Being born in Balkans it is a victimhood game from the start already within family. Family disputes always end up in victimhood competitions and floods of pathetics and crocodile tears. Those who fall for any of it fare worst in life. It is odd to us Balkan people who westerners are genuinely open to this sort of mental/moral hacking and manipulation.
@@utvara1 Sure, I'm half Irish Catholic, and we also love that game. I found it empowering when I was young, disempowering as I got older. Part of maturing, I think, is realizing that sometimes you are the victim, and sometimes you are the perpetrator. It's not pleasant learning that we can be cruel, greedy sadistic, as well as kind, generous and forgiving. Jung would have had a field day talking about the 'shadow' of the SJW. There's an old saying (and I'm pretty old as you can tell) that says, "if you're not a socialist by the time you are 20, you don't have a heart, and if you're not a conservative by the time you are 40, you don't have a brain" There's wisdom in that.
@@CactusLand I don't know about socialist and conservative being on the opposide sides. My grandpa raised me. He was an original Tito's antifascist partisan from Yugoslavia and he didn't take kindly to those who undermine family structure, sexual norms or promote various things that are promoted today like men playing in womens sports and going to girls wc or open borders.
The joke in the beginning reminds me of Nietzsche, when he wrote that rich christians who kneel at church do it as a sign of power, of acceptance of a hierarchy in which they are really well ranked
@@b8IIin True that but he also says that the peasant are in it for the ''ressentiment'' of the master morality which they don't really care about religion as peasant do
He's being extremely tentative during this time, which is frustrating. If anyone has any links to his views on current events, please, tell me where to look. ( not the pandemic book )
@@alreidie I bet he won't speak on current events for some time. (tends to be a public speaker, but maybe an old rant can learn new tech tricks)... but perhaps you will enjoy the dialogue btw Will Self and Zizek. I certainly did. Rarely, if ever, have I seen anyone challenge Zizek. This made for an interesting viewing ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CId1iOWQUuo.html
Being a Slav makes him part of one of the biggest groups in the world lol. Slavic languages differ less than Chinese or Arabic "dialects". So what's the goal of such speculations?
@@s-dyorindyorin-s149 You dont know them well then if you would, you would understand the major differences that appear between groups of slavic langaugaes. And this is coming from someone who often studies History of lingiustis and is fluent in 3 slavic languages...
Labeling yourself as a powerless victim exonerates you from all personal responsibility and creates the ultimate freedom of lashing out against those who you perceive to be in power.
Why do other leftists put up with these types? It makes the left look insane because these people somehow are at the forefront of the social media voice of the left.
In persian we have a saying “a nanny who expresses more concerns and acts like she cares more than the actual mother” I find it very similar to what he says. Claiming you are guilty of your past generations guilt just to have the superior moral stand and people will go your way
I 100% agree with that but I would like to respectfully add that this doesnt fit the situations in America perfectly. This is because the marginalized groups are still being hurt and feeling lasting effects of everything that's happened, while most of us white people are still reaping the rewards and not trying to make up to what happened at all.
it’s so true, i understand this mentality so well because i’m prone to victim mentality. there’s something about thinking you’re so worthless, that the only thing you can find worth in is BEING worthless, so you eventually take pride in it. then you’re both toxically insecure and extremely egotistical-the worst combination.
Did Zizek ever live outside, or try even, in a far away country where things are not so white nor identity based. Outside the euro-hegemony, which he so embraces and hates at the same time. In essence this minority and identity bullshit ! Go on go on convince the lumpen proletariat.
I hear you, but I think the main concern here is cultural identity not psychological perception. So, even when you felt the worst psychologically, declaring yourself powerless is dangerous for the establishment because you are in the perfect position to re educate and re structure yourself since you have not welcomed the sick normality around you. At least, you would knew you are “bad”, but no an hypocrite unless of course, you were also faking your psique just for egotistical pleasure. Cheers!
He is not talking about victim mentality he is talking about guilt. Only the worthy are allowed to declare worthlessness as a virtue because they have something to give away.
