Slavoj Zizek's Burning Speech in New York

[3xWink]

this shit can only happen in america. he will spoil our youth. interrupt him until he decides to walk off the stage.

[ZobaK1]

fucking freak, go home.....

[joaquinveyron]

"It will have to be persued democratically "

Really?? Idiot, and you are suprised if I call you idiot, dimwit, dipshit????

If you are not able or willing to think for a second?? Socialism is per defintionem and by theoretic means the end of individual liberties. Therefore, socialism cannot be persued in a democracy/state of FREEDOM (of the individual) but only in a dictatorship, dimwit.

When do leftish idiots like you start to THINK???

[vkvladman]

@joaquinveyron Read Oscar Wilde's, "The Soul of Man Under Socialism". He makes an excellent argument that suggests that only through some sort of socialism can true individual rights flourish, it's fairly short and well written. I would also like to point out that Zizek doesn't actually want a Socialist state, he is for Capitalism as it is now, but he thinks it can not go on this way forever and that we should think of a totally new and different system of society that can solve our problems.

[version191]

That loud annoying noise wasn't actually an alarm it was Rap Music, Country Music, My Wife, My Boss, etc..

[quinnjin2]

Is there no end to the rising hordes of neo lib zombies.....?

[DrMerkwuerdichliebe]

he just goes on, and making jokes, tough as a stone, old Slavoj, bless him

[jonathanaconway]

I'm an Objectivist and capitalist, and even I am appalled at the piece of shit who kept setting off that alarm. You have to hear the other side out and let them make their arguments. I want the ideas of the Marxists and other irrationalists to be heard loud and clear for everyone to hear, so that they can later be completely refuted. :)

[PtAltmVansanTarr]

Good one whoever pulled the alarm, nice little message to this evil Stalinist ; )

[ndrwplussine]

what the fuck was that?

[CapitalistOverlord]

He reminds me of my debate coach. What a bad ass.

[FloDanton]

As for the topic "communism and fascism": I really understand the people that say, communist regimes were very horrible. NO doubt about that!

But one thing: Are other regimes better? We've all seen US GIs burning down villages in vietnam, we've all seen us and european soldiers torturing insurgents in the east, we all know about the vast structural violence the western civ is forcing on the 3rd world. So how can way say we are any better than fascism of any colour? Pls argue, dont flame.

[npodgorje]

Slavoj dont let it bring u down!! make 100more spechess instead of thiss one...

let the word be heard everivere...

awake the people... the revolution is aproaching

[waterspindle]

@npodgorje  ! ! DITTO ! !

Don't Let it Bring You Down: "...it is only castles burning. Just find someone who's turning...and you will come around..."

-Neil Young, (from "After the Gold Rush") <3

youtube video ID: LBG4vxi9mtk

[martok666]

Next zionest lecture maybe they would like to have there alarm goes off

[Garrrske]

somebody on that alarm was shutting him down haha

[rallestar1]

Calling Zizek a "thinker" or "philosopher" is just a serious offense to anyone who has read an actual philosopher and not just pop-psychoanalysis bullshit.

[kingofqwerty]

@rallestar1 why?

[hidenorivideo]

Comedy gold, yet unexplainedly alarming.

[BalladoftheWindfish]

someone be trollin.

[IiiERT]

It must be a burning speech because the fire alarm is on.

[SpartanM621]

@IiiERT

Aren't you a perceptive son of a bitch?

[IiiERT]

Why, yes I am you sad twat.

[bluebettle]

I think that Zizek makes a very good point in this video, for example with his Lacanian background he leads us to beli- BEEEEEEEEOOOOOOP BEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOP BEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOP

[jemmaleeds1]

Hilarious. Someone should do a bunch of hidden camera stuff with ZIzek. The Spinal Tap of philosophy

[WSWarthog]

@jemmaleeds1

What does it mean to be "The Spinal Tap of philosophy"? Zizek said in an interview about these kinds of comments characterizing him as eccentric and wild is a covert way of attacking him.

[SPKaa]

@WSWarthog Have you seen the movie Spinal Tap? jemmaleeds referred to the fiasco-like predicaments of the protagonists' live shows.

