If you want to get Zizek's 'I WOULD PREFER NOT TO' t-shirt you can do so here: i-would-prefer-not-to.com

KZfaq thinks he's speaking Dutch.

Love him or hate him, Zizek is LITERALLY spitting

All of the comments regarding Zizek's tics remind me of a quote by Confucius: "When a wise man points at the moon, the imbecile examines the finger."

the biggest argument he makes here is that socialism has become defined by things like social democracy (capitalism with social welfare programs) or just general social progressivism, but this is something that even self-identified socialists criticize. i don't think that the dilution of the term socialism means that leftists can no longer use the term, just means that the way the general public thinks of socialism isn't totally accurate. the same can easily be said for communism. it would be far more accurate to title this talk "why i call myself a communist and not a socialist" rather than "why i'm a communist but _not_ a socialist"

i always love it when he calls the hosts stalinists.

If this guy gets Covid... *God help us all...*

"Countries like India, Turkey, Putin" Ok, so apparently now my country does not even have a name and I am a citizen of Putin XD

How can you quit a meeting with Zizek? He's a legend! Just let him talk until the campus police drags him out.

Looks like a Christmas dinner and they are forced to listen to the single drunk uncle that travel around the world with a bicycle

I cant help but feel that at least part of Zizek's appeal is in trying to figure out what the hell he is talking about.

I'm a Zizekian Sniffalist.

Zizek's critique of this 'new left' reminds me a lot of the distinction Engels made between Scientific and Utopian Socialism. Democratic liberalism is just wearing the guise of leftism and yet we are surprised to see it consistently fail and be the object of ridicule. So removed are these Utopian capitalist reformists (or left Fukuyamaists, as he brands them) from an understanding of material realism that they can never hope to achieve any kind of substantial change in ecology, equality or power hierarchies. The idea that liberalism can stand up to authoritarian capitalism in the 21st Century is just ludicrous.

How does he manage to have so many intelligent points which are so utterly unrelated to his previous? Its pure stream of consciousness

Slavoj Zizek: You are too young, you won't remember. Also Slavoj Zizek: German Unification Elrond: I was there Slavoj, I was there 3000 years ago

I feel like the host isn't familiar with the way Zizek talks. He keeps looking at the audience in desperation. Zizek: "You know why I'm a communist?" Host: "Why?" Z: Well, I'll tell you a joke. It's hilarious really. You know what they say about Milanovic Abramovichistan's commentary on Ethiopia's revolution in 1854? Host: *nervously looks at audience Z: They say he got his ontological arguments confused with that of the Armenian genocide. Host:..

I think he often struggles with the fact that his mind is faster than his ability to express himself and that’s why he jumps so quickly between topics and thoughts

It frustrates me to watch Zizek's videos, because sometimes he says interesting things, but he is constantly changing the topic and rambling, as if it weren't hard enough to understand him already...

When he says ''my friend Fred Jameson'' and ''my friend Alain Badiou'' I immediately imagine a game night with them where they try to sabotage monopoly rules

Maybe subtitles would make him a little easier to understa, nope.

Sure glad he chose to be an academic rather than a Subway sandwich-artist!

>mentions lacanians >2 people immediately leave

The interviewer seems to have absolutely no idea who this man is. 😂

Can see Slavoj is following the Coronavirus guidelines very well.

Utterly absurd that this critique of liberalism is sponsored by PriceWaterhouseCooper (PWC) Lmfao, unreal

Please god make this man live forever.

This man is on a whole different fucking dimension of Hegelian thought, I can’t even make sense of that title

youtube captions got no chance on this man

this is just eating soup but without the soup

He’s such a fucking maniac and I love him for it

Slavoj is like every Yugoslav I have ever known: everyone in the office avoids commenting about Jody's appearance, and then one day they hire Vladimir, who on his first day walks in looking around like he fell from Mars and on meeting Jody says 'Whay is wrong with your face? Big mole right there."

"All that moves isn't always red." Good phrase.

Maybe one of you can help me out here: I've now seen quite a bit of Zizek. He always goes to great lengths to critizise the failures of one system or another, but I've never heard a statement of him where he actually details what he would prefer instead. In the clips I've watched he always talks about what he doesn't want, without ever saying what he wants. So... what *does* he want?