This topic reminds me of famous celebrities who never miss an opportunity to talk about how they were bullied or rejected back in high school as a means of entitling themselves to becoming the face of a paradigm shift for beauty standards
Dude, a couple is not even equal, come on.. yeah we could joke about it in many sens but seriously, no one is equal (some are tall, small, slim, fat, dumb, wise, witty, young, old, black, yellow, white, red, brown, wtv, wtv, wtv...) no one is equal, WE TREAT OURSELVES EQUALLY, we work together to make things happen, for the better or worst the quote is catchy but unrealistic Go say that to Arnold Schwarzenegger for example or Vladimir Poutine, 'we are equal' and he will laugh hard, because he knows you are not equal to him, but he will treat you equally though, if he choose to, as we wish everyone would do with everybody It is the very base of competition and why we give medals to some and not to others, why we select candidates and so on, otherwise, everybody would be fit for the same things in every things.
@@sobreaver You apparently don't know what the term "equal" means in this societal sense. Same =/= equal. And different measurements of different attributes that are accidentals to the human existence (such as your examples of height, weight, race) do not make two individuals equal or unequal.
A non white, non European friend pointed out to me that as a white, Western caucasian I am of the only demographic which has PC culture enforced upon it.
PC is necessary if u are a pathologic subgroup of humans whos history is so damning that THERE IS A NEED in the collective image of those who identify as white for such a mechanism that blurs the narrative for those without a long view of ur history as a group. its a kind of epiphenomena of collective guilt.
@@skyjuiceification oh so something needs to be pathologised... hmm. Well, think you wrote looks like something a Jew would have wrote. Jews are not a part of my people.
Racism of low expectation: as a white you're expected to act a certain way while the other races get a pass because holding them to the same cultural standards is 'racist'.
I find it really funny when a white right wing friend of mine comes saying he can't be proud to be of his german descent when he goes to oktoberfest dressed up every year.
@@xLanKx Wait till he says Germany belongs to the Germans, leftists will soyjack very quick and claim Germany is in fact an economic hub home to no one in particular, and that it was always a multicultural society and also multiracial.
i cant be proud of anything my ancestors did, nor ashamed. feel no connection to it whatsoever. only feel pride or shame for the things i did or didn’t do personally
@@XXXGaaraFan2013XXX69 it’s easier for some than others. Hard to not feel proud of your ancestors when you grow up listening to stories of how your grandparents survived through years of oppression. Identity to your group is often not a choice, just a natural effect of learning your history.
@@KingLoki95 oh ive listened to my grandparents do tons of great things. my moms mom (great grandma) has an absolutely amazing and inspiring story to her life. and i even get a feeling of pride building up like... something i could boast about... but i intentionally and purposefully crush that feeling and push it out of my mind. because i see that feelings true nature as a desperate way for me to fill a gap for my own underwhelming life story.
@@KD-rs6xx yeah. His nervous ticks. He's a weird dude, so I buy that. As a fellow weird person, I have weird ticks when I'm nervous too. That said, I've been around coke a bit and to me, the sniffing followed by hacking sounds a lot like a guy dealing with drips lol. Makes me laugh everytime I listen to or watch Slavoj. I honestly can't tell if its genuinely nerves or just his lame excuse for railing lines before speaking. Either way, I really like his way of speaking. The man is getting his point across despite the nerves. Be it from a syndrome or from being fucking lit.
_"If you fight back, I'll call you out for fighting someone weaker than yourself, and thus will win. If you don't fight back, I'll do whatever I want to you, and thus will win."_
He is speaking straight facts here. The US is in a serious and increasingly violent ideological struggle over this issue. I can only hope clear heads prevail in the end. At this point it’s only been getting worse
Did Zizek ever live outside, or try even, in a far away country where things are not so white nor identity based. Outside the euro-hegemony, which he so embraces and hates at the same time. In essence this minority and identity bullshit ! Go on go on convince the lumpen proletariat.