[SPKaa]

@jemmaleeds1 indeed! I laughed even harder thinking of it that way.

[EclecticSceptic]

Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­ooooeeeeeeep. Booooooooooooooooooooeeep.

[openbuddhistforum]

••●●♥♥❤✿ ◠ Peace, Loving kindness and wisdom without borders to all ••●●♥♥❤✿ ◠ In the non-sectarian spirit ✿⊱╮✿⊱╮✿⊱╮

[death2utubenow]

At least today they just jerked around pulling the fire alarm, in generations previous to ours they would have just lynched him or worse.

So I guess thats progress.

[ginemginem]

@death2utubenow That way of thinking is what's wrong with the world. Say somebody threw shit in your face, and you go - "well, it smells less rancid - I guess that's progress"

[death2utubenow]

@ginemginem well as a victim of a racial attack, I would have to say that being punched in the face was preferable to being lynched. Wouldnt you say?

[ginemginem]

@death2utubenow You missed the point.

[death2utubenow]

@ginemginem I assume you think that I would be happy to have "rancid" excrement thrown at me - I would not. All I meant was that the tools by which such cretins attempt to silence people have become less deadly and more foolish. I also assume that you recognised that I was quoting Freud.

[love2live2learn]

i believe that the shadow of the past is what distinguishes us from the inanimate.

[belejSLO]

Žižek is the worst of them all. He is a total communist extremist. He believes himslef to be a stalinist and says his duty is to kill and massacre all oponents of stalinism. This is what he said about Prague spring of 1968:

"I found there, on the central square, a café that miraculously worked through this emergency," he says. "I remember they had wonderful strawberry cakes, and I was sitting there eating strawberry cakes and watching Russian tanks against demonstrators. It was perfect."

[belejSLO]

They still deny the existence of a massacre of more than 15,000 home guard soldiers after the WW2, commited by communist partisans. I ve read about pregnant women being forced to dig the graves for themselves; about children of the traitors being massacred, but for a our current president Tuerk it is all a B-class matter. They worship the partisans like gods and want us all to go back to the communist Yugoslavia. Žižek of course is the biggest extremist I have ever seen. I am sicken by him.

[kikodawgz]

i love how he just rolled with it. =)

[ViperRob42]

YOU CAN PULL OUR FIRE ALARMS, BUT YOU WILL NEVER PULL OUR WILL TO DISCUSS AND DEBATE IDEAS!

[rolandinthecaves]

If Zizek really wanted to depict the state of the West today, I think that employing a mindless screeching emergency alarm as an aural metaphor would be pretty appropriate. Maybe he could add some tortured screaming and gunfire next time.

[Matty0Gaming]

Typical fucking americans, free speech until it's something they don't like to hear about, shitheap of a country should rot

[StraussBR]

lmao

americans have this sickl aversion to marxist thinking

[imlivinitupniggaz]

typical half-ass amateur left-wing trash.

[79898325]

@imlivinitupniggaz thanks for that scathing analysis

[asqueco]

Genius!

[TheUtupia]

That is how the democracy works in the land of freedom!

[chekotkaghetto]

Possibility of Hope?!..

[Neanderthalcouzin]

You should have called it his flame-retardent speech.

[Luisecc]

CUNY Graduate Center

[Wobbothe3rd]

Was this Stony Brook university? The room looks identical!

The college republicans are losers in that school too I guess....

[Sakoderman]

If American people werent stupid, they would listen to him.

[LeopardFrogPilboxhat]

Fuck, couldn't they get some sort of security to say stand by the fire alarms?

[sptfgpn]

They?

[Jerrrr]

This must have been a little embarrassing for the organisers, but damn, Zizek handled that so well!

[IiiERT]

Slovenia doesn't have a communist government.

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT We have a transitional government; the communist party split into various parties in the 90s. These parties are now all part of the new government, who promotes communism and is not tolerant to media and religious freedom. Because there is no freedom of media, out of Slovenia nobody knows what is happening to my country. The only thing coming out of my country are lunatics such as Žižek.

