Slavoj Žižek, drawing on Lacanian psychoanalysis and Hegelian dialectics, argues that our social and political systems are sustained by shared ideological fantasies—visions of a better future that never fully manifest. These fantasies function much like the concept of cruel optimism, wherein the very ideas and promises that people cling to can obstruct real change. In Žižek’s view, these unfulfilled historical possibilities enable oppressive structures to persist, as individuals and societies remain attached to illusory ideals that mask the underlying contradictions and injustices of contemporary life.