Slavoj Zizek. The Future of Europe. 2009 2/12
Talk · European Graduate School Video Lectures ·
2009-03-07 · 0:10:00 · 1,378 words
ideologycapitalismliberalism-political-correctnessphilosophy-generaleveryday-life
Žižek critiques liberal multiculturalism and modern charity as forms of 'decaffeinated' tolerance that manage fear and distance rather than addressing real issues. He argues that contemporary society prioritizes utilitarian action over critical thinking, using examples like 'product without substance' and charity ads to illustrate how we are encouraged to 'forget' political analysis. He concludes by defending the value of non-utilitarian, speculative thought, citing Chomsky and Gould, against the pressure of emergency rhetoric.
every located moment in this recording, click one to read it
The ideas in it 8
in the order they first come up; click a row for what he does with the idea here
as “big Other”
The symbolic order or field of authority that structures social reality and ideology, here linked to the 'politically correct' field of harassment.
The dominant mode of mobilization in post-political times, where both left and right raise fear (of immigrants, racists, the state) to manage apathy.
as “decaffeinated other”
Žižek's term for the liberal multiculturalist construction of minorities (like Roma/Gypsies) who are rendered harmless, folkloric, and non-threatening, thereby neutralizing their actual social presence.
The perceived threat of the 'Other' being too close; liberal tolerance is defined as keeping proper distance and not being harassed by this proximity.
The argument that modern charity is not just altruism but a crucial mechanism for the reproduction of capitalism, allowing the wealthy to 'forget' the problem while feeling good.
as “don't think, act”
The dark message of modern charity and emergency rhetoric: bypass critical political analysis ('don't think') in favor of immediate, non-political action ('do something').
Paradoxically, speculative, non-instrumental thought is what is truly 'useful' in the long term, as great discoveries and language itself are byproducts, not direct adaptations.
The political tactic of claiming 'time is running out' to blackmail people into stopping philosophical speculation and accepting immediate, often inadequate, solutions.
Stories he reaches for 2
Žižek lists commodities like coffee without caffeine, beer without alcohol, and chocolate without sugar as emblematic of late capitalism, arguing this logic extends to social relations.
“you get coffee without caffeine you get you get beer without alcohol you get chocolate without sugar”
Recalls the Communist attempt in Yugoslavia to impose 'usmjereno obrazovanje' (directed education) to make everything socially useful, noting the irony that modern Europe is rediscovering this utilitarian ideology.
“we had when the Communists were losing as it were their battle their last desperate attempt was at least to streamline education and they tried to impose something called usmjereno obrazovanje directed education.”
People invoked 3
Stephen Jay Gould positive
Described as 'very close to me'; cited for the theory that language is a byproduct of adaptation, supporting Žižek's argument for non-utilitarian value.
Bill Gates negative
Used as a foil for modern 'don't think, act' rhetoric, representing the suppression of political struggle through charity.
Noam Chomsky positive
Cited as an example of a thinker whose major discovery (generative grammar) was a byproduct of play, not utilitarian design.
Transcript 3 turns
unknown
What we should problematize is how
What we should problematize is how
Slavoj Žižek
even if you are a leftist liberal for multiculturalism and so on and so on you or they okay you usually accept the same problematic field. That is to say the big politically correct topic is harassment. Be tolerant towards each other don't harass others. Okay again this is a real problem. But it's a little bit more complex. In the sense of where is ideology in the topic of harassment? Ideology is in the underlying view of man where as we all know our permissive civilization is more and more perceived as a civilization where of victimization. We feel always threatened by something. Politics today as we all know is more and more becoming politics of fear. The way to mobilize people in our post-political apathetic times is to raise arouse fear. This goes unfortunately for the right and for the left. Fear of immigrants fear of or fear of racists themselves fear of the too big state and so on and so on. You need an object you need an object of fear. And then okay I will not go here into my own theories about how the category which I think is emblematic of this logic of struggle for tolerance and so on is the phenomenon that I often like to mention. Did you notice how if there is a product which is emblematic of our late capitalism I think are these famous products which offer you a substance or a product deprived of its substance? So that you get product without what makes it dangerous. You get coffee without caffeine you get you get beer without alcohol you get chocolate without sugar and so on and so on. My sorry my thesis is that not only is this typical for commodities material products it goes also for the social domain. My critique of liberal multiculturalism is that with all its tolerance for the others it's decaffeinated other as I put it no? Like this would be my we in many precisely of these post-communist Eastern European countries we have problems with Romas or to use the politically incorrect term Gypsies or with other minorities and so on and so on. And my problem are not only the populist racists who are openly against them. I think that if you look closely at how liberals who defend Roma not what they are claiming they do but what they effectively do in their talking their activity is that they decaffeinate Roma as I put it no? They are for Roma but if you look at it closely some magical figure of Gypsy of Roma appear who are rendered harmless. No they don't exploit sexually their family their children. If you mention that you are already politically incorrect. No no they just dance some folkloric dances and have their own way of life and so on