@@thestruggler7926 I wouldn't be surprised if he used to have a cocaine addiction and that's how he developed that particular tic. I have Tourette syndrome too, and it's really hard not to use things like cocaine, or opioids, because they flood your brain with dopamine, and that's exactly what people with Tourette syndrome need in order to get their brains to work like a normal persons. These drugs stop all of the friggin' maddening restlessness and crushing boredom/lack of motivation, and twitching. That's why they prescribe people with those conditions things like amphetamine and methadone.
It seems most commenters lack the ability to comprehend what he is actually talking about, I'm guessing it was the title that made it an alt right bait. He is NOT opposing intersectionality, instead claiming that intersectionality can not happen unless it is from a possition of equality, "white guilt" still comes from a possition of superiority
Often times, the RU-vid populace who go around listening to Zizek’s commentaries are not quite adapted to typical philosophy forums. Pop politics of Ben Shapiro and pop philosophy of Jordan Peterson still remain more appealing to the average RU-vidr, considering the larger right-wing platform. They are under the assumption that academics such as Zizek are akin to self-help gurus (Jordan Peterson)...the latter happens to be particularly popular with conservatives. Philosophy provides very few answers...and for good reason.
@@TheShayminX I guess I had wrongly that the days of the alt-right dominance over RU-vid were over :(. Still, the fact that some commenters seem to complain about "the tangets he goes into" or "how difficult it is to understand what he is saying" (what he means, not his accent, that I will concede is a bit hard to understand at times) is, to me ridiculous, considering that I've met, in academic circles, some pretentious inellectuals that refere to Zizek as a performer rather than a philosopher, due to the lengths he goes into to make sure his message gets across to people that may not have a philosophical background.
I'm just a regular thinking man but who was that guy that said when you think you know everything you know nothing? There's a lot of that going on here in the internet especially in the comments. I think it's an arrogant youth Millennial mindset that's just trying compensating for their easy to obtain internet knowledge. Most of y'all wouldn't survive the seventies and 80's era Academies of knowledge collecting.
@M T no they can't. West is falling because their souls and spirits are broken. You as a Slav better stop with that nonsense speech as you are not ONE with the Germanic people and we don't share their story or their future. If you think a Slav will kneel before them you have something else coming
As someone with Jamaican roots, a lot of times the connection is much stronger than say a slave ancestor from an alienating amount of years ago, but I still like the general point being made. People try to abuse "power" at all levels.
Few vocations are as closely related as Comedian and Philosopher. After many years perfecting the art of any one of those profession you start getting confused for the other...
I loved the video. I want more of this kind. The point I understood is that the center of the argument was not about races and who dominates who but its more of a distinction and making visible a certain idea which is rarely noticed.
pax et bonum gaming yes, ideas that a minority group inherits by sheer history over time, and the whites who say who call themselves pieces of shit publicly repeats the narratives like memes or puppets, speaking FOR the group. Very insulting to the people they’re helping
I’m an ardent capitalist, the Friedman and Hayek kind. But I love Žižek, he’s my favorite living Marxist philosopher and many times I disagree and many times I do agree. This is one of those times I agree.
I'm exactly the same. I have found it's a good idea to keep looking left especially when someone articulates their points as well as Zizek. Friedman, Sowell, Williams, Buckley etc. have shaped the way I think, but I try and make sure i'm not only engaging with information which supports my biases.
@@sungod9797 He definitely is- In the sense that he is a thinker who bases his perspectives in the analysis of society Marx established. Not necessarily the same thing as a Marxist in the sense of someone who believes all the specific ideas Marx had about revolution, seizing the means of production and so on (and so on). Besides Marxism has been warped, perverted and abused so much over the years that it is sometimes barely recognisable. Much of Marx's work is not strictly ideological, but observational- What I think a lot of leftists (the annoying internet kind) miss is that in order to deconstruct and critique capitalist economics, you have to have a pretty fucking solid knowledge and understanding of how it operates in the first place. Marx certainly did, and the basic principles are are still relevant today.
