Economy of Suffering

An economic system—or a facet of contemporary capitalism—where suffering, precarity, and desperation are not unfortunate side effects but structural inputs. The economy of suffering relies on exploited labor, medical debt, housing insecurity, and the constant threat of catastrophe to keep workers docile, consumers anxious, and prices low. Profit flows from pain: from underpaid caregivers, from students crushed by loans, from tenants fearing eviction. The economy of suffering is not broken; it is working exactly as designed, extracting value from vulnerability while offering just enough relief to keep the system running.

Example: “The gig economy’s low wages and lack of benefits aren’t bugs—they’re features of the economy of suffering, where workers must accept anything because the alternative is homelessness.”

Market of Suffering

A marketplace where suffering itself is bought and sold—not as a metaphor but as a literal commodity. In the market of suffering, one can buy access to other people’s pain: disaster tourism, true crime entertainment, poverty porn, even the “empathy industry” where privileged consumers purchase experiences of hardship (like “oppression simulations” or “hunger challenges”) as self‑improvement. The market of suffering also includes the sale of treatments for suffering: antidepressants, wellness products, therapy apps, and “resilience training” that profit from the very distress the system produces. It turns anguish into a transaction.

Example: “The streaming service’s ‘trauma documentary’ was promoted alongside ads for anxiety medication—the market of suffering, where pain is content and the cure is another product.”

Economy of Suffering by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 21, 2026