en-us http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/ Mon, 02 Mar 2015 01:16:19 GMT Mon, 02 Mar 2015 01:16:19 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-March/000281.html wrote: > On Sat, Feb 28, 2015 at 5:31 PM, MM wrote: > > Zizek s point is rather that cops standing down may be a marker of the > > turning point in any regime s fall from legitimacy / authority / > durability. > > > It could be. It could also be a sign that the cops are individually sane, > or lazy, or however else you want to characterize the vast majority of > people, who avoid conflict rather than seeking it out. My money's on the > latter. > Boy, ain't dat da troot. We're discovering this with our local cops, working with them on how they enforce traffic law - and as it turns out, pretty much everything else. They are incredibly lazy. We put in a bunch of FOIA requests and sometimes, reading various reports, they just come off as not only, but pretty chicken shit. We watched some of them in bike cop training, which was pretty hilarious. One of 'em pulled up to a corner and grasped a ut]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 23:31:34 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000267.html On Feb 27, 2015, at 9:33 PM, JOANNA A. <123hop at comcast.net> wrote: > > That said, according to Trotsky, the cossacks refused to beat up the workers after a certain point in 1917. That's when a regime collapses. Zizek tells the story of the refusal of the Shah's cops to fire on demonstrators as marking the end of his reign. ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:50:19 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000265.html wrote: Zizek s point is rather that cops standing down may be a marker of the > turning point in any regime s fall from legitimacy / authority / durability. It could be. It could also be a sign that the cops are individually sane, or lazy, or however else you want to characterize the vast majority of people, who avoid conflict rather than seeking it out. My money's on the latter. -- "Hige sceal že heardra, heorte že cenre, mod sceal že mare, že ure męgen lytlaš."]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:31:05 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000264.html wrote: > I've seen individual cops, or small groups of 'em, stand down in the US, > too. Zizek s point isn t quite what Doug implicitly attributes to him: that when cops stand down, the jig is up. Zizek s point is rather that cops standing down may be a marker of the turning point in any regime s fall from legitimacy / authority / durability. In Iran, that point was marked by a cop standing down; in other contexts, it may take other forms - although presumably always linked in some way to the machinery of state power. Maybe there s an interesting question to be pursued as to whether the form of power implicated in such turning points must necessarily be the power of coercion, or whether such a turning point might manifest in the domain of persuasion. I can t think of an example, and my sense is that the answer is no. We are a stubborn lot.]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 22:16:53 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000263.html wrote: > Though that's dated 2009, I'm pretty sure that's from a book from the 90s. Seemingly not: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v31/n14/slavoj-zizek/berlusconi-in-tehran]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 21:55:28 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000258.html wrote: That's when a regime collapses. Zizek tells the story of the refusal of the > Shah's cops to fire on demonstrators as marking the end of his reign. By every account I've seen, it was the army, which is a rather different matter. Do you have a citation for i ek's version? I'd be interested in seeing exactly what he means. -- "Hige sceal že heardra, heorte že cenre, mod sceal že mare, že ure męgen lytlaš."]]> Sat, 28 Feb 2015 21:26:23 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2015/2015-February/000257.html On Feb 27, 2015, at 9:33 PM, JOANNA A. <123hop at comcast.net> wrote: > > That said, according to Trotsky, the cossacks refused to beat up the workers after a certain point in 1917. That's when a regime collapses. Zizek tells the story of the refusal of the Shah's cops to fire on demonstrators as marking the end of his reign.]]> Wed, 22 Oct 2014 13:31:27 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2014/2014-October/001216.html wrote: > Fuchs, Christian. 2014. The dialectic: Not just the absolute recoil, but > the world s living fire that extinguishes and kindles itself. Reflections > on Slavoj i ek s version of dialectical philosophy in Absolute recoil. > Towards a new foundation of dialectical materialism . tripleC: > Communication, Ca]]> Tue, 25 Feb 2014 01:13:12 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2014/2014-February/000341.html Tue, 30 Jul 2013 03:33:15 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-July/002202.html wrote: > I'm kind of reaching a pox on both their houses level at this point with > this 'debate'. Zizek's commentary has been incoherent, while Chomsky > continually insists on a set of irrelevant standards for critical > theoretical work, ignoring the substantial differences between the > historical meanings of the anglo-american concept of science as opposed the > German Wissenschaft or the French Science. Robert Wood ================ I sense an impending outbreak of pluralism and polysemy regarding science[s]. Oh, and the aporias of expertise and authority.]]