"in the beginning was the Word, and then whatever whatever whatever" ...Oh, that is rather quasi-shamanistic there Zizzy - let me explain... Roughly speaking it is a sub-conscious manifestiation of reality representing the low-resolution schema inherent in the parrallels of the human psyche. You quoted "in the beginning was the Word" but instead of fully expounding it verbatim - you delivered a mirco-response thus creating an totemtic mantra represented in "and then whatever,whatever,whatever" - that to me is a perfect juxtaposting of the ancient and modern civilisationational conflict. So, yeah - we have the origin point - the begginning was the Word - not words , but word as in the capacity to SPEAK as a tool - our expansion of self into the realm of sonic societal symbols to form order from chaos roughly speaking - then after and onwards we have the watery underworld which is something modern people just DON'T DAMN WELL RESPECT "whaterer, whatever, whatever" is exactly the correct formulation for describing the complacent idiocy, we stand at the bloody gates of SODOM - so from a Jungian perspective I'd say we're in deeply unexplored territory - that is for our era - we have as humans been here before - how many times must we falter to these ideological mind parasites - actualise your life, put yourself together - be the WORD embodied and dive into the terror of whatever is out there man - have faith - it is all there is... So you can adapt and know "when I wake up whatever whatever whatever will come - as it always has, but the trick is call it OUT, FACE THE UNKNOW - SLAY THAT DRAGON BUCKO ....Sniff...My God... Did you call me Zizzy?
The ego always creeps back in when attempting to cast it away. It sneakily re-emerges within the bounds of the modified identity. And that is only with the individual. No chance of extracting ego from the intentions of a group.
As someone who self victimised for far too long I need to say a few things 1. It gets exhausting trying to “out-victim” someone because you’re never a victim enough. 2. Sometimes moderation is absolute bullshit and you need to cut loose and drink a whole litre of beer by yourself. 3. Your lack of self awareness will be the death of you. 4. Worrying about someone’s feelings without considering what you want, is foolish. 5. Being a “sociopath” is not a bad thing. Turn off your empathy sometimes. It can be better for your mental health. 6. If you’re going to lie, lie well, and believe your lie. 7. If you’re going to tell the truth, be brutally honest. 8. Silence truly is golden. 9. Swear poetically and swear often. 10. You _always_ have leverage or some form of bargaining chip. 11. Embrace the phrase “I don’t care” 12. Take accountability for your actions, reactions, and emotions. 13. Have stern boundaries. Self-Victimisers don’t believe in boundaries and will attempt to break yours. 14. Your rules are best rules.
never thought myself a self-victimizer but I recently started changing in some of those ways. It started with me just thinking "I don't care, I have to do things my own stupid way because how else am I going to do it?" and this eventually led me into finding and utilizing confidence in my abilities to get results that seemed to have eluded me forever, and my stupid ways started turning smarter and smarter. Although I think the cause of my self-hate was less to do with "victimizing" myself, it was more like just thinking that I was an idiot.
To be proud is something you earned. For example I am Australia/Spanish. I am proud of being Australia the answer is no, I have greatfulness for being one and I try my best for my felo country men but I am not proud nor my race. I am proud of a the advirsty I have faced and gone through the trials the deeds and the sacrifices I've made for others. I have become much better than life had planned for me. Aswell I have disappointments some people may consider them as or some may find them completely fine whatever your morale compess directs you towards. But in the end of the day it's not what you have it's what you've done with what you have.
It's so true that people who when proclaiming themselves powerless think they have end and complete authority over others and whats morality right but im sure theres countless examples of this behaviour. I think people dont realise this is whats happening tbh as they maybe feel like their doing good and have a moral obligation to do so unaware of what they themselves are causing
So on point yet so easy to be used for a completely different point. This video evidences that the meaning of information transforms radically depending on the audience. To whom is he speaking and to what effect? Is he speaking to a universal audience? Is he speaking to the type of man who stands with an assault riffle and body armor outside his state capitol? Is he speaking to liberals in the humanities? Each audience member would take these words and apply them towards radically different ends. The internet has undermined the value of context.