[IiiERT]

You mean that your country is being run by ex-reds who are (at least in your opinion) still reds? Personally I think guys like Janez Janša (of Patria fame) who used to be reds but turned liberal after '91 were never really reds at all. A bunch of turncoats. But anyhoo....how do they promote communism? I find it hard to believe that market liberals or even social democrats would REALLY promote communism.

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT The new government won the elections by creating a false affair Patria, which Janša of course had nothing to do with, but even though all the evidence points in that direction, he is still being dragged to courts, so that the new communist government could won the 2012 election. They have no idea how to run a country, Slovenia will soon become an economic disaster of some sorts. The foreign investors are leaving the country, Slovenian bussinesmen too. Country is filled with corruption.

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT How do they promote communism? The country is being balkanized, though we were never associated with Balkans until 1918. The new national TV law states that people from ex -yugoslav republic have the right to their own programming, even though they are not official minorities, like Italians and Hungarians. The new road in Ljubljana was recently named after Yugoslav dictator Tito, the war criminal who already had a road named in his honor, but the name was changed after the independence.

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT There were never so many political purges, as are happening now in Slovenia in 2 years of this government. The laws are almost fascist and authoritarian regime-associated (if they pass in parliament). The head of the department for religious matters is a man with pure hatred of religion. All the major christian churches and Slovenian islamic community protested the new law, by which any group of 3 people can become a religion. It is absurd. Their hatred for religion - communists.

[IiiERT]

So is the country becoming religiously fragmented?

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT Not really, the country was religiously fragmented ever since Yugoslavia. In Slovenia at the time was a big anti-catholic campaign going on, the priests were being arrested, torchered, one bishop was even set on fire etc. Now about 60 percent of the population remains catholic, 5 percent orthodox, 3 percent islamic, and others are atheist/agnostic or members of some foreign sects like mormons or big religions such as buddhism.

[belejSLO]

@IiiERT But religious fragmentation is not the issue, the issue is, that the guy you all hail so much is a communist promotor. Unlike you westerners I lived in a comi-land and felt its horrors on my own skin. I know what I am talking about when I say that COMMUNISM EQUALS FASCISM. TOTALITARIAN REGIMES ARE NOT SOMETHING PEOPLE WOULD WANT TO LIVE IN: REMOVE YOUR CHE GUEVARA T-SHIRTS AND THINK RATIONALLY!

[IiiERT]

You believe that people like Zizek would bring back the same old communist order?

Zizek says that the Left must evolve into some kind of new socialism.

[parannoyance]

@IiiERT A new socialism?? The Left are busy supporting Islamists in the UK,, who dream of a caliphate and sharia law and death to all jews. The Left are now defunct.

[IiiERT]

I kinda doubt that.

[parannoyance]

@IiiERT I kinda doubt that the vanguard will deliver the unwashed to a promised land. And historically when it tried,well,you know who Stalin is, you know about China and The Great Leap Forward - how many tens of millions of fingers do you have? - so you can count the bodies. Doubt all you want, the reality is there for all to see.

[IiiERT]

Yes I know the reality and I know the past.

It's exactly what Zizek is saying, that we should break with the past, that "we should be absolutely modern".

[parannoyance]

@IiiERT unfortunately the past invades our every movemeny and even Zizek's too. To be absolutely modern eh? I rememeber there was this kind of punk think in Germany where there was no past - it's convenient to break with something that went so horrifically wrong but the hypnogogic cosh won't stop the past poking up somewhere. Anyhow a whole new generation have no clue about the holocaust - slaves to the virtual,everyone but should we be thankful?

[IiiERT]

"..punk think in Germany where there was no past.."

That's....weird.

Think of it like the Foreign Legion, you go there to start over with a new identity.

Or the French Revolution, what happened to the Russian Revolution was the same. Except that "Robespierre" remained in power. Today's France is still a product of that revolution. The Soviets are no longer dividing the left so it's time to start over. We should become those "evil" revisionists.

[theoriginalmrsm]

Pulling the fire alarm is the most intelligent thing the Young Republicans could possibly offer as a counter argument to revolutionist thinking.

[deterdetsamma2]

Hehe, it's the only solution.

