Philosopher Slavoj Zizeck on Democracy Now- 6/6

[dharmaatdawn]

Remember Chomsky mentioning somewhere that Bakunin made an accurate prediction the outcome of revolution, the one that happened in Russia, 1917.

interesting enough Bakunin made that prediction before Lenin was born.

[MrJonathanmahoney]

That interview bitch would not shut her trap!!

[TheRacistsMustDie]

Žižek is spelled wrong in the title. Great interview btw, I especially like part 4/6

[EclecticSceptic]

Thanks for uploading these.

[mistakenshyness]

I disagree with the criticism of the interviewer; I think she did well. She knew that the audience is watching to hear Zizek, not her. Too many journalists forget that. Instead of cramping the debate with too many interjections, the interviewer steered it with simple, open questions that let ideas flourish and open up. That is what a public sphere should be about.

[EclecticSceptic]

@mistakenshyness Yes, I agree. When a person's, or organisation's, agenda is not to smear or to propagandise, the interviewee won't necessarily have each sentence cut in half by injections. The converse is, for example, BBC Hardtalk where one can't get a word in. Alain Badiou, who's english isn't half as good as Zizek's, couldn't keep up with the interruptions and so the interview was a disaster - not for the British Government ahem I mean BBC, I suppose.

[parannoyance]

Damn it he's humble as well as all too human with that giant 'cold'. Seriously though the end-point is so refreshing;I live in the UK where the Left are completely fucking demented. There are no intellectuals on the Left in the UK of this calibre who really think and engage. Mike Davis's Planet Of Slums is a must read.

[Vash3K]

lol nice chomsky steal arijitrule-- "dont be afraid to withdraw and think" some more for yourself

[smilingasteroid]

man what the fuck are you talking about

[johnuio]

So smart, but just like Hegel, Marx and Lacan, he is not a philosopher.

A talented observational pundit / psychoanalytic maestro of mega-insight / a very intellectualized Marxist version of Thomas Friedman, but philosophy is something else.

[arijitrule]

The argument that he gave in the last section of part-5 was extremely stupid. The argument that more people are living well now that in the past is no argument for the system. More people were living well in the beginning of the 19th century than in the 18th century in united states. That is no argument for slavery. One can provide same thing can be said about feudalism, fascism, monarchy etc at different point in history.

[JaCorBoar]

@arijitrule that's selective hearing on your part - what he is saying is that what we have now (capitalism) is better than what we had before - but what we will have tomorrow is up to us, and it has the potential to be better ("communism" or whatever) -or- worse with authoritarian-capitalism, like that in China.

But yeah.

[seedofvision]

Was Amy Goodman out of her league--or simply overwhelmed by his energy? Maybe both. She's not used to dealing on these nuanced levels of thought and theory. She's the very type of cliched leftist he's referring to here!

[bapsy078]

@PROFESSOR23MAEHEMM23 LOL! I actually laughed at that. Its so true but I still love how he keeps going and going. 

[RedGaribaldi]

I'm pleased that he mentioned Jameson's cognitive map at the end.

[BabylonShitstem]

yup, give this guy power m then the intelligentsia will meet a firing squad and hell live like a king

[MassiveJungle]

nah

[dulcelubet]

zizek!

[Forkroute]

I really like this guy.

[Atrix3349]

I'm sorry, but this poor program leader and/or her writers sound like small children in the company of Zizek. It's actually embarrassing how they have formulated questions of very generic substance when they could captured so much more out of this interview. If this is representative of the quality of their normal questions in interviews, Democracy Now really needs to think through their demands as journalists.

[seahawk75]

I've been to one of his interviews. You don't bother directing Zizek. He'll only change the question.

Philosophers are given platforms, politicians are given examinations.

[roryphelan]

@Atrix3349 To be honest I agree with you but I think this is better then the interviewer trying to be on the same plane as Zizek, which most interviewers do. I think that their 'lack' is an advantage in this case. For example when they throw out these simple inane questions, and in such a confined timeframe, it really limits Zizek from dissappearing down various and unintended roots as he sometimes does. It keeps his contributions focused essentially, which made it a good interview for me

[chamade166]

@Atrix3349 Obviously you're not familiar with the level of public discourse in the US...it is generally very low.

[TheatetustheGreat]

Not to forget the last meaning of "Lost Causes" - the Lacanian one! The primordially repressed that serves to uphold the effects of the automaton (the symbolic or the (Badiouist) state)... Instead of focussing on the effects of today's society one should try to discern the (lost) causes. "Ablata causa tollitur effectus!"

[feifeishuangyu]

I noticed more and more, from many aspects of my experiences from learning newest trends on internet. Key words: community, collabration, climate change, 2012doomsday, new age movement, new world order,reptalian conspiracy, iraq, obama... I try to figure out for myself why the world's so fundamentally wrong more and more. It seems the answer is getting more and more clear now. All things are pointing to one direction. History will change itself soon.

[whizbang47]

He saved the best for last. But don't wait for someone else to do it. Work on theory yourself, translating your experience into cognitive mapping. If Marx isn't present his method is alive and waiting for you to use it.

[jordbeets]

very interesting interview, thanks for posting

[iggypot]

he's right...we're all waiting for the next great system builder / mega philosopher to come up with a new political/ethical/economic answer...the next marx if you will. one whose theory can be put into practice.