Critique of Instrumental Reason & the Dialectic of Enlightenment
Marcuse's diagnosis of advanced industrial society's suppression of critical negativity, grouped by Žižek with Adorno-Horkheimer as a paradigm of self-defeating leftist pessimism.
In his words 3
“the true dialectic of enlightenment is Stalinism much more than fascism. Fascism is relatively simple in its elementary structure no? It means conservative revolution... it's an alternate modernity.”24:52 Is Hegel Dead? · Stalinism as the true dialectic of enlightenment; fascism as alternate modernity
“The measure of his success will be more the extent to which his own creations will surprise him.”19:35 Objet Petit a and Digital Civilization · non-mastery as the new technological ideal (Dupuy)
“The measure of his success will be more the extent to which his own creations will surprise him than the conformity of his realization to the list of pre-established tasks.”34:38 What Is to Be Done with Sex? · non-mastery as the true goal of modern technoscience
The stories that teach it
the jokes and anecdotes he reaches for when he works in this idea, ranked by how many of its talks they turn up in; each card is one story, with every retelling on its page
Gulag birthday telegram to Stalin
Žižek cites Anne Applebaum's Gulag book: once a year on Stalin's birthday, all prisoners collectively signed a birthday telegram to Stalin, a practice unimaginable in the Nazi universe, illustrating the perverted Enlightenment logic of Stalinism.
Stalin joins the applause
When a fascist leader finishes speaking the crowd applauds and he simply accepts it. In Stalinism the leader joins in the applause himself. Žižek (drawing on Dolar's work) reads this as the difference between the fascist structure of voice, charismatic reception, and the Stali…
Yugoslav student newspaper treats fake elections as real
Žižek and colleagues on a Yugoslav student journal found the perfect subversive act: not attacking fake elections but reporting on them AS IF they were real, 'Latest news, it looks that communists will remain in power', which so disturbed the Party that they were called to the…
Dinner invitation: paying the bill ritual
An older man invites someone to dinner; both know he will pay; the guest must nonetheless briefly resist when the check arrives. Once Žižek resisted too long and had to pay. The ritual illustrates offers that must be made knowing they will (and must) be refused.
Argentina pays off IMF debt, IMF panics
When Argentina (with Chavez's help) actually repaid its IMF debt, the official IMF reaction was horror, confirming that the creditors' secret goal is permanent indebtedness and control, not repayment.
Postmodern permissive father and grandmother visit
The old-fashioned authoritarian father says 'you must visit grandmother'; the tolerant post-modern father says 'only go if you really want to', which secretly contains the stronger command 'you must go AND you must want to go'.
Where it comes up 19
20 moments located in the transcripts, click a timestamp to play from there