Capitalist realism and depressive realism share a drudgery-based notion of fairness

Evidence

But it is also a fundamentally depressing and depressive outlook. There is a connection between capitalist realism and depressive realism. The idea that life is essentially drudgery (and that therefore no one should get a free ride) is a depressive conception of fairness (if I have to be miserable, so should everyone else), which has a particular traction in a burnt-out post-Protestant culture like England’s… (England is the oldest capitalist country, don’t forget…) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1858

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to depressive realism as a diagnosed worldview from Fisher’s other essays and to Protestant work-ethic analyses (Weber). — connects to: Capitalist realism’s self-diagnosed realism mirrors the fatalism of depressive realism — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 2217; Depression’s felt realism mirrors capitalist realism’s lowered expectations — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1489; Capitalist realism’s required realism is an escalating series of depressive thresholds (+2 more)
• QUESTION: Worth chasing whether the depressive-fairness frame (‘if I have to be miserable, so should everyone’) can be found operating in modern meritocratic discourse elsewhere.

Broader Connections

• Depression mirrors capitalist realism, rendering collective problems as personal failures #expands (0.85) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2217
• Capitalist realism’s self-diagnosed realism mirrors the fatalism of depressive realism #expands (0.84) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2217
• Depression’s felt realism mirrors capitalist realism’s lowered expectations #expands (0.83) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1489
• Capitalist realism’s required realism is an escalating series of depressive thresholds #expands (0.80)
• Capitalism’s required realism is essentially a normalized collective depression #expands (0.78) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1907