[lbo-talk] Zizek on Obama

[Dwayne Monroe]

Zizek's argument here is a bigger version of something  Julio Huato
put forward on list during our earlier Obama wars: namely, that the
most important thing about an Obama victory is the possibilities it
might create *in spite of* the realities of his role as POTUS.  (An
example of this sort of paradox can be found in the way imperialist
Japan's "co-prosperity sphere" war against Euro/American powers -- in
spite of its incredible violence against the very peoples it
supposedly liberated -- nurtured the post war idea of independence
from white domination).

For those of us who've read Zizek's latest book, 'In Defense of Lost
Causes', it's clear his post election essay's tilt is derived from one
of that work's key ideas and it's no accident the French revolution's
unlooked for consequences are prominently featured.  Zizek
comprehensively discusses this in Chapter 4: "Revolutionary Terror
from Robespierre to Mao".  Yes, Zizek says, the revolution created the
terror, but it also gave birth to a powerful idea which should not be
dismissed.  This is also his interpreation of Stalin's *emotional*
legacy (and within the book, he provides us with a truly remarkable
analysis of the difference between Stalinist terror and that of the
Nazis).

What's so attractive about Zizek's approach is the way it sprints past
tedious arguments over what 'progressive' policies President Obama may
or may not pursue -- indeed, it leaps over Obama himself to focus on
potential psychological impacts.

.d.