bodies and start fixing the world!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/stop-fixing-your-bodies-and-start-fixing-the-world/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Anorexia was my attempt to have control over my body and manipulate my body and starve my body and shape my body. It was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/anorexia-was-my-attempt-to-have-control-over-my-body-and-manipulate/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [I believe in irony. And if V-Day has taught me anything, it's that if you go out with artistic, outrageous irony and humor, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-believe-in-irony-and-if-v-day-has-taught-me-anything-it-s-that-if/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [People didn't feel so much shame around it and that they didn't feel so much humiliation around it. And the other thing that people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/people-didn-t-feel-so-much-shame-around-it-and-that-they-didn-t-feel/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Cancer essentially lives in us and becomes activated at some point, and then cells begin to psychotically divide. Initially, the cancer cell looks like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/cancer-essentially-lives-in-us-and-becomes-activated-at-some-point/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [Today the United States has the highest prison population in the world, over 2.1 million people. ... We lock people up at a rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/today-the-united-states-has-the-highest-prison-population-in-the/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) [Explore all 241 Eve Ensler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) ## More Capitalism quotes > [Don't let's lose sight of what creates wealth. 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Republicans are a bit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/there-is-only-one-party-in-the-united-states-the-property-party-and/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [ Neither Italian fascism nor German national "socialism" have anything in common with such a \[Soviet socialistic\] society, primarily because private ownership of factories, plants,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/neither-italian-fascism-nor-german-national-socialism-have-anything/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [Corporations have nothing to do with values, and they know it, and sometimes say it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-kierans/corporations-have-nothing-to-do-with-values-and-they-know-it-and/) [Eric Kierans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-kierans/) > [Both fact and logic seem to me to support the view that savings invested in privately owned economic tools of production amount to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-a-harper/both-fact-and-logic-seem-to-me-to-support-the-view-that-savings/) [F. A. Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-a-harper/) > [The free market is ugly and stupid, like going to the mall; the unfree market is just as ugly and just as stupid, except…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-free-market-is-ugly-and-stupid-like-going-to-the-mall-the-unfree/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Capitalism, communism ... it's all garbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/capitalism-communism-it-s-all-garbage/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [There are no two countries with the same style of economic mechanism, with the same capitalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anatoly-chubais/there-are-no-two-countries-with-the-same-style-of-economic-mechanism/) [Anatoly Chubais](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anatoly-chubais/) > [It is more than a little ironic that "capital accumulation" once a rather tendentious Marxian view of a supposed capitalist obsession, should have become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kuttner/it-is-more-than-a-little-ironic-that-capital-accumulation-once-a/) [Robert Kuttner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kuttner/) > [Historically, usury was defined as any interest whatever on an unproductive loan.Our whole banking system I have ever abhorred, I continue to abhor, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/historically-usury-was-defined-as-any-interest-whatever-on-an/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [Socialism is humanity's second nature. All politicians do is turn human vice into votes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilana-mercer/socialism-is-humanity-s-second-nature-all-politicians-do-is-turn/) [Ilana Mercer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilana-mercer/) > [“Scholars have long debated whether capital markets lead to appropriate levels of saving and investment for future generations.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-weimer/scholars-have-long-debated-whether-capital-markets-lead-to/) [David L. Weimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-weimer/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) [Browse all 3,832 Capitalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capitalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream is this: no matter what you create to respond or resist it they will buy it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Eve Ensler" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-capitalist-mainstream-is-this-no/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Capitalism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-capitalist-mainstream-is-this-no/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/eve-ensler-1402_capitalism_i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-cap_2616742.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I think one of the problems with the capitalist mainstream is this: no matter what you create to respond or…” — Eve Ensler", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Eve Ensler", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I think one of the problems...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-capitalist-mainstream-is-this-no/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/i-think-one-of-the-problems-with-the-capitalist-mainstream-is-this-no/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```