Zizek: First as Tragedy, Then as Farce Part III: The Communist Hypothesis!

So where were we? Oh yeah, capitalism bankrupt, injustice rampant, democracy gridlocked. Where to turn? Communism! This would be where you stop reading if you’re anything like a lot of people. But you’re not! And it’s worth hearing Zizek out on this point, because his goal is not to resurrect the old hammer and sickle, but to distill the essence of Communism, and use the tools this perspective offers us to evaluate our present day crises and opportunities. In his own words he “endeavors to locate aspects of our situation which open up the space for new forms of communist praxis.” He argues that the question is not: “are Hegel and Marx still relevant to us? But rather, ‘what our contemporary situation might be in their eyes, how our epoch would appear to their thought.” And refreshingly, Zizek makes absolutely no claims to be “objective” or some sort of neutral observer. Instead, he tells us that this book offers, “not a neutral analysis but an engaged and extremely ‘partial’ one—for truth is partial, accessible only when one takes sides, and is no less universal for this reason.”

Zizek: First as Tragedy, Then as Farce Part II: It's Ideology Stupid!

So here's the part where I hash out Zizek's notion of the tragedy that we find ourselves in.  There are a ton of ideas in this chapter that all warrant some thought, but I tried to stick to his thoughts on the economic crisis and modern capitalism.

Zizek argues that the events of 9/11 symbolized the end of the Clintonite period and marked the beginning of a new era of walls, both outside and within the nation-state.  This highly symbolic and violent act, literally ripping down the two most emblematic buildings in the heart of Manhattan, and taking the lives of American civilians on American soil, ripped a hole in the notion of peaceful capitalist globalization cultivated by Clinton.  A politics of vengeance and division followed, both at the populist, blue-collar, “These Colors Don’t Run” bumper-sticker sporting level, but also among the elites at the highest echelons of society, in America and abroad.  9/11 affected almost everyone in the world, regardless of class or nationality.  The common feature that Zizek points out is fear.