First as Tragedy, Then as Farce — How Systems Absorb Their Critics

Crisis in Perception · Oct 2, 2026 · 1h

What if the ability to survive criticism is itself one of a system's most important forms of power?

Welcome to Crisis in Perception, where we examine the systems shaping our world.

Using First as Tragedy, Then as Farce by Slavoj Žižek as our lens, this episode investigates ideology not simply as propaganda or false belief, but as a mechanism through which political and economic structures can remain stable even when their contradictions become visible.

Beginning with the financial collapse of 2008, the investigation examines the relationship between markets and state intervention, Wall Street…