• axont [she/her, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      the most important part to remember about him is that he's an annoyed contrarian. He calls himself whatever he thinks will make someone mad at him so he can laugh or get published

    • supdog [e/em/eir,ey/em]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Because the only time you're saying anything is when you call yourself a communist. Bill Gates calls himself a socialist.

      He is being provocative. He believes that provocation is necessary to break out of the capitalist realism inability to imagine any alternative. Provocation does a job in his philosophy.

      listen to this debate where the host pins him down on his 'stubborn attachment to communism'. Lots of rambling zizek answers.

      I think I'd like Zizek if I read him. For me it's not even that other ideologies are wrong, it's that they can't even be wrong. "Communism" insists that, no, politics is a thing with right or wrong answers. I don't know if Zizek is saying that but I do notice he's never shy in talking about communist errors.

      • gray [he/him]
        ·
        2 years ago

        this

        Jesus this was a hard read. He never fully answered the question.

        • supdog [e/em/eir,ey/em]
          ·
          2 years ago

          another podcast where he's asked this question here. The interview starts around 22 minutes. This is a philosophy podcast so he gives a more technical answer but it's still not "clear".

          I think it would be clear(er) if we knew the works. Todd McGowan seems to get Zizek and he's a humble non-grifter.

          two things, they use the phrase for how ideology works, "they don't know why they're doing it but the important thing is they're doing it" and the analogy that the proper cause and effect is "first you pray and then you believe". Both of those seem related to the way Zizek calls himself a communist.

    • Tiocfaidhcaisarla [he/him, comrade/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      My guess is he uses it as a lense to view popular culture and society, but as tool to understand history, economics, and oppression. So he misses real policy, but boy can he tell you how a movie is filled with ideology. Which is fun, but like, put your money where your mouth is

    • Florist [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Where does he say that? He's always said that Marx was wrong about some things and that was need to read Hegel through Marx.

    • DumpsterDive [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      I think he explicitly refuses that label. I remember that coming up in the Zizek/Peterson circus, Zizek saying that he himself is not even a Marxist but just someone who has studied Marx a bit.