[Brandon]

If we've all agreed that pleasure is tied to instincts, and exists independent of an economic system...

...then why are we still insisting that people can't be happy until their economic system is "just so"?

People aren't interested in the products themselves. They're interested in what the products promise in instinctual terms. A guy buys a nice car to impress women so they'll fuck him. A woman buys a sexy outfit to either look good compared to other women or attract men. People buy DVD players not because they want a DVD player, but because they want to be better entertained.

I see no reason why people can't pursue their instinctual drives in a system where the economy is controlled.