Why I’m a communist... because under communism there will be free tissue.

Can someone subtitle everything he says? I genuinely miss some of the things he says.

I feel like this one lacks enough gesturing, fidgeting, and nose touching.

I used to get frustrated trying to follow Z's train of thought but I've give that up. Now I just enjoy how entertaining this dude is. It's a great one man show, like Spalding Gray.

I wish all of his videos had subtitles.

He is a great man but, I would never shake his hand

If Sylvester was a real person.

Would be great if he’d finish a thought or two 😂

He didn't explain what it means to call himself a communist. Just a typical Zizek ramble.

"Why I Season My Cutting Board, NOT My Steak "

"you should invite him, the best theorist of catastrophies that I know.." ^_^ made my day

No english subtitles so I wrote a transcript. Please let me know where I made a mistake and I will fix it! "Uh, on the one hand I remain a communist in one sense. You know who for me is the saddest person? I wonder if you would agree. Habermas, you know, you're too young to remember, his, Habermas's reaction to German unification. Habermas's primordial fear was the idea that, maybe the west can learn something from East German disciplines. That's why Habermas coined this horrible term nahollende revolution. For him, Poland, Holland, Czech Republic, is Germany, was just to translate, usually it's translate, a catch-up revolution. They should join the west, they just want what we have. I don't think this works. I think that the reason of all this confused protests that we are going today, yellow vests, Chile, whatever you want. It's precisely, this is the final death of Fukuyama. That is to say, ah no it's easy to laugh at Fukuyama, but they claim till now 99% even of the left is there, I know where Fukuyama leftists. They basically thought, you know even, I spoke with people like, he's too corrupted by Putin now, I don't like him, but ah, only Verstow. He told me, listen Capitalism is the only thing that works, and, we just have to make it a little bit more you know- women's rights, gay rights, healthcare and so on and so on. But that for me left, left, Fukuyama-ism. You accept the system. I think that this confused practice coming today, it make it clear that no, liberal capitalism is not the ultimate forum. It will not work. And besides, that's why I spoke about all those problems. Uh, just three today. Uh, migrants, ecology, digital control. None of them could be solved in liberal capitalists frame. It's clear that ecology, okay, it's good of course to play the capitalist's game, to attack small polluters, but, the catastrophe that are waiting, maybe you know this story, I love it, uh my good friend Jean-Pierre Dupuy, an excellent..you should invite him here, the best theorist of catastrophe that I know, told me he was there as part of some European community delegation, two days after Fukushima. He told me that, for a couple of hours, the Japanese government was in total panic, it looked that they will have to evacuate the entire Tokyo area, 30 million people. Then, maybe they didn't have to, maybe they [garbled], I didn't care, but what I want to say, it's clear that we are facing problems better. Neither market, nor state, the way we'll have it today, will be able to do it. And that for me, the space for something that I prefer that to call communism, not socialism. Because today everybody is a socialist. I read an interview, Bill Gates is a socialist. Socialism means today, yeah, what you said, but not too much egotism, we should take care of you know. It's out there, and so on and so on. So, so, again, no, be accurate but don't forget just that we lack, and I quote here my Marxist friend Fred Jameson. We still lack what Jameson calls cognitive mapping. Kind of a global narrative in a good sense, I'm never a post-modernist, we need big global narratives, what goes on today. You know what for me is the true tragedy of today? China. Let's admit, no, well people say, communists always screwed up the economy. I tell them, sorry, do I hear you correctly? Was there ever in the history of humanity, I exaggerate a little bit but not a lot, such an economic triumph as China in the last 40, 50 years. Hundreds of millions better, were raised from poverty and so on. And how did they do it? The European left really hated two things, always, unbridled market competition, and strong authoritarian state. The Chinese precisely combined these two, you know. So what I, and, this is the future. India is much worse than China of course. Turkey, Putin, a new authoritarian capitalism is coming up, and I'm just a pessimist. And I think that, if you ask me what will happen, I'm so sad to say this. I wonder if you have a, I mean, I get engaged. Do you remember when there were elections half a year ago, when, unfortunately the left guy lost in Colombia? I supported the guy, he even thanked me with a letter. He almost won, the leftist candidate. So, I do get involved, but I still think that I don't have this old Marxist reliance. We know the general situation, we just need to mobilize the people. No! People are getting mobilized outside our scope, you know, like, take yellow vests in France, where my friend Alain Badiou, proposed a wonderful formula. You know what his answer to yellow vests, he said, in french, "Tout ce qui bouge n'est pas rouge". All that moves is not necessarily red. You know, that's, we live in such confused time, where what was still 20, 30 years ago, a sign of active left, social movements, even obscenity, agressivity, protests, is taken over by the right. And, the big temptation of the left is to play the law and order card. For example, in my own is, beloved president, I refer to him now as SG. I don't use the term Trump. SG. You know why? He repeat-SG, he repeatedly referred to himself as stable genius, you know. And so, as Trump would have put it, a shithole of a country Slovenia, well, it's horrible. Of course one has to prosecute hate speech in someone. But this desperate move of the left in my country, now, they're all of a sudden for police investigation, punish them, and so on and so on. Nothing against, I certainly don't want to defend the human rights of whatever racists. And just think that if you focus on this it means, again, the lack of a certain positive vision, and so on and so on. You know, what we should not forget, I was really furious when, ah, after Trump won three publishers approached me, "We need your psycho analysis. Would you like to do a psycho analysis of Trump, no?" I said no! Trump is doing something which is in some crazy sense, rational from his standpoint. He addresses, cause, I think the only way psycho analysis is needed, is the total stupidity of democratic party liberal reaction to Trump. They, there you need psycho analysis you know? So no, I hope, and you know why, I'm not a total pessimist, not in the religious sense, but in the political sense, miracles happen. Although they screwed it up, fine, but who would have thought that sireza, something like sireza is possible? Who would, ah, who would have, things happen, things happen here and there. Again, uh, Morales, Linera, were interesting, I think they are a couple. Because Morales, okay, I don't mean in a racist way, he was traditional, blah blah, all that, but Linera is a top intellectual you know. I always like, that's the condition of the left, this false opposite to overcome then. That's why, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, no, ah, said something wonderful recently, when she supported Bernie Sanders, she said, "Yes I support him not in spite of him being an old white man, but because he is an old white man." Because, this is the worse false opposition, to say that we need this young marginal, no, Bernie got this. You know who are Bernie's voters in Vermont? I know, I go often there, because my friends there run the only department in United States where lakenyans are in power. His voters are precisely the people who otherwise would have voted for Trump. These impoverished, middle cla-lower middle class farmers, this axis is crucial. The leftist plan in United States shouldn't be this clean from a position. Let's be more moderate to get the center. No! Let's get to us some of the Trump voters who are disappointed. So no, I am not a total pessimist. The point that you emphasized, listen, let me finish with an anecdote which is my most beloved anecdote from Marx. You know in 1800...70, 71, a Paris commune, ah, for a moment it appeared falsely we know now...[garbled]... European revolution. And Marx wrote in a letter to Angles in a panic, you know, "My god they want a revolution now, I didn't get finished capital" and so on. "Why can't they wait?" I think we should not be ashamed of this trust in theory, we need theory, we need to understand what goes on. Migo, you are more Stalinist than me, you call this democratic discussion, you know. One guy, probably you gave him the question...[garbled]... you know. Thanks very much, I talk too much, I know, I am grateful to you."

