Today's routine.
Nixon was heroic. Hamas and Hezbollah intend to "push the Jews into the sea." There's a constant mindless threatening unrest going on in the outskirts of Paris, whose protagonists are Muslims. Most importantly - for the lead propagandist and ideologist for the privatisers and ethnic cleansers of Slovenia - the openly fascist doctrine: ethnic homogeneity and ethnic nationalism are necessary to true democracy.
if you don’t have a basic patriotic identification—not nationalism, but in the sense of “we are all members of the same nation and so on”—then democracy doesn’t function. You cannot have a living democracy in this pure multiculturalist liberal dream.
That deserves to be read twice:
if you don’t have a basic patriotic identification—not nationalism, but in the sense of “we are all members of the same nation and so on”—then democracy doesn’t function. You cannot have a living democracy in this pure multiculturalist liberal dream.
You see, in the good old days, after the massive ethnic cleasings and homogenising work of generations of ruling class policy, Western Europe was racially homogenous Yerope divided into ethnically homogenous nations. For fifty years, paradise nearly reigned. But now, others have come, the protagonists of this sinister multiculturalism, and brought "new divisions". In Paris they burn cars just to insist they're here. So this paradise of ethnically nationally cohesive Western Europe, with its democracy, high living standard, and civil liberties, cannot last. These others have come with their otherness, incendiary outbursts, and multicultures to divide and destroy it.
We cannot save the democracy and the civil liberties, but we can save the capitalism, and control or otherwise deal with these multicultural others, with an authoritarian State. Leftists must withdraw and let ruling class history take its course.
Listen, let’s be frank. I don’t know what to say about the United States. But if we take Western Europe in the last fifty years, let’s be frank. One should give to the devil what belongs to the devil. OK, we can say this was because of economic exploitation of third world, but nonetheless, I don’t think there was, in the entire history of humanity, an era where so many people lived comparatively, in comparative way, such—in such relative welfare and freedom that’s there. One should admit this, honestly, not to engage into the Stalinist statistics proving that they are not doing so well. The problem is, I think, it cannot last. The new divisions are getting visible on and on. And so, again, the problem is not—my fear is not that capitalism will not last forever. The struggle is beginning today for what will replace it. There, we will have to make tough decisions.
If we don’t act, I can see quite well the possibility—some Western version of the Chinese option, what they poetically call Asian values capitalism, which is really capitalism with authoritarian structure. Here, I see a world historical meaning of what goes on in China. Until now, liberals were saying, OK, maybe in the beginning you need a little bit of authoritarian push to create conditions for capitalism, like Pinochet, Chile, South Korea. But they claim, sooner or later, capitalism always brings then democracy. I doubt if this holds. I think—my hopes are—our hopes are vain if we expect the same in China. I think they are a model where capitalism and democracy are dissociated, and capitalism, if anything, works even better. This is the sign of the future.
So, if “we don’t act”, “we”, those in the West of Europe who count, will have authoritarian capitalism, which “works” very well – for someone, us I guess - better even than in lib dem situations, rendered impossible now by the multiculture invasion, and we will stave off the threats presented by the “new divisions” ( the Islamofascists in Palestine and Lebanon as well as the “constant unrest” in the banlieues of Paris). He praises Fukuyama for recognising the need for a stronger State. Zizek’s conclusion, then is, his advice is - don’t act:
OK, maybe, the point that I always like to repeat: don’t beat—don’t get caught into a fake discourse of humanitarian emergency. Remember that when somebody is telling you, “You’re doing your theory. You are dreaming. But people are starving out there and so on. Let’s do something,” this is the threat. This is the threat.
Today’s hegemonic ideology is this kind of state of emergency ideology. What we need is to withdraw—don’t be afraid to withdraw and think. You know, Marx thesis eleven: philosophers have only interpreted the world; the time is, we have now to change it. Maybe, as good Marxists, we should turn it around. Maybe we are trying to change it too much. It’s time to redraw and to interpret it again, because do we really know what is going on today?
…. Don’t be—don’t feel guilty for withdrawing from immediate engagement and for trying to understand what’s going on.
One more time now, the highlights:
if you don’t have a basic patriotic identification—not nationalism, but in the sense of “we are all members of the same nation and so on”—then democracy doesn’t function. You cannot have a living democracy in this pure multiculturalist liberal dream... it cannot last....The struggle is beginning today for what will replace it. There, we will have to make tough decisions....If we don’t act, I can see quite well the possibility—some Western version of the Chinese option, what they poetically call Asian values capitalism, which is really capitalism with authoritarian structure.....You know, Marx thesis eleven: philosophers have only interpreted the world; the time is, we have now to change it. Maybe, as good Marxists, we should turn it around. Maybe we are trying to change it too much....Remember that when somebody is telling you...“ Let’s do something,” this is the threat. This is the threat....What we need is to withdraw—don’t be afraid to withdraw....Don’t be—don’t feel guilty for withdrawing from immediate engagement.
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