Haha, isn't that the whole point of 'philosophy', lots of mental masturbation without getting to the point? Those who want to 'get to the point' don't do philosophy, they do physics... A = B + C... You put it in practice and get the desired result. And that's how you build and create things which prove a point better than masterbating to Jordan Peterson monologues...
@@advancedapathy1531 Calling any of the inane babble that comes out of Jordan Peterson's mouth "philosophy" is an insult to philosophy. He disguises what either end up being non-points or literal insanity with so much garbage that your brain just gives up on trying to understand what he's saying, and the less insightful viewers default to "well there are lots of words so he must be clever!". Sophistry defined. As for philosophy generally, I mostly agree with you about its modern incarnation being inconsequential rubbish.
@@darkhacker1811 For the most part I've found Jordan Peterson to be pretty coherent in what he says. For the most part, it's literally just "hey, you want to be happy? Do something meaningful" or "Here is data that says this stratum of people do this thing if you are like those people... go do that thing."
@@darkhacker1811 JBP isn't a philosopher he's just a speaker. He says common things that a normal father would "wanna be happy? Work hard, help others. I promise you you'll be happy and if you can't we can work on that too"
This man is everything I'd expect an east european speaking english professor to be. I can understand him, but listening to him speak gives me the feeling I oughta listen closely for fear I will not understand him. It's a weird feeling for sure.
@@shadearca No, hes admitted hes a Communist. Hes exactly the kind that will tell you Communism works and when you point out all the disasters and death its caused, he will tell you they just didnt do it the right way.
@@z0h33y Well did they? For thousands of years people thought flying was impossible. People are just not made for flight. It is madness. Every culture has myths about people who died trying to fly. Never worked for anyone anywhere. Until it did and today people are actually flying all the time. You are still missing his whole point and why he adopted his political views. His argument is simple - problems that we face today, on an individual level and as a group, are problems that liberal capitalism created and thus cannot solve - in that system, a problem gets solved if there is money to be made. If not, they keep growing. That is why he is proposing some other ideas that might have, even in theory, the basis that would allow society to solve those problems. And with its viewpoint on money and capital in general, that is communism. Because with current liberal capitalism, you can't solve the biggest problems of today even in theory - the system itself made them and is working against you if you try to solve them.
@@shadearca The only reason people are able to fly today is because they are allowed to use their minds and have private enterprise. 1. In order to reach Communism, you need to first have Capitalism, because how else are you going to take everyones stuff and redistribute it if they don't have stuff in the first place. I'm sure people won't mind someone with big brain taking their stuff in the name of making things "fair". 2. Communism requires it to be practiced GLOBALLY. It doesn't work if just 1 country is Communist. Sounds easy to get every country in the world to agree to. LOL.
I would so like to be able to listen to this man. His sibilent speech defect is just about manageable, but the constant snorting, nose wiping and smearing snot all over his head is just too much.
I like to think that I have a good level of english comprehension, (in grammar maybe could be different) but I really need subtitles to catch all the speech of this man, it always happen
@@shane81573 white people shouldn't feel guilty. Why hate somebody for their skin. I'm not here to argue. But a reason minorites in particular might see white people as problematic is due to generational wealth. Here in the United States our nation was founded on slavery. Minorities had to fight for basic rights. Sadly this is the reality of what happened. Racisim does not look the same anymore, it's stealthy. I don't like these riots and I am a minority. I am mexican. And I don't hate white people. I don't hate any race. It makes no sense to me. I love you for who you are man. And I'm ready to move on to a better future with all races.
