Smiley and Cornel West in Conversation with Žižek on November 4, 2011
On Occupy Wall Street: Ž isn’t big on single issue movements: Fukuyama, the least bad system we were all Fukuyamaists, how to make it more efficient, just, get rid of racist sexist prejudices. But it’s clear now that a more radical rethinking mode of life is necessary.
It isn’t about recycling a can of coke, its about the whole system: Starbucks 1% goes to starving children low-level self-satisified consumerism, your good conscience is included into the price of a commodity, pay a bit more and you are a good guy.
One concrete task is to find issues like health care, but also to start thinking critically about ourselves. The 20th Century radical solution is over, communism in the 20th century was an absolute disaster. Catastrophes of the global capitalist system, we need new forms of democratic mobilization that will be able to do something about banks, environment. New forms of democratic mobilization will have to be invented.
Ž is big on the concrete problems and solutions. We have to begin thinking about the ‘day after.’ In view of all tensions that are growing, economic instabilities, ecology, the only true utopia is believing that things can go on as they are etc. Chinese put a prohibition on time-travel, we in the west don’t need such a prohibition but still we are unable to begin thinking, on imagining a difference from what we have now. Drop the thinking that the state is an oppressive apparatus. No the state is getting stronger and stronger, military apparatus, economic interventions. We need to rehabilitate large scale operations.
Unwritten rules of public morality: don’t underestimate this egalitarian public ethos. Norway is an extremely successful economically competitive country. If you have too much egalitarianism you kill competition, this is untrue, look at Norway.
A true capitalist is ready to work like crazy, a wierd perverted obsession where he will sacrifice a lot with circulation of capital. Egotism can be healthy, but the true evil is egotism mixed with envy. It’s extremely iimportant today to battle the ideological battle against economy, ecology etc.
Cornel West: empathy, compassion, concern for weak and vulnerable. Capitalist egotism is a self-destructing egotism
The fall in falling ini love is the authentic moment: the beauty of passionate love is this risk, to open ourselves to the neighbour, the trauma. Love is a fall, but a beautiful fall.