[lbo-talk] Pointless polls

[Wojtek Sokolowski]

Simon:
> Is this what Zizek calls a placebo of democracy? One
> can 'have one's say' on anything, but this right
> disappears when it comes to making a real difference?
> 
> Zizek: It is a well-known fact that the "Close the
> door" button in most elevators is a totally
> disfunctional placebo, placed there just to give the
> individuals the impression that they are somehow
> participating, contributing to the speed of the
> elevator journey - when we push this button, the door
> closes in exactly the same time as when we just
> pressed the floor button without "speeding up" the
> process by pressing also the "Close the door" button.
> This extreme case of fake participation is an
> appropriate metaphor of the participation of
> individuals in our "postmodern" political process.
> (http://www.lacan.com/zizeklenin34.htm)

Of course, as an Eastern European Zizek knows that because  Eastern European
societies under communism were saturated with such democratic placebos,
starting from naming conventions cf. German "Democractic" Republic, The
"People's" Republic of ____. "Citizen's Militia"  (denoting the state
security forces) etc.  Other examples - the Party or union membership which
in theory were designed as counterbalances to local authorities and plant
management and that "watchdog" role was advertised by government propaganda
(i.e. citizens were encouraged to write letters to party or union officials
reporting malfeasance, abuses of power etc.).  There was also the laughable
"Book of complaints and suggestions" that by law every service establishment
had to maintain.  

Wojtek