antisocialism

kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca kenneth.mackendrick at utoronto.ca
Wed Feb 9 15:37:34 PST 2000


On Wed, 9 Feb 2000 18:02:15 -0500 Miles Jackson <cqmv at odin.cc.pdx.edu> wrote:


> The further we get from using this psycho-discourse, the better off we'll be.

I'm going to suspend judgement on this one. Let's wait and see how far it gets us. If it turns up crap, then we can move forward by going back to the 19th Century through the 21st Century. I simply can't imagine thinking about things without thinking about the imaginary. I mean, *of course* enjoyment is a political factor. We do the things we do because we derive enjoyment, fulfillment, satisfaction from them. If it didn't feel "right" or "good" ... or even something traumatic like "work" or "labour" ... then we'd do something else (I'm pretty sure the idea of sadism and masochism and hedonism and utilitarianism are helpful). So if the political economy is driven by a libidinal economy... then we should talk about this ("No, repress it!"). Sure, psychoanalysis produces its own symptoms (Dark City is a Freudian film... so no wonder that it illustrates Freudian ideas!) - but this shouldn't stop us from thinking about it. Freud also noted that the symptom "outdoes" the cause... hell, wasn't that Marx's point?

(para)praxis! ken



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