Slavoj Žižek: Why There Are No Viable Political Alternatives to Unbridled Capitalism | Big Think

Why There Are No Viable Political Alternatives to Unbridled Capitalism

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"Behind every rise of fascism is a failed revolution," said the Frankfurt School thinker Walter Benjamin. Here, Slavoj Žižek revives that statement in the context of so-called Islamic fascism, or Islamic fundamentalism. What can explain the rise of groups like ISIS? The secular Islamic left, which grew in popularity through the 1950s and 60s, has weakened, if not failed, leaving no program effective enough to mobilize the millions of people needed for a popular movement.

Why has the left failed? According to Žižek, it failed to appreciate the end of the 20th century. Not only has Stalinist communism failed — today in China, the main function of the communist party is capitalist in nature, i.e. to prevent the rise of a workers' rights party — but social democracy has also failed. The welfare state of western Europe is no longer liberal, i.e. new and progressive, but a conservative force that tries to hold onto rights that were gained decades ago. According to Žižek, life is moving too fast — through digital, scientific, and economic changes — for old rights to apply.
Finally, local democracy is no longer an applicable model of society on which the left can build a political platform. Unlike Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's former finance minister, who believes simple democratic reorganization of power represents a path forward for Europe, Žižek points to the immigrant crisis in Europe. Angela Merkel has defied the will of the German people to accept Syrian immigrants into her state. She has acted anti-democratically, and yet liberally.

What is ultimately needed is a new conception of the left — a new kind of progressive platform — that does not rely on old tropes. We must either rely on that, says Žižek, or prepare for the Hunger Games-inspired society which Hollywood has warned us is coming down the pike.
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SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK:

Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic. He is a professor at the European Graduate School, International Director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, Birkbeck College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. His books include Living in the End Times, First as Tragedy, Then as Farce, In Defense of Lost Causes, four volumes of the Essential Žižek, and Pandemic!: COVID-19 Shakes the World.
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TRANSCRIPT:

Slavoj Žižek: I still believe in the saying of this oath Frankford School fellow traveler Marxist Valter Benjamin who said that behind every rise of fascism there is a failed revolution. I think even if we strategically, I'm not sure about it, accept this term Islam fascism for Islamic fundamentalist, this so called Islam fundamentalism is strictly relative with the disintegration of secular Islamic left, which was pretty strong in the '50s, '60s and so on, but then began to disintegrate. So I think we shouldn't be too fascinated with this phenomenon. We should rather ask what happened with the left. I think this phenomenon of right wing populism are strictly the obverse of something that did not happen. They didn't just happen, they happened because something else didn't happen because the left didn't provide a proper answer. And that's for me the true tragedy today. On the one hand we are entering a period, and we are already in this period for almost ten years, where rage, discontent are exploding everywhere, even in our Western countries, Occupy Wall Street in Europe, the demonstrations in France, Greece and so on. On the other hand it is as if the left, even if it succeeds in, sometimes not always, in recapturing the energy of this rage cannot really offer a new political model that would be not only seductive enough to mobilize millions of people, but even in itself it doesn't have enough consistency. What I'm saying is this, in Europe we didn't yet fully accept the fact that the 20th century is over. By this I mean the following: The 20th century left, which had basically three strengths orientations, Stalinist communism, that's over. Not only it's over, in a beautiful irony where ex-communists are still in power they are mostly the most efficient agents of the most ruthless new liberal global capitalism...

[Dperezer]

Great video, but the title is misleading. He wasn't necessarily saying there is no alternative to unbridled capitalism. It's more like he was saying that, as yet, the left hasn't articulated a strong alternative to capitalist liberal democracy--a very different stance from what the title implies. I know, click bait get the videos in front of eyeballs, but this one borders on misrepresentation.

[victorvalerio]

"I would sell my mother into slavery to See a movie called V for Vendetta - part II" - Slavoj Zizek

[snicks]

This title doesn't seem very accurate. Zizek isn't saying that there are no politically viable alternatives to unbridled capitalism. In fact, the most politically viable power structures the moment *are* restricted capitalist systems. Additionally, Zizek's main assertion in this interview isn't that a new Leftist ideology for government is impossible, it's simply that the Left hasn't provided a solution in any sort of cohesive way.

[elasri]

As a muslim in the middle east, I'm stunned how your example about islamic fundamentalism applies perfectly
And even more stunned than no one seems to made that liaison before! (As far as I know)
You would not believe how much extreme left was THE THING here in the 60s-70s

[indyshome]

"How is that guy called from Tesla boss Elon Musk or what" great phase

[Drew_Hurst]

I wish this level of complexity of ideas and discussion was more mainstream.

Especially compared to the drivel we see politics reduced to on TV.

[Nokkenbuer]

Unless one is familiar with Žižek and his nuance, the average person will probably interpret him as saying that socialism and communism are failed ideologies and systems of social organization—a claim he'd almost certainly vehemently reject. It doesn't help that the title of this video is incredibly misleading and I doubt Žižek would agree with it.

[atrant]

"People quite often are not right" - Slavoj Zizek

[jan-owennugent]

“I’m allergic to cats, but I can’t stay away from them” -Slavoj Zizek

[ElectronicCalifornia]

Talking and sneezing at the same time is impossible, but I'm convinced this guy could do it.

[andrejbarth]

Zizek sticking to the topic, presenting a coherent argument with a conclusion and not quoting either Hegel, Freud or Lacan: what is happening here? #soconfused

[gaugemix]

watching this 5 years later... it feels more relevant than ever

[Phi]

If Dracula and Sylvester the Cat had a child he would sound like Zizek.

[austinpw]

His pessimism is important. Yes what does happen the day after revolution? Well you start farming. If there’s anything we have learned it’s that food is more important than steel.

[darkgenesis]

he keeps all his philosophies in his nostrils.

[ralphacosta]

A good reminder that a democracy must not only hear the wishes of the majority, but must also protect minorities against that majority, else it becomes mob rule. Totally agree with the anecdote about V for Vendetta. It's happened many times that the people who "win" a revolution are not the ones who end up in charge; they seem to forget that the goal is not to overthrow the existing regime, but to be prepared to run the government after the regime is overthrown. Often some other group is organized and prepared to do the second part, typically leading to another oppressive regime. Good talk.

[Muffinfordinner]

Title of video: "No alternatives to Capitalism"

5:50 "Private property will no longer work."

6:01 "The model of Capitalism is reaching it's limits."

The title of the video is precisely incorrect.

[ale]

I wish more people would watch stuff like this to form their political opinions, as opposed to Buzzfeed and Huffington

[Namari]

If you're unfamiliar with what he's referring to when he discusses Fukuyama near the end of the video, he's referencing a very famous paper (and later book) called 'The End of History' by Francis Fukuyama. It's worth a read and adds a lot of context to what he means there. Just thought I'd mention

[potatoheadhaoy]

I think Zizek is asking a great question here that nobody wants to answer, and people like Rawls and Sen made a truly valiant effort trying to answer it. Both in terms of framing societal issues, and defining what a just society is, their ideas and approaches to solving the injustice of circumstance just may have the key to address the very problem of "after the revolution."

Rawls wasn't strictly concerned with this gross reappraisal of the working class, or a cultural revolution of tolerance and values, but rather what an institution in which competition could be justified, or where we can minimize unmerited contingencies, etc... would look like.

It might sound a bit idealist, but I really think they're onto something and I'm a bit sad nobody really talks about them.