: This is the belief that everything in society—including healthcare and education—should be run like a business. Fisher notes that this leads to "market Stalinism," where the representation of work through audits and PR becomes more important than the actual work itself.
: Capitalism’s need for endless growth is fundamentally at odds with ecological sustainability, yet the system often addresses this through market-based "simulacra" like carbon trading rather than questioning the logic of growth. Seeking an Alternative Capitalist Realism: Is There no Alternative?
: Despite promises of efficiency, neoliberalism has led to an explosion of bureaucracy, such as "mission statements" and constant self-auditing, which Fisher links to the concept of "reflexive impotence"—the feeling that even if things are bad, nothing can be done to change them. : This is the belief that everything in
: Drawing on Jacques Lacan, Fisher suggests that crises like climate change and mental illness represent the "Real" that breaks through the ideological "realism" of the current system. Seeking an Alternative : Despite promises of efficiency,
: Fisher posits that after 1989, capitalism successfully framed itself as the natural culmination of human development.
: Even dissent is often neutralized by being transformed into consumer trends, such as "alternative" music or films that perform anti-capitalism for the audience while maintaining their status as commodities. Key Symptoms of Capitalist Realism