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Begpacking is a portmanteau word, combining the words ‘begging’ and ‘backpacking’. It essentially means begging in order to fund a journey, and the practice has come in for criticism from many quarters.

Begpackers are mainly young Westerners travelling around the world, particularly in Asia. Some offer hugs or play music in exchange for money. Others simply sit in the street behind a sign reading “Help us to travel around the world”.

Each begpacker has their own personal situation. Some may be broke, others simply craving further adventures. This somewhat hippy attitude might simply cause a few raised eyebrows in the Western world. But in Asia, it’s really not appreciated by local communities.

In New Zealand, Wellington city councillor Brian Dawson spoke out against begpackers eating in local soup kitchens. Dawson said: “It does annoy me that people think it's a way to get around the country on the cheap...There's a huge difference between doing this for a cheap holiday, knowing that afterwards you can return to another lifestyle."

Begpackers are seen as ignorant when it comes to cultural differences. In Asian countries, begging is a sign of social failure and only justifiable for people in extreme poverty. For a visitor to beg in order to fund their travel is therefore disrespectful to the country’s own population.

Some in South-East Asia take their criticism of the tourism industry even further. They see white tourists as neocolonialists, seeing Asia as an exotic place for their own spiritual awakening.

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Accelerationism is a radical school of thought, seeking to bring about a postcapitalist society. Accelerationists believe that this aim can be achieved by pushing capitalism past its limits, mainly through technological advances.

Contemporary accelerationists include Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams, who created their accelerationist manifesto in 2013. This publication generated a lot of attention and debate in political spheres. In 2015, Srnicek and Williams expanded their manifesto into a monograph entitled “Inventing the Future”.

So what makes this new theory any different from other leftist philosophies?

Accelerationists believe that traditional left-wing parties are going down the wrong path, continuing to advocate increases to the welfare state. They say the economy is not able to sustain such a policy in the long term. Accelerationists also oppose the ideas of the degrowth movement, which is all about downscaling production and consumption. As the name suggests, accelerationism is about accelerating. Accelerating and going faster than capitalism, in order to overtake it.

The theory puts technological advances a t the heart of its political project. We’re talking about artificial intelligence which can limit pollution, robots enabling humans to reduce their time spent working and therefore become emancipated. Technology should therefore not be left in the hands of capitalists, but appropriated and used to increase social justice.

Accelerationists therefore don’t see new technologies as being inherently bad. Big data, algorithms and robots can all be adapted to create a new postcapitalist society.

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