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Freedom under Communism in Slovenia

anecdote · Slovenian/Yugoslav · retold in 4 talks
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In the late 80s in Slovenia, different groups (Christian conservatives, nouveau riches, communists) all claimed to want 'freedom,' but had radically different concrete meanings for it; the abstract enthusiasm was necessary to unite them.

2016: 1 talk 2023: 2 talks
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026

As told 3

“each group had a very different idea of freedom... nonetheless, this enthusiasm, illusory as it was, was necessary.”
1:24:01 "My God, I Talk Too Much" | Slavoj Žižek on Sex, Trump, and Freedom2023-09-10 · 1:47:08
“they felt guilty all the time and they tried to do the best because they felt this pressure”
2:02:11 Slavoj Zizek against Miller2016-04-19 · 2:20:27
“every group that participated in the movement had so clearly its own notion of freedom for conservatives it was freedom of capitalism for religious conservatives it was freedom of the church which was oppressed under communism for liberals it was this libertarian freedom”
32:05 Slavoj Zizek Interview & Book Launch - Freedom: A Disease Without A Cure2023-10 · 57:05

What it carries

one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)

contents · one story, 3 jobsuses
alienated government ×2 abstract enthusiasm for freedom ×1 concrete freedom ×1

Its cast and sources

populated by
Eric Miller1Matteotti1Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck1Bill Maher1Ron DeSantis1Nicaragua1Melanie Klein1Podemos1
alongside works
Woody Woodpecker1The Two Vacuums1Tao Te Ching1Not Just Bits1Miller’s 'The Real for the 21st Century'1Living in the Dead Times1Lacan's Letter to Religious People1Home Alone 21

Every retelling 3

1:24:01 "My God, I Talk Too Much" | Slavoj Žižek on Sex, Trump, and Freedom2023-09-10 · 1:47:08
In the late 80s in Slovenia, different groups (Christian conservatives, nouveau riches, communists) all claimed to want 'freedom,' but had radically different concrete meanings for it; the abstract enthusiasm was necessary to unite them., illustrating abstract enthusiasm for freedom,concrete freedom
2:02:11 Slavoj Zizek against Miller2016-04-19 · 2:20:27
Žižek argues that Slovenia's best government was during communism because the lack of democratic legitimacy made them feel 'guilty' and try harder, whereas democratic governments feel entitled to do whatever they want., illustrating alienated government,ideology
32:05 Slavoj Zizek Interview & Book Launch - Freedom: A Disease Without A Cure2023-10 · 57:05
Žižek recalls the disintegration of communism in Slovenia, noting that every group (conservatives, religious, liberals) had its own notion of freedom, and the confusion about what freedom meant was the very reason for the struggle., illustrating freedom as empty signifier