> Tue, 30 Jul 2013 02:18:23 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-July/002201.html wrote: > > http://www.openculture.com/2013/06/noam_chomsky_slams_zizek_and_lacan_empty_posturing.html > ___________________________________ > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk >]]> Mon, 29 Jul 2013 23:08:07 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-July/002195.html Mon, 18 Mar 2013 06:08:17 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000628.html Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:08:35 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000559.html Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:00:34 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000557.html -----Original Message----- > From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] > On Behalf Of Wojtek S > Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 10:05 AM > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Michael Heinrich, David Harvey, and Slavoj Zizek in > Brazil > > yeah, but that was his sport or leisure activity if you will. His > real contribution was providing a "scientific face" for the communist > movement that changed the world. > > Wojtek > > > > > On Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 10:41 AM, Angelus Novus > wrote: > > > > Wojtek wrote: > > > >> That philosophers only explain th]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:53:56 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000555.html -----Original Message----- > From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] > On Behalf Of Angelus Novus > Sent: Wednesday, March 13, 2013 9:42 AM > To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org > Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] Michael Heinrich, David Harvey, and Slavoj Zizek in > Brazil > > > Wojtek wrote: > > > That philosophers only explain the world differently, but the point is to > > change it. > > Uh, didn't he saw that long before he spent a huge chunk of his life in the > British Museum, trying to explain the world? > > > ______________________]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:58:28 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000552.html Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:44:33 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000547.html it was an elaboration on the classical economic theory This is very, very wrong, but I'm not going to bother explaining why, because I know you don't care.]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:38:29 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000545.html Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:05:06 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000539.html wrote: > > Wojtek wrote: > >> That philosophers only explain the world differently, but the point is to > change it. > > Uh, didn't he saw that long before he spent a huge chunk of his life in the British Museum, trying to explain the world? > > > ___________________________________ > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk -- Wojtek "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 14:41:35 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000537.html That philosophers only explain the world differently, but the point is to > change it. Uh, didn't he saw that long before he spent a huge chunk of his life in the British Museum, trying to explain the world?]]> Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:32:33 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000531.html Tue, 12 Mar 2013 08:07:25 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000511.html Mon, 11 Mar 2013 11:27:13 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-March/000508.html Thu, 17 Jan 2013 14:44:40 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-January/000139.html wrote: > http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/2013114142638797542.html > > Can non-Europeans think? What happens with thinkers who operate > outside the European philosophical 'pedigree'? > > > > The works of French philosopher Michel Foucault is usually at the > forefront of Eurocentric philosophy [AFP] > In a lovely little panegyric for the distinguished European > philosopher Slavoj Zizek, published recently on Al Jazeera, we read: > > There are many important and active philosophers to]]> Thu, 17 Jan 2013 13:37:04 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2013/2013-January/000138.html Tue, 18 Dec 2012 23:03:53 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-December/007560.html Mon, 17 Dec 2012 22:22:50 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-December/007521.html wrote: things about efficiency and training. Clearly training and planning are important - the Bath School attack was news to me and I imagine most people in this country. Always good to have a different frame of reference. And I hadn't thought ]]> Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:15:17 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-November/007016.html cross-dressing as his dead mother(?) down in the basement... Zizek reads the house on the hill in Psycho as the three Freudian floors of the mind. The release of this new movie is in time for Oscar consideration and there's scuttlebutt about how Hopkins might win a trophy for portraying Hitchcock, who never got one when he was breathing. Hitchcock has much in common with pulp fiction writers like Jim Thompson who earned more after they died than when alive, the difference being Hitchcock was immensely popular, and Bel Air wealthy, when he was still among us.]]> Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:54:00 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005873.html Fri, 24 Aug 2012 02:42:09 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005867.html wrote: > Dennis R: "China and Russia are complex developmental states" > > [WS] Does not that mean the subjugation of the private sphere, > consumption, civil society etc. to the dictates of austerity measures > dictated by the state to boost investments needed for accelerated > development? Nope. That would be the Latin American military juntas and their Middle Eastern analogues (Mubarak, 1990s Turkey, etc.), which developed nothing but the bank accounts of comprador elites. Today's developmental states are all about growth plus investment in the social sector. Their economic success has been accompanied by incredible cultural and digital innovation. Don't get me started about the magnificence of Russian hip hop, because I'll never shut up. Of course this has little to do with "Asia" except maybe > geographical accident, but it has a lot to do with "knout" - no? > > Zizek was obviously trying to dash off something topica]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:40:38 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005847.html Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:16:41 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005846.html wrote: > This nonsense about Asian values is bogus Orientalism Um: "Asian values (which, of course, has nothing to do with Asia and everything to do with the anti-democratic tendencies in today s global capitalism)."]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:10:58 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005845.html > Back in 1905, Leon Trotsky characterized tsarist Russia as a vicious > combination of the Asian knout and the European stock market. Does this > designation not hold more and more also for the Russia of today? No, Slavoj, no it doesn't. Not at all, as a matter of fact. This nonsense about Asian values is bogus Orientalism masquerading as Leftwing critique. Because there is no such thing as the "Asian knout". China and Russia are complex developmental states, within which neoliberal and comprador elites, development-minded technocrats, and a literate, media-savvy transnational working-class are all locked in struggle. -- DRR]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:06:54 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005844.html http://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_true_blasphemy_slavoj_zhizhek_on_pussy_riot > > > The True Blasphemy: Slavoj i ek on Pussy Riot The best thing I've ever seen from i ek. > > > > Pussy Riot members accused of blasphemy and hatred of religion? The > answer is easy: the true blasphemy is the state accusation itself, > formulating as a crime of religious hatred something which was > clearly a political act of protest against the ruling clique. Recall > Brecht s old quip from his Beggars Opera: What is the robbing of a > bank compared to the founding of a new bank? In 2008, Wall Street > gave us the new version: what is the stealing of a couple of > thousand of dollars, for which one goes to prison, compared to > financial speculations that deprive tens of millions of their homes > and savings, and are then rewarded by state help of sublime > grandeur? Now, we got another version from Russia, from the power of > the state: What]]> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:51:32 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-August/005839.html Mon, 02 Jul 2012 16:25:45 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-July/005207.html wrote: > http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2012/07/2012722615392786.html > > [WS:] One thing that puzzles me is that despite the colossal failures > of neoliberalism and austerity measures it brought about, neoliberal > parties keep "winning" elections. But all parties in all elections have been neoliberal parties. Not sure how you parse which one is the real neolib party and which isn't. Despite Slavoj Zizek's raging hard-on for it, Syriza was still a neoliberal party: it wanted to stay in the euro, which would require it to accept neoliberalization. Even though Syriza would have pushed for something a little kinder, austerity would still have been the dominant way of dealing with the crisis. The Mexico situation is even more complicated than that. PRI has traditionally been more "socialist" (nationalizing, etc.) than a lot of ruling parties, and even if it's horribly authoritarian and paternalistic, its politics are]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2012 05:01:28 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-June/004801.html wrote: > An interview with Zizek > > > http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2012/jun/10/slavoj-zizek-humanity-ok-people-boring > ___________________________________ > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk > -- "Hige sceal že heardra, heorte že cenre, mod sceal že mare, že ure męgen lytlaš."]]> Sun, 10 Jun 2012 21:19:17 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-June/004799.html Fri, 11 May 2012 15:06:53 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-May/004347.html PS. Graeber Man, I miss the times when this list was all about Jodi Dean and Corey Robin. And Zizek. :-) ravi, ducking! P.S: I actually am inspired to read Graeber, so just kidding on all counts above.]]