Donald Duck is his speech therapist.

I love listening to him (except when I'm eating). He does have some great points and ideas.

Zizek is impossible to argue against precisely for that reason, that he holds no open positions

"The goal of socialism is communism" -Vladimir Lenin

The interviewer looks quite concerned

In 2020 this man and his speech pattern is an existential threat to humanity.

the guy looking off into the distance mouthing conversations was a bit distracting also found the mood a bit odd, like he'd smile and joke with someone in the audeince adn then turn to slavoj and the smile would disappear and treat him with skepticism right away and then kinda shut him down at the end

Highlights: 3:46- 4:46 5:43- 6:04

The irony is, Liberal capitalism only worked when communism gave it leverage. As in the good cop/ bad cop routine - better embrace social democracy or else the Reds will beat the living daylights out of you. You need us to keep those lunatics at bay. Keynes said 'in the long run, we're dead' well if capitalism thinks it's immortal, it's never going to change. Which is a classic triad - Capitalism thesis, Communism antithesis - Social Democracy synthesis. Once the antithesis dissolves, the synthesis does too - and we're back to thesis, In fact the good cop, bad cop routine has spun over to the other side of the spectrum, now it's a case of Neo Liberals saying to the Left - better support us, or the neo-fascists are going to stomp all over you. Hence the Left vote for Macron, support Merkel, choose Biden over Bernie etc etc out of fear of the Right.