[truevoice08]

What's the leftist counter-argument to Böhm-Bawerk’s Critique of the Exploitation Theory of Interest? I'd like to see it or else Marxism is just secular religiosity fueled by envy and hate. You can google "Böhm-Bawerk’s Critique of the Exploitation Theory of Interest" to know about it.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 Well I start with the worst confession you can make, I didn't read Böhm-Bawerk and I don't indent to (have seen him all my youth on the 100 austrian dollar bill, thats enough for live). It's sufficent to know that he is part of the vienna school of economics, so basically value is constituted between individuals in a hypothetical island-situation and that value can be expressed in terms of money.

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic "I didn't read Böhm-Bawerk and I don't indent to " That's pretty irresponsible don't you think? But you can at least Google "Böhm-Bawerk’s Critique of the Exploitation Theory of Interest". It's a short summary of Bohm-Bawerk's argument.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 As I understand it he has to assume that the generated surplus is spend in the best interest of all. But thats the problem, on the contrary there is always the need to reinvest and to invent in lucrative sectors and an indefinite postponing of the consumption of wealth and no pressure to invest in non lucrative, ike most common wealth institutions are. Exploitation is not understood ethical but that as the term for the dynamic of this. We expoit our lives for a future never coming.

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic Investment decisions are regulated by the interest rate, which determines the ROI. Interest rates are just the price of money. "Non-lucrative" sectors are not lucrative because additional investment doesn't yield as much return as others, which means less consumers (meaning the general public) are served. Allocation of resources should be determined by prices, not politicians. Jobs are just a means to an end. The end is increased living standards for the general public.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 Well, than one would have to show that prices are the the apropriate tool for ressource allocation decissios which serve common wealth. One has to show convincingly, not just as an ungrounded promise, that new, better institutions can replace health care, education, welfare etc. under the condition to increase for all egality of chances AND freedom of the subject. Non of this economic science, be it vienna school or neo-classsic, has done.

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic "One has to show convincingly, not just as an ungrounded promise, that new, better institutions can replace health care, education, welfare etc." Yes, Austrian Economics has shown that. Read "Economics for Real People" available free online. "under the condition to increase for all egality of chances AND freedom of the subject." Freedom is not about doing anything one wants. As for equality, Google "Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature" by Rothbard

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 As I said, no common ground for discussion, two incompatible sets of theories. Whereas marxism is both, theory and social intervention, psychanalysis has it's own practice rendering results for a century now. again, again, its about social structures, not moral judgement. EVERYBODY IS DEFECT! hence the world itself is defect. And be careful with using "natural order" as arguments, as you will know it is the basic facist argument. There simply is no thing like a natural order.

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic "no common ground for discussion" Too bad, but I have a feeling most of mankind prefer life to death, health to sickness, nourishment to starvation, abundance to poverty. I'll take my chances with them. "be careful with using "natural order" as arguments, as you will know it is the basic facist argument" Google false association fallacy. Kid, you really need to learn how to think properly. Leftism kills logical reasoning abilities.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 ah.. now we talk tachles. So leftism kills reasoning, so I'am stupid now. Kid? Right, because my reasoning skills can't be of an adult. Quoting half sentences, zzz, "no common ground...incompatible sets of theory!". ever heard of "philosophy of science"? Paradigms? Episteme? So I should move to north korea? Funny, how my father, an open nazi-sympathizer, tells me the same when he runs out of arguments. But be asured, when we rise to power I will get you a cosy little gulag place ;-)

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 PS: ;-) btw indicates irony. but this seems not to be your cup of tea. I was a bit disappointed that you went so low. But I assume what was from my side intendet as reasoning (Psychonalysis) you took personally. So, farewell, have a good live.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 Wow!!! Just skipped through "Eg. is a revolt against nature". Thanks, didn't know that there is a branch of libertarianism that is outspoken anti-feminist on biologist basis, and that genetics detemine 80%. Read the pamphlets of neo-facist partys in europe. Same argumentation.

Unfortunately you have 90% of academia, philosophy, social-science and natural science against you. Sciencies are models of reality. Because of language philosophical, socio-economic and cultural reasons.