and so on. Like but so this would be one line. So my thesis is what we call in liberal multiculturalist way tolerance is means exactly its opposite de facto. Tolerance means don't harass me. Don't harass me means I am intolerant towards your over-proximity. Tolerance means society of tolerance in liberal multiculturalist view de facto means let's keep the proper distance don't come too near to me. And which is why this is one of the reasons why charity is becoming so popular. There are other reasons. I claim that charities today crucial for the reproduction of capitalism. It's no longer just some crazy capitalist for some strange reasons want to be charitable. Charity is part of the game it plays a precise ideological function at a whole series of levels. First let for let me make a simple experiment. You see on a TV a publicity desperately manipulative for some for some you know we usually some black distorted child and then comes the message do you know that for the price of two cappuccinos you can save this child's life and so on and so on. All very nice but what's the real message? The first one is look what we are offering you. For the price of two cappuccinos you can forget about the problem not only forget but even feel good that you are actually participating in solving the problem and so on and so on. Second thing and this brings me slowly don't be afraid I'm not losing my thread to our to my topic. The message there is even a darker message which is don't think do something but don't think. You know why I was attentive to this? I remember how once when I was young it was the right-wingers were saying be satisfied we lead a stable life radical leftists were saying are we aware that we in the West live in an ivory tower but out there people are starving people are dying of diseases which could be easily cured and so on and so on. Bill Gates talks like this today all the time. What's the real message? The real message is I think don't think act. The real message is forget as they like to put it these post-political post-modernists forget about all political struggles capitalism ideology people are starving do something help them and so on. Precisely the point is not to think. I think more than ever we should exactly start to think today. We live in that's why I'm really glad that I am here. This how I see your role. Don't become part of I'm really against it Bologna Process. By this I mean yeah yeah this you know you know this is and you know in old Yugoslavia we had some of you are probably unfortunately old enough to remember it we had when the Communists were losing as it were their battle their last desperate attempt was at least to streamline education and they tried to impose something called usmjereno obrazovanje directed education. The point was less humanities which just confuse people all education had to have a clearly defined social goal to be of some use and so on and so on. Now I'm just surprised to learn how maybe there was really as Yugoslav theoretician liked to boast a world historical cosmic importance of Yugoslav self-management now Europe is rediscovering this same ideology. The point is precisely this social usefulness of everything. But are we aware that that's the first elementary lesson that today precisely in times of crisis we should remember it? That all great discoveries were byproducts. The all literally all. They happen like for just name me for example Chomsky I'm not talking now about politics but his generative grammar. It comes from how he was playing games how you can reconstruct the logic of a sentence and so on. According to some Darwinian biologists who are very close to me like Stephen Jay Gould even language which distinguishes us humans wasn't directly formed as a mode of adaptation but was a byproduct. You know like something an ape organism tried to adapt to environment and as a byproduct a space was open which was then used by like a space for language which was then secondarily used and so on and so on. So more than ever we should today we need what should I call it non-utilitarian useless if you want paradoxically thinking to precisely be in the long term of real use. We should totally reject this notion of we have problems let's stop speculating let's focus on I don't know economic problems this that and so on. No this is not how you effectively solve problems. Second thing don't be blackmailed by this emergency state rhetorics you know like time is running out people are starving all is falling apart stop philosophizing give us answer and so on and so on. But do we really even know where we are today? I claim not. I claim that what's going on today in the world? Many things I'm almost apocalyptic. But on the one hand we have people who simply thinks think the old goes on with a little small aesthetic changes. These are mostly either old liberals or old Marxists. They think basically
even if you are a leftist liberal for multiculturalism and so on and so on you or they okay you usually accept the same problematic field. That is to say the big politically correct topic is harassment. Be tolerant towards each other don't harass others. Okay again this is a real problem. But it's a little bit more complex. In the sense of where is ideology in the topic of harassment? Ideology is in the underlying view of man where as we all know our permissive civilization is more and more perceived as a civilization where of victimization. We feel always threatened by something. Politics today as we all know is more and more becoming politics of fear. The way to mobilize people in our post-political apathetic times is to raise arouse fear. This goes unfortunately for the right and for the left. Fear of immigrants fear of or fear of racists themselves fear of the too big state and so on and so on. You need an object you need an object of fear. And then okay I will not go here into my own theories about how the category which I think is emblematic of this logic of struggle for tolerance and so on is the phenomenon that I often like to mention. Did you notice how if there is a product which is emblematic of our late capitalism I think are these famous products which offer you a substance or a product deprived of