Occupy Wall Street
anecdote · current events ·
retold in 6 talks
Žižek defends Occupy Wall Street against claims it was just upper-middle-class students, arguing it formed the 'fertile ground' for Bernie Sanders and gradual political change, proving that failed attempts create the right moment.
≤2000talks it is told in, per year2026
As told 6
“it formed the fertile ground for for for Bernie Sanders and all those.”1:01:49 Heaven: Out of Order feat. Slavoj Žižek | Chapo Trap House | Episode 582 FULL2021-12-08 · 1:31:42
“I remember Occupy Wall Street and then people said you see it disappeared it was nothing no it was part of a long learning process”
“the reaction of benevolent liberals like Bill Clinton was what in box is called clinching: oh fine let's come together let's debate how can we translate your protest into concrete measures.”
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
liberal left marginalist stance
×1
learning process
×1
Bartleby politics
×1
Its cast and sources
populated by
Boris Yeltsin2Francis of Assisi1Herbert McCabe1Jackie Chan1Salvador Allende / Pinochet1Yasser Arafat / Nasser1Saint-Just or Robespierre1Monty Python1
alongside works
Every retelling 6
1:01:49 Heaven: Out of Order feat. Slavoj Žižek | Chapo Trap House | Episode 582 FULL2021-12-08 · 1:31:42
Žižek defends Occupy Wall Street against claims it was just upper-middle-class students, arguing it formed the 'fertile ground' for Bernie Sanders and gradual political change, proving that failed attempts create the right moment., illustrating Stalinist paradox,liberal left marginalist stance
Žižek defends Occupy Wall Street and Bernie Sanders against critics who saw them as failures, arguing they were crucial parts of a long learning process that made 'socialism' a publicly acceptable term., illustrating learning process
Bill Clinton's response to Occupy Wall Street was what boxing calls 'clinching', come together, debate, translate protest into concrete measures. Žižek argues this was precisely the wrong move because any positive proposals would have been framed in the enemy's language., illustrating Bartleby politics,the limits of positive demands,Occupy Wall Street
Žižek defends Occupy Wall Street not by its immediate results but by its 'underground work' (Hegel’s mole metaphor), which laid the foundation for the acceptance of democratic socialism in the US., illustrating morning after,communism-socialism
In Buddhist countries, most people don't meditate but relate to meditating monks as a living reminder that enlightenment is possible. Similarly, many people who didn't go to Zuccotti Park related to Occupy protesters as reminders that political action is possible., illustrating mystic guerrilla,Occupy Wall Street and political imagination
Žižek told Occupy protesters not to 'fall in love with themselves' but to think about the day after, emphasizing the need to translate immediate freedom into concrete changes., illustrating revolution-violence,democracy