> Thu, 03 May 2012 02:06:41 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-May/003971.html On May 2, 2012, at 4:50 PM, c b wrote: > > > I think there are stats that most people in prison or a major fraction > > are for non-violent crimes , like drug possession. > >Not true, really. Less than 20% of state prisoners are in for drugs. Over >half are in for violent crimes, and another 20% for property crimes. > >http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t600012009.pdf > >Doug >___________________________________ >http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-]]> Sun, 12 Feb 2012 16:55:53 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-February/001731.html Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:17:23 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-February/001724.html ________________________________ > From: shag carpet bomb >To: Lame Brained Onanists >Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2012 8:25 AM >Subject: [lbo-talk] the courage to do nothing > >The Zizekian posture is one in which the only heroic thing to do in dark times is do nothing while dreaming of "an absolute, cataclysmic revolutionary act of violence." Thus, the hero constantly raises a hand and says "NO! NOt this! No! Not that either!", a politics of endless deferral while dreaming of deliverance from dark times, fantasizing The Subject of History that will mete out revolutionary violence. > >"Zizek counsels us to do nothing in the fa]]> Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:25:19 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-February/001722.html Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:21:53 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000798.html wrote: > Zizek, digestible for once: > > http://www.lrb.co.uk/v34/n02/slavoj-zizek/the-revolt-of-the-salaried-bourgeoisie > >One could argue that the uprisings in Egypt began in part as a revolt of the salaried >bourgeoisie (with educated young people protesting about their lack of prospects), but >this was only one aspect of a larger protest against an oppressive regime. On the other >hand, the protest didn t really mobilise poor workers and peasants and the Islamists >electoral victory makes clear the narrow social base of the original secular protest. Not sure Z knows what he's talking about here. The workers of Mahallah started the fire in 2008, rural mobilizations were extensive and very effective (Juan Cole has talked about this), and Tahrir was the culmination. The Islamists are not a unified group - the FJP looks more or less like the Egyptian version of the AKP. But that's about what you'd expect from any post]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:18:04 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000791.html On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 2:24 PM, Carrol Cox wrote: > >> It is arguable that the 5 highest paid athletes in Baseball & Football are >> the most exploited workers in the u.s.. Exploitation is a technical not a >> moral question. > > I don't follow baseball or football, but I do follow basketball, and > someone did a study recently that showed the really big superstars in > the NBA, the 15 or 20 most known players, produce astronomical amounts > of money for their franchises, merchandisers, and tv networks. I'm > using numbers that are not precise but more or less correct, but > LeBron James produced something like $120 million while only having a > salary of $16 million. I don t want to go too far down the line of argument on whether rich athletes are exploited or not, because I don t think it s central to Zizek s point, but: Is the above true? I don t know how they came up with the number, but Forbes says that NBA fran]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:13:41 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000788.html This whole discussion is totally off base. Employers don't derive >profit from the exploitation of "their" workers. They derive profit >from their relative position in the capitalist class as a whole: if >they are "perfectly competitive" (producers of a standardized >commodity, by standard methods and with no barriers to speedy entry of >competitors) in a competitive economy they receive as profit a share >of the society's aggregate surplus value proportional to their share >of the total invested capital, whether or not their workers produce >much or little of that total surpl]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:00:56 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000787.html Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:54:12 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000786.html // ravi: " 'exploiting' its workers more successfully (Microsoft pays <> its <> intellectual workers a relatively high salary). . . <> <> Non sequitur. Your argument may be correct, but this is no support for <> it. <> <> It is arguable that the 5 highest paid athletes ]]> Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:59:18 GMT http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/2012/2012-January/000782.html it was zizek writing that (not ravi), and I noticed it too. > > but isn't that typical of most leftists who see exploitation as a > moral issue, right? hardly anyone actually speaks of it as a > technical issue. > I think that s because most of us have no technical training. For us (non-technical :-) leftists), it *is* a moral issue. Far be it from me to defend Zizek, but I think you should consider the qualifier successfully in his sentence: > His wealth has nothing to do with Microsoft producing good software at lower prices than its competitors, or exploiting its workers more successfully (Microsoft pays its intellectual workers a relatively high salary). If I understand the technical term correctly, and I probably don t, exploitation occurs when the value created by the labour is greater than the price paid to the labourer. Assuming that s correct, one can, it seems to me, technically "measure" how much exploitation occu]]>