[Mangina9000]

@truevoice08 Rothbard is a fraud who co-opted Libertarianism to indoctrinate weak-minded pseudo-intellectuals into the Austrian School of Economics. Nice try though.

[jonathanaconway]

@Mangina9000 Rothbard is a fraud - he tried to attack Ayn Rand, yet he stole some of her basic ideas and used them to put forward ideas such as anarchism, which Rand detested.

[jxhensley]

@jonathanaconway For all of Rothbard's faults, at least he had the guts to tell Rand to her face that she was crazy.

[jonathanaconway]

@jxhensley Yet he didn't have the guts to admit that he had stolen concepts such as "force" from her and twisted her ideas to fit his militant anti-government agenda. Rothbard and libertarianism is general are anti-philosophical movements. They are the worst enemy of capitalism. They try to make people believe that it's possible to do good politically without a consistent position on ethics and epistemology.

[jxhensley]

@jonathanaconway "stole the concept of force" ahahahahahahaha go choke on a gold bar

[jonathanaconway]

@jxhensley Do your research, idiot.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 I will let it rest here, youtube is hardly a good forum for this discussion.

But to to be honest, I don't think there is any. Between radical anti-interventionist economism (do I hear Ayn Rand ?) and even liberalism there is narrow ground for argumentation, towards social-democracy and definitely marxist it's pretty much inexistent.

I think it's a symptom of a fear against the social and the other itself that results in paranoia against collective institutions. Cheers ;)

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic I keep hearing the "you're anti-other" argument from the left often. It's basically a polite way of saying "you're greedy and evil and therefore wrong". It's an ad hominem and it took me a long time to accept that people could actually be this gullible to accept leftist doctrines. I urge you to watch "Left-wing roots of the Nazis" here on Youtube.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 ...never true master of ones destiny, one is already made by language and the social conditions, still one is free, but not in a total way, one depends and exists through the other and others. To repress this insight one has to externalize the reason in an object, f.e. the state, and because one is never totally free this objects begins to appear everywhere.

So, actually the libertarian and the facist answers are both paranoid, one time the state, the other time the jews.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 Now, the really, really last post ;-) It brings me back to my first, because there is the crucial difference. The assertion "paranoid", as well as the production of value ,has to be understood in a social-structural way, it's NOT! an ethical judgement. In psychoanalysis everybody has neurotic and paranoid aspects, it's necessary to cope with the gap between sensful being and sensless nature of the world as such. The paranoid structure trys to fill this gap that one is ...

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic Psycho-analyzing me doesn't refute my arguments. It's just another intellectual ad hominem, by which you say "you have a psychological defect, and hence wrong". Identifying people as psychologically outside of the "norm" is actually a characteristic of totalitarian governments in cleansing the population. Yes, you are truly a Marxist.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 Not such many thanks for the part before and its inclinations (but everything left leads to totalitarianism is empirically wrong and hardly debateable; look at social-democracy).

But thanks for "Yes, you are truly a marxist.", I feel very honoured ;-))

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic Social democrats don't pull the big job when they win elections. Hence you see the same deteriorating mixed economy but with a socialist costume. Only communists pull the big job of expropriating private property w/c leads to resistance and eventually totalitarian controls. Therefore, social democrats are successful insofar as they do not follow their own creed. You're honored in being called a Marxist? You should move to North Korea or Venezuela.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 ... So this totally misses the point of Marx, where are 2 values, "practical value" (what I can do with a thing) and "value of goods" (the price), I think we can agree that these are not the same. The former is individually contingent whereas the later is a social average, because if as capitalist you ignore that others have lower prices you won't be a capitalist very long. So no contrafactual inter-individual value emergence.

[ueberchic]

....so exploitation is hardly a measurable category, its an analytical. I agree that it's necessary to let economic growth start and go on (limitless ?). But there is also the ever ongoing class struggle between workers and capital as a struggle over lenghth and intensity of the working day, etc

For more in depth I suggest "Capital I, ch. 1: Commodities and Money".

marxists.org/archive/marx/work­s/download/pdf/Capital-Volume-­I.pdf

And, Zizek is THE reason for me to go on with philosophy!