@K M that's true. But I guess you can't deny the time in which slavery was practiced, the ammount of work slaves put into the agricultural market was immense. Cotton markets boomed. Slavery was abolished. And slave owners left with their pockets full. No longer having slaves, but being extremely rich. And even after slavery was abolished, blacks and browns couldn't eat in a restaurant or look at a white woman without being hanged/lynched. Slavery lasted almost 300 years in the United States. If you don't think that's enough time to create a foundation. I don't know how else to convince you. I'm not here to make you beleive anything. I don't hate you. I love you man. I'm ready to move on if you are. I see you as you are. We've all made mistakes. There's no comparing them so I can't say I'm any better. Therefore, we have to work together regardless. All for one love. We will get there.
@K M well that doesn't justify it. I see your logic, I'm sure to you it makes sense. But just accepting, that's how times were. And not realising the long lasting impact it had on America and its history. After freedom was given to brown and black people, getting a job and being a member of society was near impossible. The fights that are going on now are fighting systemic racisim. Racisim that is rooted in history. Racisim that invaded post-abolish systems and hides in plain sight. I don't condone the riots. But I do as well, see why it happened. It's a fight for equality.
It is not in these public interventions that Zizek reveals himself as what he actually is: a great philosopher of our time. The better is to read him, especially his philosophical books. Of course, that implies hard work - it is not soft, airport literature. It is a very serious work. For instance, his remarkable book, "Sex and the Failed Absolute" - it is something completely new, in spite of some rare repetitions. Deleuze taught us that difference comes out of repetition. It is a magnificent book, among many. This man has an incredible capacity and intelligence. As every great author, he is always writing the same book, coming back to the same topics - but seen differently.
There are some people like me who couldn't care about philosophy for philosophy, and who tried to read Lacan and who vomited in anger, and that very much like philosophy only when it's linked to everyday life of a commoner. Zizek is helping me understand better capitalism, and feminism, and ecology. But he is not helping me understand Hegel or Lacan. So thx you so much for your comment, now I know I wouldn't benefit in reading Zizek book. I think I will try his movies
This nitwit is his own joke ... I would LOVE to labotomize him in a debate OMFG ... only dimwits find this of value ... This person personifies the SICKNESS of modern acedamia ... he needs some nootropics... simple observation eludes him let alone complex observation
@@markaurelius61 I suppose, yes .. and following celebrity over substance when consumed by n applied by , used as validation for and a distraction from ... astute applicable constructive, dot connecting, souls connecting in the development away from stray eddy currents of thoughts that entertain for THOIGHTS THAT pave a new day ... not get lost in rehashing perspectives on dead thoughts n timez... Like that
Don't worry he is condemned as a racist in US. Don't plus your bullshit whit only "right" crap . US IS A IDEOLOGICAL FUCK FEST FOR LEFT AND RIGHT of the political spectrum.
NEVER I repeat never discount your ancestors fool...where would you be if it was not for them. They have died for your INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM dumb-ass. Shame one you. For better or worst they died for us and you shame all the really good peoples ancestors
Your moniker says it all, I was looking for a big fish...and landed a Minnow. George Carlin rule you know...Try his monologue on men...might help you become a real boy.
@@theholypopechodeii4367 That is because they do not want your personal pride....bozo:) Check out George Carlin's mono on men then we can have a logical conversation.
How are you going to quote Carlin and then talk that bullshit hahahaha your ancestors are rotting in the ground right. They’re not in heaven or whatever bullshit you believe. They don’t give a fuck about you or what you’re doing.
you are not any longer in conventional English territory... but pretty much of the world is and also needs captions... nothing wrong with accents, right?
