First as Tragedy, Then as Farce: Entry 4

"Human, All Too Human..."

The fact that the modern era generally classifies itself as "post-ideological" most likely means that we are more immersed in ideology than ever before.  An example is how the modern (bourgeois) liberal society relates itself to MLK Jr.; as a welfare-capitalist movement that "has a dream" of equality in general, forgetting that many of the efforts the man fought for were formerly reserved for communists and socialists.  Worker unions, the right to strike, universal suffrage, etc. were all considered communist ideals until recently, as they have become part of modern "people-friendly" capitalism.  In fact, as I read through the demands at the end of my copy of the Communist Manifesto, I see the following included: "Every German over 21 years of age shall be able to vote and be elected, provided he has no criminal conviction," "All means of transport: railways, canals, steamships, roads, posts, etc., shall be taken over by the state. They are to be transformed into state property and put at the free service of the needy," and "Universal and free popular schooling." Now, how many of your typical hippie-capitalist CEO's of Starbucks and other such smiley-face corporations will disagree with those demands? Do we not swallow those down today as goals capitalism itself should pursue and protect?  And yet, what would these profiteers think if they found out these same ideals were Marxist?  That is what Zizek means when he asserts that ideology most often appears as its opposite, non-ideology.           

One of the major reasons for this disavowal of ideology is an elementary Freudian one: we repress our real social actions and behaviors and substitute a deeply emotional and "humanized" story of our "inner self" instead.  If it's true that an enemy is someone "you've never heard their story from," is it true we could sympathize with Hitler if only he were to tell us of his personal struggles? Of course not. We should resist that idea altogether. The reality of a person is what you get under psychoanalysis, occasional tongue-slips, or with some people, in candid conversation.  That is why your biggest capitalists like to relate themselves with humanitarian figures today--they mask their latent exploits, scams, and selfish schemes and desires with charities and stories of personal struggle.  Sure, this is a bit of a generalization. But if there is ever to be resistance to the problems we face in modern society, there's always need of a little generalization.  Nietzsche would be proud to have his book title acknowledged in such an aggressive social analysis. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Slovenian Castles (Current Events 2)

For my next current events entry on Slovenia, I decided to highlight a major tourist attraction that the country has to offer...castles.  There are about 500 castles, manors, and ruins in Slovenia, and many of the castles have been restored to serve other purposes.  Bled Castle, the oldest in the country, stands on a giant rock face above scenic Bled Lake.  The restored interior has wine cellars, a museum, and other attractions for tourists.  Ljubljana Castle is an example of a very old structure that was once transformed into a prison.  It probably dates back to the 9th century!  Fuzine Castle was designed by the well known Slovenian architect, Joze Plecnik.  It is often times accessed by mountain bikers.  Many castles contain medieval objects, showcased in their museums.  Stanjel Castle is surrounded by a wall that was used to defend against the Turks in the 15th century.  Predjama Castle, perhaps the most famous of Slovenia, was actually constructed in a cave.  Overall, the many restored castles of Slovenia are perfect destinations for travellers looking for ancient historical artifacts, a cool drink, good food, recreation, or a sublime view of the countryside.  They can be accessed by bus, car, or bike. 

http://www.castles.info/slovenia/

                                  Predjama Castle

Joze Plecnik (architect)

First as Tragedy: Entry 3

(last entry was emailed)

In this entry I will attempt to cover the next section of Zizek's book, "The Structure of Enemy Propaganda."

In the last section, we saw how ideology is often used to defend the current functioning political system against any opposition by saying it is the only system that aligns with unalterable human nature.  Alain Badiou (The Communist Hypothesis) postulated that all enemy propaganda fights something to which it is structurally blind; it does not fight direct counter-forces, but the possibilities of such threats.  Propaganda is cynical in that it truly believes its on words, that it is the least bad option, and that any other option or system would just make things worse. 

The financial world is a semblance of the reality of social conventions.  It rests on a cornerstone, something the psychologist Lacan called "the subject supposed to know."  The players in the stock market and other speculators base their actions on the words of these "subjects supposed to know," i.e. the top economists, authorities, politicians, etc.  But if this subject falters in any way, panic effectively ensues.  The funny thing is, the subjects supposed to know were already of little importance because of deregulation, and the belief that the market economy is always cyclical and depends on the masses themselves. And so, whenever there is an economic crisis, the people become angry with their subjects supposed to know, and this lasts until the time comes to reconstruct new subjects to advise ways to escape the crisis.  An example of this subject was Alan Greenspan.  When he came under fire during the credit meltdown, being accused of failing to regulate too-low interest rates on mortgages and encouraging fraudulent banking activities, he claimed that he was shocked to find out that the ruling ideology of free-market self-interest had failed.  It is evident, then, that Greenspan believed the ridiculous premise that lending institutions would act responsibly in the short-term to avoid long-term explosions, forgetting that these same institutions knew the government would bail them out if it ever came to long-term problems.  Similarly, in today's digitalized capitalism where big corporations can also interfere on a major level with people's private lives, many forget that state regulation is oftentimes needed to protect the very autonomy it is supposed, by the libertarians, to endanger. 

Thomas Frank, in his book What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America, outlined how the underlying social class dichotomy between the blue-collar working class and the wealthy lawyers, bankers, etc. has been transposed into a (false) dichotomy between "hard-working, honest, Christian Americans" and liberal (in today's sense), decadent, internationally-focused snobs.  And so they stand for an economic policy of "fewer taxes, fewer regulation," which effectively frees up the big corporations to exploit the working class and drive the "hard-working, honest" Americans out of business.  Populist conservatism shoots itself in the foot. 

So if these "Sormanesque" versions of capitalism are too blunt and paradoxical to be considered hegemonic, what is today's hegemonic form of global capitalism? The answer is eco-capitalism, or green capitalism.  Capitalism is shifting from a material-based to a spiritual/humanitarian-based paradigm.  The ruling belief is that invisible hand market forces can be used to counteract humanitarian issues such as world poverty, eco-disasters, hunger, etc.  Could it be that capitalism has even lost its psychological appeal?  Are these rich investors finding that they need a meaning for their lives other than simply generating endless profit?  The problems with eco-capitalism will be discussed later, but it is evident that the former ideological Real of capitalism (individualist greed, cheap labor, managerial society, technological innovation) is being separated from its social reality (relations between people in consumer/producer society) and transformed into a spiritual/"green" Real while keeping the social relations intact. 

Visuals of modern ideological examples:

 Alan Greenspan

 Tea Party Protests