Communism, of course.
Slovenian Philosopher Slavoj Žižek expressed sympathy for “communism” at a recent lecture during the London Literature Festival and I was surprised at what he meant when he used that word.
Žižek openly admitted it was not the communist states of the 20th Century that he followed, but that communist ideology* remained relevant to our times nevertheless.He said communism as played out in recent history “works perfectly when people don’t take it seriously”.
In order to maintain control, a communist state must claim to be following the core ideology and yet as soon as someone within that state really starts to take it seriously and work towards shared ownership for all they become a threat to the heads of state and thus “the first step towards dissidence”.
Žižek claims the good thing about communism in practice was that it was less popular than fascism. No one says Hitler betrayed Nazism, but there are plenty of people who say Stalin betrayed Communism. There seems to be some broader ideal that communists believed in – something bigger than the individuals who claimed to wield it.
20th Century Communism would not have worked, but there is something that Žižek still uses that c-word for. He mentioned the recent BP oil spill as an example of how ecological problems cannot be fought with capitalism and he also frequently pointed out that Biogenetics is a common issue. No single body can decide how humanity’s genetic future should be properly handled.
Žižek’s word “communism” is almost a “concern for the commons” and advocates the kind of shared responsibility for our world that capitalist emphasis on personal ownership and sole responsibility for that which you own cannot address.
“With great power comes great responsibility.”
This may be a quote from Uncle Ben in Spiderman, but it’s true nevertheless.
With those things which are the greatest responsibility, like our earth and its future, there is only enough power in our entire humanity to manage it and so we must all be empowered.
*Žižek uses the word “ideology” broadly as “cultural aspirations people have”.