I actually wrote a paper on this one time. The modern societies power dynamic is based on power and privilege. And the lack there of. The result of this is it creates a cycle of habitual victimhood. No matter how equal you become. No matter how high you climb. You must always maintain that perpetual victim hood or you relinquish the power you have acquired. Privilege points seem to be ranked by your sex race and social designation. As well as geographical location. Power is an interesting dynamic. Because while power can exist in many sub-facets and individual dynamics within other dynamics ...The modern variation of this theme is predicated on the representation in an entire social structure you are party to. For example in North America Black people comprise about 13% of the population. Therefore anyone who comprises more inherently receives more power. The interesting part of this is that this power of the majority otherwise known as democracy was intended to be subverted by a constitutional republic. The most interesting aspect of this theology is it ever shifting qualifiers. As I already established no matter how much power equality or privilege when acquires they must continue to present themselves as perpetual victims to retain power in their own dynamic. This is where they begin to drag history into the mix. For example a Native American who had risen to a very high ranking positions socially. Who had been born into privilege or adopted into privilege or in some form or fashion came to be welcomed into the ranks of what constitutes “privileged“ he would then retain his position in the social dynamic by bringing up historical atrocities against Native Americans. Which in this dynamic gives him the greater position of power over the white settlers who perpetuated these acts.
It is absolutely okay to be proud of your ethnicity even if you are French, British, Scottish, Swedish, Finnish, Austrian, German, Dutch, Polish, Turkish, Iranian, Pakistani, Indian, Egyptian, Nigerian, Kenyan, Ethiopian, Tanzanian, Algerian, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Japanese, Mexican, Brazilian, Colombian, Trinidadian, Jamaican, Cuban, Dominican, etc etc etc etc.... you can be proud of your country. It doesnt make sense not to be (unless you’re country does something horrible). What doesn’t make sense is simply being proud of the color of your skin. That doesnt make any sense.
Well, it depends on what form of "pride" you mean. Do you mean cultural pride, or racial pride? Cultural pride is I think fine. Even if you're German, you can assert, "I'm proud of my German culture." Because culture is a set of values, traditions, and most importantly is *inclusive* Ex: you can be black and have a cultural German identity. *Racial pride* .... that's a bit more complicated. Like you said, the idea of being proud of the color of your own skin is ridiculous...unless you face oppression/discrimination/marginilization/blah blah blah for your skin color. THEN asserting your racial pride serves as a way to mentally uplift you. BUT when a privileged group, such as whites in America, start saying, "White pride" then it becomes a surplus of privilege, becoming racial supremacy, which would be white supremacy in this context. That's why because of the current issues they face, black Americans may say, "I am black, I am oppressed, but I am proud." But what I don't think those same black Americans understand is that, many of the same black Americans who assert pride in being black, are the same ones who want to live in a pre-dominantly black country, like in say Africa or Uganda, etc. Here's the problem with that: If you go to a country like Uganda where the dominant majority are black, where being black is the privileged identity, and you and a bunch of black people from America go: "We are black, we are oppressed, but we are proud." It REEKS of the exact same form of racial supremacy as that of Whites in America asserting their racial pride. Under no circumstances should a privileged group, ESPECIALLY a privileged group that is of the dominant, may assert their identity. I think that's what Slavoj Zizek is trying to say.
@@someanimefan5990 But even if you are black in Uganda. You are not part of the dominant privileged group. They are at the whims of the global economic and cultural order of the western world and the traces of colonialism that have defined them for the last few centuries. In a global system, they still sit very much at the bottom. So there’s no hypocrisy in being proud when you’re from such a nation.
@@blah55044 Whims in what sense? Why does the Western world matter in Uganda? Why is the economy relevant here? In most countries the dominant majority are privileged because they're the norm THERE. In Uganda being black is the norm THERE so it's a privilege. When the dominant group asserts their identity when they say "I am part of X group, I am oppressed but I am proud" it becomes Nazism. Because it becomes a surplus of privilege that fucks minority groups.
Can someone help me? I remember reading an opinion article published in a large magazine last year where Zizek more or less talked about the same tendency. Only I seem to remember that in this article he formulated it a bit different. Not sure how the exact argument was formulated, but it had something to do with this white/western/male identity becoming the only point of view that bears some universal value because practicing identity politics becomes suspicious only when this group celebrate it. I think he argued further that by introducing this phenomenon of identity politics and this attack on white western male identity feeds nationalism in western nations (Europe, USA, etc). Does someone remember where this was published? I can't seem to find it and I'm worried that maybe the articles were removed by the media (I believe it was The Guardian but I'm not sure). EDIT: I want to add that I believe he wrote something like, every position becomes a particular and thus can't be understand unless you're part of that group. But the only position that doesn't have this 'privilege' is the white/western/male position. Everyone is able to understand this position (and so is able to criticize it) and thus it becomes the only universal (or something along those lines).
