RSA Animate - First as Tragedy, Then as Farce

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  • Social enterprise
  • Behaviour change

 

In this short RSA Animate, renowned philosopher Slavoj Zizek investigates the surprising ethical implications of charitable giving. View the original lecture on RSA Vision. Download a transcript of this video(pdf)

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  • this is why capitalism will be almost impossible to defeat in the first world. the welfare state is an attempt (quite successful) to placate the population by giving them bits of goodness so that they are just above the line between revolutionary and consent to the system.

  • In order to create new development and a more egalitarian distribution of goods and services, the means of production must first be centralized into a smaller managing (or professional revolutionary) hand.

    I find this weak ad hominum attack plainly ridiculous. I am in agreement with C Wit in that wooly liberal thinking about the inherent cruelty of denying charity is really an inability to examine the consequences of our own sentimental attitudes in the West.

  • Really great animation. Utter nonsense in terms of content. You socialists think that people, the economy are little gadgets that if tinkered with in just the right way, can produce your socialist utopia. People are not gadgets and the world is not a laboratory. Spontaneous order and market capitalism are what always naturally emerge and it is such because we are individual vessels with an interest in ever-improving conditions of life. Market capitalism produces wealth and freedom while socialism has always produced misery for the masses. It is a failed experiment and one that should never be undertaken again. Get over it socialists.

  • I thought you were taking your paycheck and eating a sandwich? Zizek is somewhat utopian, in that he supports, and encourages others to support, a change in the structure of power relations in our society, although not along C20 state socialist lines.

    Whether you agree with Zizek or not, changes in power relations is coming to the West as natural resources diminish and the usurious practices of banking prove unsustainable in a world where economic growth is no longer possible due to growing populations colliding with diminishing natural resources.

    It matters not a whit if you like what I am saying or what Zizek is saying - their will be revolution, whether it is intellectually coherent or feral is the only question remaining.

  • I have always distrusted those who say they are giving back, people who tok advantage of others all their lives and suddenly turn to charity. Zizek does a masterful job critiquing this.