[lbo-talk] Pointless polls

[Jim Devine]

On 7/29/05, Wojtek Sokolowski <sokol at jhu.edu> wrote:
> 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,...

FWIW, in the office building where I work, the "close the door" button
actually works! Maybe it's because the building used to belong to the
miltitary-industrial complex? (Raytheon designed high-tech landmines
here.)

 
> 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.  

is this that different from the US, where we see the "USA Patriot
Act," the "Clean Skies Initiative," the "No Child Left Behind Act,"
etc.? PR lies seem universal, both under bureaucratic socialism and
capitalism.
-- 
Jim Devine
"History is not statistically significant" -- Lucien Foldes & Pauline Watson.