its substance? So that you get product without what makes it dangerous. You get coffee without caffeine you get you get beer without alcohol you get chocolate without sugar and so on and so on. My sorry my thesis is that not only is this typical for commodities material products it goes also for the social domain. My critique of liberal multiculturalism is that with all its tolerance for the others it's decaffeinated other as I put it no? Like this would be my we in many precisely of these post-communist Eastern European countries we have problems with Romas or to use the politically incorrect term Gypsies or with other minorities and so on and so on. And my problem are not only the populist racists who are openly against them. I think that if you look closely at how liberals who defend Roma not what they are claiming they do but what they effectively do in their talking their activity is that they decaffeinate Roma as I put it no? They are for Roma but if you look at it closely some magical figure of Gypsy of Roma appear who are rendered harmless. No they don't exploit sexually their family their children. If you mention that you are already politically incorrect. No no they just dance some folkloric dances and have their own way of life and so on and so on. Like but so this would be one line. So my thesis is what we call in liberal multiculturalist way tolerance is means exactly its opposite de facto. Tolerance means don't harass me. Don't harass me means I am intolerant towards your over-proximity. Tolerance means society of tolerance in liberal multiculturalist view de facto means let's keep the proper distance don't come too near to me. And which is why this is one of the reasons why charity is becoming so popular. There are other reasons. I claim that charities today crucial for the reproduction of capitalism. It's no longer just some crazy capitalist for some strange reasons want to be charitable. Charity is part of the game it plays a precise ideological function at a whole series of levels. First let for let me make a simple experiment. You see on a TV a publicity desperately manipulative for some for some you know we usually some black distorted child and then comes the message do you know that for the price of two cappuccinos you can save this child's life and so on and so on. All very nice but what's the real message? The first one is look what we are offering you. For the price of two cappuccinos you can forget about the problem not only forget but even feel good that you are actually participating in solving the problem and so on and so on. Second thing and this brings me slowly don't be afraid I'm not losing my thread to our to my topic. The message there is even a darker message which is don't think do something but don't think. You know why I was attentive to this? I remember how once when I was young it was the right-wingers were saying be satisfied we lead a stable life radical leftists were saying are we aware that we in the West live in an ivory tower but out there people are starving people are dying of diseases which could be easily cured and so on and so on. Bill Gates talks like this today all the time. What's the real message? The real message is I think don't think act. The real message is forget as they like to put it these post-political post-modernists forget about all political struggles capitalism ideology people are starving do something help them and so on. Precisely the point is not to think. I think more than ever we should exactly start to think today. We live in that's why I'm really glad that I am here. This how I see your role. Don't become part of I'm really against it Bologna Process. By this I mean yeah yeah this you know you know this is and you know in old Yugoslavia we had some of you are probably unfortunately old enough to remember it we had when the Communists were losing as it were their battle their last desperate attempt was at least to streamline education and they tried to impose something called usmjereno obrazovanje directed education. The point was less humanities which just confuse people all education had to have a clearly defined social goal to be of some use and so on and so on. Now I'm just surprised to learn how maybe there was really as Yugoslav theoretician liked to boast a world historical cosmic importance of Yugoslav self-management now Europe is rediscovering this same ideology. The point is precisely this social usefulness of everything. But are we aware that that's the first elementary lesson that today precisely in times of crisis we should remember it? That all great discoveries were byproducts. The all literally all. They happen like for just name me for example Chomsky I'm not talking now about politics but his generative grammar. It comes from how he was playing games how you can reconstruct the logic of a sentence and so on. According to some Darwinian biologists who are very close to me like Stephen Jay Gould even language which distinguishes us humans wasn't directly formed as a mode of adaptation but was a byproduct. You know like something an ape organism tried to adapt to environment and as a byproduct a space was open which was then used by like a space for language which was then secondarily used and so on and so on. So more than ever we should today we need what should I call it non-utilitarian useless if you want paradoxically thinking to precisely be in the long term of real use. We should totally reject this notion of we have problems let's stop speculating let's focus on I don't know economic problems this that and so on. No this is not how you effectively solve problems. Second thing don't be blackmailed by this emergency state rhetorics you know like time is running out people are starving all is falling apart stop philosophizing give us answer and so on and so on. But do we really even know where we are today? I claim not. I claim that what's going on today in the world? Many things I'm almost apocalyptic. But on the one hand we have people who simply thinks think the old goes on with a little small aesthetic changes. These are mostly either old liberals or old Marxists. They think basically
unknown
the same capitalism goes on.
the same capitalism goes on.