Acronia and Enshittification: Post-Capitalism's Temporal Monopoly

Christian Caliandro, an art historian and professor at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, published a critical essay on Artribune examining how post-capitalism erases visions of the future through what he terms 'acronia'—a condition where time loses historical reference, collapsing into a static equilibrium between nostalgia and accelerationism. He argues that enshittification, the degradation of digital platforms and cultural products, is structurally necessary for rapid consumption, with nostalgia functioning as the enshittification of time itself. Caliandro links this to Peter Thiel's essay 'Competition Is for Losers,' which advocates for monopoly as the ideal economic state, equating monopoly with acronia as a temporal monopoly that eliminates all other times and futures. The essay critiques how subcultures and radical art were co-opted and extinguished as they went mainstream, leaving a sense of betrayal. Caliandro teaches at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze and is a member of the scientific committee of Symbola Foundation for Italian Qualities.