On Historical Farces

The Cycles of Culture, Politics, Finance, and Technology

There is no present or future - only the past, happening over and over again. - Eugene O’Neill

Karl Marx famously declared that history repeats itself, “first as tragedy, then as farce.” In this simple but profound statement lies a lens through which we can understand the seemingly chaotic world around us. The once-serious movements and innovations that shaped society are increasingly transformed into absurd imitations—cycles of repetition where grand visions dissolve into hollow parodies. From culture to politics to finance and technology, the forces shaping our lives today seem less like the noble struggles of the past and more like farcical replays of old patterns.

This essay explores how the farcical nature of history has manifested in these domains, drawing on the ideas of great thinkers like Hegel, Nietzsche, Vico, Spengler, Ortega y Gasset, Camus, Baudrillard, and Marx. We will also examine how this repetition is not confined to the past but continues into the future, with the rise of new technological forces such as AI, cryptocurrency, and space exploration. By recognizing the patterns of farce, we can not only critique our present world but also find ways to capitalize on the emerging trends that will shape the future.

The Tragic Cycles of History

Hegel believed that history was a dialectical process, a progression of human consciousness towards freedom and rationality. In his view, each stage of history contained the seeds of its own transformation, leading to the next stage in a grand unfolding of human spirit. Yet, as this process plays out, the ideals that once motivated human struggle become diluted. What began as a tragedy—an earnest, often painful fight for progress—degenerates into a farce as subsequent generations reenact the same conflicts without understanding their deeper meaning.

Nietzsche’s concept of eternal recurrence adds to this sense of futility. If everything we do is destined to be repeated infinitely, then our actions seem drained of significance. Instead of embracing this eternal return heroically, we often find ourselves caught in absurd repetitions, reenacting old patterns as if trapped in a cosmic joke. Vico, with his theory of corsi e ricorsi, similarly viewed history as cyclical. Civilizations rise, decline, and fall, only to repeat the process. What is tragic in one cycle becomes farcical in the next, as societies repeat the same mistakes with less awareness of the forces at play.

Absurd Theatre

Oswald Spengler, in The Decline of the West, likened civilizations to living organisms that grow, mature, and decay. In the early stages, civilizations are vibrant, full of life and purpose, but as they enter their decadent phase, they become hollow. Their cultural forms—art, literature, religion—lose their deeper meaning, becoming shallow imitations of past glories. In this phase, political leaders and movements are actors in a farce, going through the motions of governance and reform without any true vision or substance.

Ortega y Gasset’s The Revolt of the Masses furthers this notion of decline. As mass culture gains influence, it lacks the philosophical depth that guided earlier societies. Political discourse becomes a spectacle—leaders are judged on their ability to entertain or provoke rather than on their wisdom or ethical grounding. In this farcical landscape, democracy itself can become a performance, a hollow reenactment of the grand ideals that once defined it. Political movements, once grounded in serious principles, now operate as cynical parodies of their former selves, driven by soundbites rather than substance.

Finance

In finance, the farce of history is particularly evident. Marx saw capitalism as inherently cyclical—periods of accumulation followed by crisis and collapse. Each cycle repeats the same tragic narrative of speculative frenzy, overproduction, and collapse, but with each repetition, the narrative loses its tragic weight and becomes farce. The stock market bubbles of the early 20th century, the dot-com bubble, the housing market collapse of 2008—all illustrate this pattern. Despite the lessons of history, financial markets continue to operate on the assumption that “this time it’s different,” even as they repeat the same mistakes.

Jean Baudrillard’s concept of hyper-reality further highlights this absurdity. In the world of finance, the connection between real-world production and the symbols of wealth has been severed. Cryptocurrencies, derivatives, and other financial instruments create value not from labor or goods but from speculation. The financial markets have become a simulation, where wealth is generated by trading symbols that bear no relation to reality. The farce is that we treat these symbols as if they were real, perpetuating a system that seems increasingly disconnected from the material world.

Technology

The farcical repetition of history is perhaps most evident in technology. Each new wave of innovation—from the steam engine to the internet—promises to solve humanity’s greatest problems. But over time, these technologies often create as many problems as they solve. Camus’ idea of the absurd—the confrontation between humanity’s desire for meaning and the universe’s indifference—resonates here. Technology, which promises liberation, often leads to new forms of control, alienation, and existential crisis.

Take, for example, the shift from traditional industries to disruptive platforms like Uber, Airbnb, and streaming services. Uber was once hailed as the revolutionary alternative to the taxi industry, but over time, it has become a mirror image of the very system it sought to disrupt—regulated, bureaucratic, and increasingly indistinguishable from traditional cab services. Airbnb, similarly, was meant to democratize travel, but it too faces the same regulatory and legal challenges as the hotel industry it disrupted. Cable TV was once the monopolistic force; now, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu dominate, but with increasing subscriptions, content overload, and advertising, the difference is shrinking. In each case, what was once innovative has become an imitation of the old systems, repeating the same cycles of control and inefficiency.

AI, Cryptocurrency, and Space Exploration

Looking to the future, we see new technological forces—AI, cryptocurrency, and space exploration—being hailed as the next great revolutions. But if history teaches us anything, it is that these revolutions will likely follow the same farcical patterns.

Artificial intelligence, for instance, promises to reshape entire industries, from healthcare to finance to logistics. Yet, like all previous technological revolutions, AI will likely be absorbed into existing structures, amplifying rather than solving the underlying problems of inequality and control. The farce lies in our belief that AI will be a panacea, when in fact it will likely perpetuate the same cycles of progress and alienation.

Cryptocurrency, too, represents both a speculative frenzy and a genuine technological innovation. The rise of Bitcoin and Ethereum echoes the speculative bubbles of the past, where fortunes are made and lost overnight. Yet, as Baudrillard might suggest, cryptocurrencies are also a form of financial simulation—abstract symbols traded in a hyper-real economy that is increasingly detached from the physical world. The opportunity lies not in the speculative bubbles but in the underlying blockchain technology, which offers practical applications in transparency, security, and decentralization.

Space exploration, driven by companies like SpaceX, is perhaps the most grandiose of all. The dream of colonizing Mars or establishing a spacefaring civilization evokes the grand ambitions of past empires. Yet, as history shows, grand visions often give way to farcical outcomes. The space race of the 1960s, once a symbol of human achievement, faded into bureaucratic stagnation. Today’s efforts may face the same fate, but opportunities will still emerge in the supporting industries—satellite technology, space tourism, and the space economy offer tangible value even if the larger dreams remain out of reach.

Farce and the Future

In the end, the farce of history is not just a repetition of the past but a pattern that can guide us into the future. The cyclical nature of culture, politics, finance, and technology reveals that while history repeats itself, it also offers opportunities for those who recognize the absurdity of the cycles. By looking beyond the surface-level narratives of revolution and disruption, we can find the real value in the infrastructure that sustains these farces.

AI, cryptocurrency, and space exploration will likely follow the same cyclical patterns as past innovations, but within the farce lies opportunity. The key to capitalizing on these trends is not to get swept up in the grand narratives but to focus on the practical, incremental changes that will endure once the hype fades. In this sense, understanding history as farce becomes a tool for navigating both the present and the future—a way to recognize the cyclical nature of human progress and to thrive within it. Study the past, write the future