First as Tragedy, Then as Farce by Slavoj Zizek

Author:Slavoj Zizek [Zizek, Slavoj]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Filosofia
ISBN: 9781844674282
Google: B2KE5a1KVcQC
Amazon: 1844674282
Publisher: Verso
Published: 2009-10-04T22:00:00+00:00

80 FI RST AS TRAGEDY. THEN AS FARCE

One should generalize from this statement: although we always recognized the urgency of the problems, when we were fighting AIDS, hunger, water shortages, global warming, and so on, there always seemed to be time to reflect, to postpone decisions (recall how the main conclusion of the last meeting of world leaders in Bali, hailed as a success, was that they would meet again in two years to continue their talks . . . ). But with the financial meltdown, the urgency to act was unconditional; sums of an unimaginable magnitude had to be found immediately. Saving endangered species, saving the planet from global warming, saving AIDS patients and those dying for lack of funds for expensive treatments, saving the starving children . . . all this can wait a little bit. The call to "save the banks !" by contrast, is an unconditional imperative which must be met with immediate action. The panic was so absolute that a transnational and non-partisan unity was immediately established, all grudges between world leaders being momentarily forgotten in order to avert the catastrophe. But what the much-praised

"bi-partisan" approach effectively meant was that even democratic procedures were de facto suspended: there was no time to engage in proper debate, and those who opposed the plan in the US Congress were quickly made to fall in with the majority. Bush, McCain and Obama all quickly got together, explaining to confused congressmen and women that there was simply no time for discussion-we were in a state of emergency, and things simply had to be done fast . . . And let us also not forget that the sublimely enormous sums of money were spent not on some clear "real" or concrete problem, but essentially in order to restore confidence in the markets, that is, simply to change people's beliefs!

Do we need any further proof that Capital is the Real of our lives, a Real whose imperatives are much more absolute than even the most pressing demands of our social and natural reality? It was Joseph Brodsky who provided an appropriate solution to the search for the mysterious "fifth element:' the quintessential ingredient of our reality:

''Along with air, earth, water, and fire, money is the fifth natural force

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