[truevoice08]

@ueberchic That very point is what is demolished by Bohm-Bawerk in his critique. There exists the closest harmony of interests between the worker and the capitalist. It is only the indoctrination by the Left which makes the worker think he is somehow being "exploited". Left intellectualism used to interest me, but I discovered that it's just one giant TED talk on how to hate modern civilization.

[ueberchic]

@truevoice08 In general I think I understood the main diffenences in the theories, but I will give it a shot.

Ok, but look at the historical examples where this notion of hamonious relation was put into work, where there is no workers movement, no labor union. As state related variants it was facist cooperativism and soviet state capitalism, nowadays its authoritarian capitalism in china and all countrys with weak or no unions. Either bow to state power or economic power, no negotiation.

[Mangina9000]

@theoriginalmrsm "Revolutionist thinking"? Something tells me you've never read any Zizek.

[TheMariborchan]

You can find the whole lecture in audio on my blog.

[PObserver]

Information wills to be free.

[dragmio]

People do this often? Pulling fire alarms during lectures? Sad...

[oumabuttermilkrusks]

@dragmio

is this also smthg american? 

[iggypot]

and isn't it perfect that the sign in front of zizek reads "brecht forum" ..bertold would have loved this scene

[iggypot]

someone definately is trying to silence him

[warriorprince1010]

@iggypot He talk rubbish so silencing him is not needed. The only people who listen to him are Europeans and they are going bust.

[Fangelus]

@warriorprince1010 assuming, then, you are NOT European - why were you watching this in the first place?

[MikePikeTike]

@warriorprince1010

ummm what is ur background? if you are white in colour (and that is no way to be taken as racist), you are most likely from a european descendant seeing as all "americans" came from europe when they colonized North America mainly because they were scared of crazy european sex and were a bunch of prudes. shpladowned?

[parannoyance]

@iggypot Oh fuck I wondered when the conspiracy nuts would show up.

[spiltteeth]

Does anyone know where i can veiw the entire speech ?

[beforenightfell]

when someone comes to do a lecture there will always be some gal/guy who will pull the alarm.

Its not a huge plot, its part of life, the unpredictable, and it always has everyone laughing, well those who were there.

[scotty123123]

Exactly, someone often pulls the alarm in the lecture hall. And it's not like zizek is disliked - people on all sides of the political spectrum (I'm pretty conservative - but still read a lot of radical theory) enjoy reading his work, and engaging with popular culture through lacan/marx (even if they don't accept the premises behind lacan/marx).

[BiffTheUnderstudy]

@scotty123123 I admire you. Every time I read a word of conservative litterature, I have a furious desire to hang myself.

[andreaaa5]

its part of life?

that is incredibly retarded. what a disgrace.

[wodnerduck]

what if there was really a fire

[bluezinc]

They said that someone pulled the alarm in the video.

[madkafir]

Are we saying there is anti-Marxist behind this? I personally doubt it, and I wouldn't be surprised! It's the probably the best way to stop him speaking without banning him, and the possible out-cry that would result...

[mravka9]

Marxist in the building! House on fire!!

HAHAHA

[Luisecc]

"I'm a Marxist of the Groucho variety"

[DaimonTheFallen]

I lol'd.

[abovethewaves]

the alarm gets old after about 5 seconds. the line between funny as annoying as hell gets blurred rather quickly.

[NegaSado]

Priceless!

[manastin]

whats is he saying in the last words? I didnt get it.

[beetpower]

humorous as an anecdote, but kind of irritating to watch. did you record the rest of the lecture? could you post it? I saw the interview on democracy now prior to the left forum but it was too short.

[sweetpotos]

He was probably glad since it meant less time for questions.

[mflisfeder]

I think Zizek was too close to an encounter with the Real... that's why the alarm went off! Great lecture though!

[spegelj]

ahahahahahahah

[Luisecc]

Sense of humor, please. As forty years ago: 'Je suis Marxiste, tendance Groucho'. Thanks.

[KajiCarson]

Can you please translate that line?

[joespauldingjr]

@Luisecc To be fair, he does have a beef with the effects of 1968.

[mjgoins]

bummer

[Jihunn]

Can you put the whole talk up??