Philosopher Slavoj Zizeck on Democracy Now- 3/6

[jagara1]

I like the way this man speaks - I actually think he is an optimist, in that he sees the potential for good in all situations.

[the3mpyrean]

@jagara1

I take him at his word as a pessimist. But he is certainly extremely funny about it.

[eotto2001]

This segment is particularly interesting in light of the changes in the mid-east in the 2011. The concern for a lot of these people is corruption on the part of their government. It is also a question of economics and cost of living going up without seeing similar rise in personal and family income. A lot of young people are without work, too. The new global economic models don't seem to be able to deliver job or living wage to the majority of people any more.

[raskel71]

@EclecticSceptic The "New Communist" is founded on the old Marx, Engels theory which was stolen from Plato's "Republic". If you really want to challenge your intellect and understand the big picture, my I suggest a book, "The Naked Communist" by Skousen (ex-FBI). Additional research will reveal that the communist movement has been and is currently funded by the international banking interests. And when the Utopian society is accomplished who do the communist think will be the ruling class?

[temp229009]

@raskel71 There is a difference (unfortunately) between the "communist movement" (the actionable party) and those discussing the future of the Communist Idea. What Zizek, Badiou etc. are proporting today is, as far as I can tell, going back to the beginning and reworking the problem of communism for the future without reducing it to self-evident trivialities and the venomous, self-defeating logic of orthodox Marxism.

[Traitorfish]

@raskel71 "Additional research will reveal that the communist movement has been and is currently funded by the international banking interests."

These "banking interests" wouldn't be Jewish, would they? That's certainly how the traditional theory goes.

[raskel71]

The obvious is always missed by the "Intellectual". Yes, there are problems with capitalism, capitalism which has been corrupted into monopoly. There are problems with Communism, as genocide of those who resist. I ask why condemn American, a Republic not a "Democracy"? Under a Republic all men have equal opportunity to pursue their self determined future. Under Communism your future is determined by the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. It's never worked in history, why?

[EclecticSceptic]

@raskel71 Zizek says the communism of the 20th century must be forgotten. A totally new communism must be reasoned. But your question, and the premises for it, is too simplified.

[feor2006]

Ah, such refreshing political discourse.

[adventuresineurope]

For you guys in the know, is it possible that this guy was on some blow?

[webmacho]

he had right about barak and everything else

[briano8713]

"A true act creates the conditions for its own possibility" =D

[dareeyeeatapeach]

Surely Zizek misses a trick when he mitigates any intensely libidinal society (US/UK for example, not excluded, or for that matter, any state - one would assume the the libindal

[dareeyeeatapeach]

element is actually central to the way ANY state works, but some are more active and obvious than others) by apealing to the apparent civility of its constituents. I would have thought that this is the central point - civilised, secular communities are no less capable of rationalising brutality than religious/facistic societies. I agree that proxy comparisons are not helpful, but as with so much Zizek, and I fundamentally agree

[dareeyeeatapeach]

with an incredible amount of what he says, he takes a while to state some almost obvious points. A reading of Flaubert's Salammbo, is to my mind, one of the best literary examples of the capacity of the state/highly organised/civilised community to enact the most heinous barbarism with cleanliness, while providing libidinal release and more importantly, direction, through the power of the state. As a man with a background in Psychoanalysis, I am surprised that this escapes his attention.

[dareeyeeatapeach]

If I can be allowed one excess, and it is not to prove the comparison true, it is rather more cowardly than that, I wish to prove that his grounds for refusal are illogical, is that when one thinks of Zizek's refusal to compare with the Nazis with the state of Israel, surely this civility, or cleanliness, in the Nazi's case, the clean removal of the Jews, is a common feature of both, and therefore cannot stand as grounds for negation of the metaphor.

[1ivingHe11]

I hope he does cocaine. Or heroine. Gots ta replace one opiate with another.

[DonVoghano]

He's also pretty damn spot on on his predictions about Obama...

[1lawgrad]

one of the better intellectuals out there

[dancebaby808]

and much more thought-provoking than some other intellectuals that have been interviewed on DN

[Forkroute]

I actually like him.

[teamivieactivate]

you are all rediculous. we have here the most exciting intellectual of the last half-century, and everyone wants to just point a paparazzi finger and celebrate the trite. listen to what he says. read what he writes.

[spiltteeth]

The film was called "cinema for perverts" and when Zizek gets nervous he has tics. I just assumed he was a coke head, but i don't think so now. A student of his told me he's so naturally manic that he won't even drink tea because the caffine sets him off on hyper-mania. As a drug conseler i can tell you if a manic or bi-polar person does coke often it has the opposite chemical effect, so that a manic person might do coke to calm down or rest.

[brokennarcissist]

Despite if one agrees with Zizek or not, its so refreshing to see this level of discourse make its way to television despite.

'True politics is about achieving the impossible', well put, reminds me of Kunitz.

[Filedll]

he was right about hillary/barack race

[bapyou]

Zizek is a brilliant man. But, in all of the videos in which he appears, he is always sniffling and grabbing the tip of his nose. Is he a coke head?

[theblakelvis]

Turrets

[bapyou]

"Turrets"

I've never read nor heard of sniffling as a Touretttes symptom.

Besides, Zizek was in a film a couple of years ago ("Sex in the Cinema"...or something like that) wherein he exhibited none of these behaviors.

He's a brillaint guy. He's also, apparently, a raging coke fiend. Coke heads can be highly-functional; cocaine use doesn't necessarily reduce one to the level of a basket-case. I've known a number of them. The sniffling is the giveaway.

[DaimonTheFallen]

Zizek isn't a coke fiend. He has certain idiosyncrasies which may resemble that of a cocaine user, however that doesn't make him a drug addict.

[bapyou]

Again: Zizek was in a film a couple of years ago ("Sex in the Cinema"...or something like that) wherein he exhibited none of these behaviors.

The behavior he exhibits in this interview is most certainly that of a cocaine user. He's still a brilliant guy, though.

[kiasmus]

What the heck are you talking about? Maybe the guy simply has a cold and that's why he keeps touching his nose.

[bapyou]

"Maybe the guy simply has a cold and that's why he keeps touching his nose."

That would be true if I hadn't seen the exact same behavior in any number of videos of Zizek. How likely is it that someone would have a cold every time one was filmed?

I posted a similar comment to another Zizek video and someone offerred an alternative explanation for his behavior. So, perhaps, it's some physiological condition. Coke-head is a definite possibility though.

[KillChachi]

It doesn't matter whether or not he does cocaine. His ideas and theories are what is important, not his personal idiosyncrasies.

[bapyou]

"It doesn't matter whether or not he does cocaine. His ideas and theories are what is important, not his personal idiosyncrasies."

A cocaine habit is not a "personal idosyncrisy." Zizek is a brilliant dude; I'm a great fan of his wokr/thinking. If he has a cocaine habit, he needs help not excuses for his behavior/addiciton. In the meantime, it is incredibly distracting to watch Zizek talk as he snorts and sniffs his way through one brilliant missive after another.

[parkt6792]

he doesn't do coke, kids.. selbstverstandlich

[pesfrdaman]

He probably has polips in his nose.

[schmotzegesicht]

a true act creates the conditions of it's possibility.

thanks Slavoj, always droppin the knowledge on us.

[iblahblah123]

this is basically what badiou says.

[wisemansden]

Philosopher Slavoj Zizeck is an honest man. My respect to you sir.