@Mark Donald Thanks I'll check the Oxford Union out again :D. He often repeats himself, but I found it more pleasant to have it in written form. I think The Guardian or whatever newspaper published it might have deleted the opinion piece.
@Mark Donald I'm not sure how I feel about nationalism. It seems to be a phenomenon that can bring both stability and conflict. In this age (and maybe in the past as well) it seems to be some kind of defence mechanism. I believe this was argued by Steve Bruce and Roy Willis in their work 'Religion and Modernization' where (I don't think they talk about nationalism directly) they use terms like 'cultural defence' and 'cultural transition' in relation to renewed sentiments of national identity. If you're interested in this I can send you the text. The idea of nationalism is strongly tied to this national identity (and you always seem to form this kind of identity in opposition to another - often perceived as threatening identity). I'm not sure if it can be any different (when you try to 'transcend' nationalism to a global perspective). I'm talking out of my ass a bit since I don't know much about it, but it's just a feeling I have. So not sure if and why I would be against nationalism. Maybe I just feel like nationalism comes with an ineffective solution of dealing with our current world affairs and problems - not saying this is what Zizek claims though, I actually don't know. So as you can see, I haven't really thought much about it :D.
@Mark Donald You didn't ask me but I feel like many leftist intellectuals that share a liberal consensus on sociopolitics feel that Europe should aim for stronger transnational unity. If Russia monetarily supports Finnish, Polish and Italian Right Wing National Populists, then I personally *don't* want to support them. EU has problems yes but I am willing to overlook them if the nearest geopolitical super power aims for the segregation of EU. EU also has a very agreaable transnational trade policy. While US strives for free markets (which of course lead to polarized markets) EU focuses on consumer protection and new standardization for the foremost benefit of EU consumers. If EU is able to pull together a unitde foreign policy, we together could rival US's and China's own standardization policies and strive for more European, consumer protected markets. Poland, France or Italy couldn't do this alone. By 2060 a singular European nation alone will have literally no say in foreign politics as more nations reach upper income levels (African Union, China). And as Zizek put it in larger context, If USA wants the EU to break apart, if Russia wants the EU to break apart and if China wants the EU to break apart, then EU *definetly must not break apart.* And also on another note, seeing the political spectrum as rightist/leftist with clear cut qualities is pretty naive in today's political atmosphere. There are left wing coalitions that resist the EU purely because of their social democratic ideology just like there are right wing coalitions. There are German, Swedish and Spanish laborers who couldn't give a damn about the EU project and vote for social democratic parties because of their fiscal needs. There are Russia "hawks" that are right-wing and yet they support the EU project.
@@arthurhiroa4238 could you send me the text please. I could not find it. On Steve Bruce and Roy Willis in their work 'Religion and Modernization' where (I don't think they talk about nationalism directly) they use terms like 'cultural defence' and 'cultural transition' in relation to renewed sentiments of national identity.
Such a hot take. Tell me, did your mother or father ever tell you they were proud of you? If so, I hope you scolded them and told them they shouldn’t feel proud of someone else’s achievements.
@@EOTA564 Though they both took part in making me and bringing me up, they never told me they were proud of me. All I ever got was 'bad boy,' 'not fucking again' and 'go to your room, you little shithead.'
We are afraid, lost and shattered... You might say it's time to *RESCUE THE GOOD KING FROM THE BELLY OF THE WHALE BUCKO TIDY THAT ROOM AND DEFEAT THE DRAGON OF CHAOS*
For me it is an enjoyment to listem to his words - espescially nowadays. This sounds logic, still feels unreachable to think this way for a lot of people.
