Liberalism: a Future Faux Pas or Correctable Success
LIBERALISM: A FUTURE FAUX PAS OR CORRECTABLE SUCCESS
Slavoj Žižek’s Criticism of Liberalism
Liberalism offers the luxury of equal opportunity to all people with minimal interference from any form of bureaucracy. Although it is not in its entirety perfect, in my opinion, it is by far the best ideology that has given people the power to be in control of their livelihoods, their economic status and the freedom to live their lives under no social or bureaucratic conformation or pressure. It is important to draw the distinction between Classical Liberalism which transformed our society tremendously for the better and Social Liberalism which gave rise to Capitalism.
In his interview with Stephen Sackur, Slavoj Žižek points out the weaknesses of Liberalism but fails to identify its strengths, which he nonetheless argues that we should keep.
Žižek argues that Liberalism is a naïve concept and cannot solve the problematic phenomena that we are currently experiencing. In his book, Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle, he wrote: “Better the worst Stalinist terror than the most liberal capitalist democracy”, yet in contrast, he slams Stalinism and even goes as far as saying that it was worse than Nazism. Can Nazism be worse than Liberalism and on what grounds can they be compared? The notion is repulsive and does not compare apples with apples.
There exists monopolistic trends worldwide and a sense of greed lingering as a result of Capitalism but Classic Liberalism has attempted to neutralise the harshness of Capitalism, however, Social Liberalism may have exacerbated the problem, so depending on which side of the fence you are; Classical or Social Liberalism, your view on Capitalism may differ. Žižek’s concern is that Capitalism or Social Liberalism is causing the growth of social apartheid and it ought to be ended. According to him, many people are left isolated and excluded and are ‘living outside of the public space’. My deduction is that people that these are people
Slavoj Žižek’s Criticism of Liberalism
Liberalism offers the luxury of equal opportunity to all people with minimal interference from any form of bureaucracy. Although it is not in its entirety perfect, in my opinion, it is by far the best ideology that has given people the power to be in control of their livelihoods, their economic status and the freedom to live their lives under no social or bureaucratic conformation or pressure. It is important to draw the distinction between Classical Liberalism which transformed our society tremendously for the better and Social Liberalism which gave rise to Capitalism.
In his interview with Stephen Sackur, Slavoj Žižek points out the weaknesses of Liberalism but fails to identify its strengths, which he nonetheless argues that we should keep.
Žižek argues that Liberalism is a naïve concept and cannot solve the problematic phenomena that we are currently experiencing. In his book, Iraq: The Borrowed Kettle, he wrote: “Better the worst Stalinist terror than the most liberal capitalist democracy”, yet in contrast, he slams Stalinism and even goes as far as saying that it was worse than Nazism. Can Nazism be worse than Liberalism and on what grounds can they be compared? The notion is repulsive and does not compare apples with apples.
There exists monopolistic trends worldwide and a sense of greed lingering as a result of Capitalism but Classic Liberalism has attempted to neutralise the harshness of Capitalism, however, Social Liberalism may have exacerbated the problem, so depending on which side of the fence you are; Classical or Social Liberalism, your view on Capitalism may differ. Žižek’s concern is that Capitalism or Social Liberalism is causing the growth of social apartheid and it ought to be ended. According to him, many people are left isolated and excluded and are ‘living outside of the public space’. My deduction is that people that these are people