I can’t follow what he’s talking about at all.

Dude the guy is tweaked out of his mind and yet somehow still sober.

Watching Zizek speak in the time of COVID-19 is truly nerve-racking. The face touching and coughing shot my anxiety through the roof 😓

I didn't know Sylvester the cat was real.

I love that whenever he switches topics out of nowhere or go on a tangent the interviewer scratches his head.

when he said "things happen here and there".... i really felt it

I read more comments about what is seen , how he looks (how he speaks, his gestures, etc) and prejudices than about what he's saying.

We have some really big brain commentators I see.

"Miracle happens". He mentioned this on November 2019 and by late December, we started to have the corona outbreak leading to the disclosure of the huge lack of incompleteness on the Other.

the end was so good i love ol slavoj and his sense of humor

i think another important point he makes is that we should begin (again!) to look at all the struggles in societies in terms of a class struggle. it is easy to forget that because everything seems to be so complicated in our society, but essentially, we have the duty to pull workers and people of the lower classes in general towards class thinking and ultimately real socialism. unfortunately, as history showed many times, it is dangerous to not fight for the lower classes and leave them for the right (think trump).

"I'm a human, but i am not a mammal"

Why is the timelapse Ponyboy by Sophie?

"Things happen here and there" The Goat Quote

How can someone belive in Fukujamas Theories after reading Karl Popper?

8:54 Deleuzeans leaving to destroy Vermont

well that CERTAINLY cleared a lot up

I would just love to have a talk with him. The man is so fucking smart and unapologetic in his thinking. A true role model to look up to (philosophically speaking

My favorite part is...ahem: " spllsshhhpf blithurrpfs spithulllprsh!"

This is actually an extact from Sally Rooney's "Normal People"

@4:21 what did he say the first of the two thing is ? Un-something Market competition ?

Watch this with auto-generated english captions. you are welcome.

I love to watch his tics, and hear his spitting and strange accent. It adds some kind of comedy to his speeches, which is unintended but just makes his speech more engaging. I also feel that I can understand him even while I'm a Spanish man listening to a Slovenian man speaking in English (with no subtitles). Unfortunately some people will seriously use this as an argument to discredit him.

I just wish I could understand him.

Who was the "best theorist of catastrophes" that he mentioned?

Closed captions dosent work 😂

Syriza in GR is exactly the reason to be a total pessimist. They turned their back to the movement and they became one with the establishment.

I hope Slavoj doesn't get COVID-19. He touches his face quite a lot. But I love him.

Here for comments

Was he speaking about Alexander Dugin on 1:18?

He has more weird ticks than a Coke addict

We need a follow-up !!! AOC now has flipped to support Joe Biden, and I want to hear Zizek's ideas how this was cooking in the stove already, and what to do about this catastrophic situation. Biden will resist the war-lobbies much less than Trump.

I love zizek with all of my heart but I cant for the life of me interprate his lectures. Anyone know a good way to get used to accents?

who's the good friend that he says they should invite? I can't get the name.

The absolute legend

I’m a tiredist tired of all the ‘ists’

Strong opening sniffs.

I love how the interviewer bopped him with the board 10:25

Bloody hell, the sniffing is out of control, Zizek has to stop doing coke, but maybe it's his secret to understand Hegel

Slavoj doing Slavoj. God love 'im.

did anybody catch the name of the dude slavoj mentioned at 2:27? is he actually a catastrophe theorist? the dude that was there two days after fukushima?

When was this

I don't care about any of this besides that chair, that's a cool chair.

He’s really tough to listen too

Estoy viendo este video mientras "The Gumbo Variatons" suena en el fondo. Me gusta.

I love w/e (panel) guy trying to react to Zizek knowing that he too is on camera. I have to rewind the video at least 3 times in different parts just to partially understand the guy. The "wait, what?!" expressionin my face would be uniform throughout the talk.