“It is the self-propelling movement of Capital that runs the show, that provides the key to real-life developments and catastrophes. Therein resides the fundamental systemic violence of capitalism, much more uncanny than any direct pre-capitalist socio-ideological violence. This violence is no longer attributable to individuals and their “evil” intentions, but is purely “objective,” systemic, anonymous. Here we encounter the Lacanian difference between reality and the Real: the former is the social reality of actual people involved in interaction and in the productive process, while the Real is the inexorable, “abstract,” spectral logic of Capital that determines what goes on in social reality. This gap becomes palpable when one visits a country in which life is obviously in a shambles, marked by ecological decay and human misery, and yet economic reports nonetheless inform us that the country is “financially healthy” — the reality does not matter, what is important is the situation of Capital.”
― Slavoj Zizek, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously
