Capitalist realism is belief in capital’s invincibility, not belief in its merits

Evidence

But it presupposes that capital is the most powerful force on earth, and it’s this presupposition which needs to be undermined. How? By constituting a counter-force capable of disciplining capital. We’ve become used to a world in which workers fear capital, never the reverse. Capitalist realism has never been about direct ideological persuasion — it’s not that the population of the UK were ever convinced of the merits of neoliberal ideas. But what people have been convinced of is the idea that neoliberalism is the dominant force in the world, and that, consequently, there is little point resisting it. — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 2219

Categorization

• XREF: Refines and complicates the ch37/ch109 claims that ideology needs no advocates and works by concealment rather than persuasion. — connects to: Capitalist realism falls only to internal inconsistency, not moral critique — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 36; Moral critiques of capitalism only strengthen its realism — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism: Is There No…, 36; Capitalist domination is hegemonic construction, not self-deriving logic. — Ernesto Laclau, On Populist Reason, 463 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• Capitalist social failures are actually successes for capital’s own logic #exemplifies (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 381