The mirage of desire

The market wants us to believe we desire objects, when in reality what we seek is the gaze of the other. We don't buy things: we buy the way we imagine others will see us when we possess them. The latest iPhone isn't a phone: it's the promise of belonging to that place where others desire us. The trap is perfect because we confuse the object with what we truly seek: the desire of the other.

This is the paradox that capitalism masterfully exploits: it sells us objects pretending they are what we desire, when in reality what we want is for others to desire our desire. The market functions as an infinite mirror where desires reflect and confuse themselves, where each new product promises to be the key for others to look at us as we want to be seen.

Desire is never direct or simple: it's always triangulated by the other's gaze. We desire what others desire, and we desire it precisely because others desire it. This is the uncomfortable truth that marketing hides: there is no purely individual desire, all desire is social, all desire is political. We are desiring subjects because we are desired subjects.