Capitalism’s claimed demystification is itself an ideological ruse masking quasi-theological rule

Evidence

MF: Reification isn’t a problem per se; in fact, it’s something we should hope for. Evan Calder Williams, whose book Combined and Uneven Apocalypse is coming out on Zer0, talks of an “anti-capitalist reification”, and I think that’s what we need to develop. It’s capitalism that poses as being anti-reification; it’s capitalism that presents itself as having dissolved all illusions and exposed the underlying reality of things. Part of what I’m arguing in Capitalist Realism is that this is an ideological sleight of hand; it’s precisely neoliberal capitalism’s ostensible demystifications (its reduction of everything to the supposedly self-evident category of the free individual) that allow all kinds of strange, quasi-theological entities to rule our lives. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2077

Categorization

• XREF: This inversion—that capitalism, not critique, is the real mystifier—connects to the Frankfurt School chapters’ theme that Enlightenment demystification serves domination, not liberation. — connects to: Economic mystification parallels medieval theology and requires a grassroots Reformation. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1813; Capitalism cannot function without its ideological disguises and myths — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 96; Capitalism emerged ideologically through intensified spiritualization rather than secularization (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalism’s naturalness and eternity are a hoax #corroborates (0.90) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 26
• Capitalism cannot function without its ideological disguises and myths #corroborates (0.88) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 96
• Ideology appears as manifest surface while its real foundations are hidden #expands (0.85)
• Capitalism emerged ideologically through intensified spiritualization rather than secularization #expands (0.82)
• Capitalism differs from fascism in requiring no propaganda or subjectively assumed belief #contradicts (0.80) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 29
• Capitalism functions on performed belief rather than sincere conviction #expands (0.78) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1661
• Capitalist subjection now appears natural rather than politically constructed #exemplifies (0.76)
• Neoliberalism was an ideological veneer only loosely resembling actual capitalism #exemplifies (0.74) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 220
• Liberal communism is now capitalism’s dominant ideology, not its corrective. #exemplifies (0.73) — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism, 61
• Capitalism’s ideology is now itself anti-capitalist in content #complicates (0.72) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 582