Response to ‘Slavoj Žižek and the Recycling Superstition’
In this response to my previous post (Slavoj Žižek and the Recycling Superstition) I address the ‘the Rs of sustainability’; continue my examination of Žižek’s notion of superstition and his invocation of the ‘paradox of the performative’; and link to a backlight.vpro.nl video in which Žižek is interrogated by giant video screens.
Slavoj Žižek and the Recycling Superstition
Two weeks ago (Thursday, July 1st 2010) I attended Slavoj Žižek’s lecture at the LSE, marking the release of his new book: Living in the End Times. In this post I will address Žižek’s provocative claim that efforts at personal recycling—‘small everyday acts’—equate simply to a superstition. This was by no means the focus of his lecture—it was little more that a passing comment—but, whether he has any valid grounds for making such a statement or not, a careful examination of this contention is an interesting departure point.
All Quiet on the Western Front
In this post I discuss the recent lack of activity at jonathanwaring.net, and then comment on some possible titles for future examinations, including: ‘Scientology and the ARC Triangle: The Value of Systematising’; ‘Anarchism and Libertarianism’ and ‘What if Hitler was Right: On the Importance of Interrogating Wrong Ideas’.
L. Ron Hubbard in Drag: Ayn Rand on the Internet
Best restroom graffiti I ever saw in college was, “Ayn Rand is L. Ron Hubbard in Drag.” The above is a quote from a comments post, spotted while searching for connections between our two current protagonists in the collective Internet culture. There are a couple of other variants dating from 2005 onwards—try searching for the, […]
Current research: Ayn Rand and L. Ron Hubbard
I am in the process of researching the conceptual systems and philosophies of ‘dubious’ thinkers—particularly those who have been successful in spreading their ideas into popular culture. Currently my research is focused on, and is interested in contrasting, the ideas and writings of Ayn Rand (founder of the ‘philosophy’ of Objectivism, through which she claimed […]
Getting the look of this blog right is going to prove a challenge
I’ve now tried out a variety of WordPress themes and I’m not really happy with any of them. All those I’ve installed have had at least one attribute in their favour, but then they’ve all then had more things going against them. I don’t really want to get bogged down editing themes (or getting into […]