Slavoj Zizek: Will today’s chaos lead to change for the better? | The Stream

In "Heaven in Disorder", philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek writes about the relentless chaos the world is experiencing: From a never-ending pandemic, capitalism and inequality, to climate catastrophe, and a post-truth political landscape.
Using the irreverent style of analysis that has made him both a prominent intellectual figure equally critical of the Left and Right, Zizek deconstructs the contradictions within political movements, popular ideologies, mass media and more. As an advocate for a new brand of Marxism, he continues to make the case that the world can emerge from global crisis with a "great reset" for socialism.
In this episode of The Stream, we'll speak to Zizek about his book, and ask whether the chaos of our times can be a catalyst for progress.
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#SlavojZizek

[@aljazeeraenglish]

Thanks for watching everyone. What do you think of what Slavoj said on the show?

[@saqibnawaz2464]

He said so on and so on! 😂

[@livefromplanetearth]

he watched don’t look up. nuff said

[@Experimentaccount1]

The quick cut off at 25 minutes was cute I must admit hahahahaha-that aside, “first as tragedy then as farce”-we’re currently in farce, immanent tragedy incoming imminently. He was a bit more succinct than usual here, but recently my sense has been that he doesn’t want to be too blunt about this, especially when chatting American liberals (I don’t blame him either). I detect that his position on vaccination has been ambiguous to the American ear, and this makes sense, given that the average American takes America to be the world at large (lol). I think some engagement with Agamben would be productive for Zizek here, though I suspect Zizek has already done this in his most recent book.

[@Experimentaccount1]

@@livefromplanetearth 🤣🤣🤣

[@ajmetz82]

Just the tip of the iceberg. 25minutes is too little air time to give to a philosopher, ^_^. Guess I have to go check out the book, lol.

[@atwarwithdust]

“Slavoj, take a pause for a moment.” Good luck with that. 😃

[@galek75]

*Immediately resumes talking*

[@saooran7364]

His face at the end is the same my cat does when the laser pointer goes off

[@martinn.6082]

"Very briefly" Proceeds to go on 15 tangents

[@TheTheshreyasraj]

🤣

[@TheCarlosgrau]

You're gonna need a bigger timeslot... Slavoj was brilliant as usual.

[@dt6822]

This was the sweetest lady interviewer who was absolutely out of her element here and unfortunately ended up making it something silly a bit because all the questions were the clinical therapy questions 'how did that make you feel' which was different, and kind of sweet, but also showed a lack of knowledge about the material, which isn't easy to grasp. While I think the interviewer did a good job improvising, it would really be more appropriate to have an academic or an academic journalist to interview Slavoj, but then again I don't know if Al Jazeera employs people like that.

[@marsulgumapu2010]

Her questions and the viewers as well provoked interesting responses so she did not fail in her mission

[@dt6822]

@@marsulgumapu2010 i agree!

[@jakubhladil5340]

I think she did a great job…. I liked how she asked him about his feeling.. I would like to know more about what is going on inside of slavojs head on the personal level

[@dt6822]

@@jakubhladil5340 He tries not to feel. I don't blame him. My gott!

[@jakubhladil5340]

@@dt6822 we need more interviews like this, its good when thinkers get asked emotional matters

[@Dan-oo4gt]

"Crisis itself is the answer of Problem". It means Problem has not been questioned/addressed well, as a result Crisis arose. "Every Fascism is a sign of failed revolution". Good to see you and listen you... Nice work from @ALjAZEERA

[@CompassionateCoos]

I don't think I ever saw an interviewer be able to keep Zizek from talking non stop as good as here, props to her!

[@user-rb7rx9cs6y]

I’ve honestly watched this interview so many times it’s hilarious- “What can I as a philosopher say about i don’t know ecological crisis? This is for specialists and so on”

[@guilhermehl]

It was a great interwiew! I love when slavoj zizek appears here! The only thing that i would like to ask you is dont interrupt slavoj when hes is talking. Thanks!!!

[@maximillianclark5197]

If he is not intereupted he will ramble until dawn...

[@bodbod8119]

@@maximillianclark5197 he can ramble for 1 week straight and i would still listen

[@benoitguillette8945]

Zizek is the most dangerous philosopher in the whole world, not only in the West.

[@flux202]

No real danger he poses on the East really. Global South aren't even threatenable...

[@kyriakos232]

@@flux202 no, at least he's dangerous also in China.

[@PrincessWithoutLand]

So awesome listening to Zizek. Really informative. I liked what he said about how dangerous the illusion of freedom is. It really makes me wonder about what we should do as consumers when capitalists offer us only 2 options to choose from in the market. While both contribute to pollution and environmental degradation. I guess we have to put our creative hats on

[@livefromplanetearth]

💍💍💍

[@paull2166]

@@livefromplanetearth I gave you a thumbs up👍. But you can't propose in the comments.

[@stevenmcgillivray9283]

In the US freedom, is not an illusion, it's a hard cold fact, and Capitalism, and free markets are the best systems known to Humankind. Communism, and Facism ended up as abject failures.

[@PrincessWithoutLand]

@@stevenmcgillivray9283 Did you listen to the full video? The idea of freedom being an illusion is the sense that you are free to choose. But that overlooks the fact that your options are predetermined by people with the freedom to create what's available to you

[@tka-tpa-prapatankalisari45192]

O MY BEAUTIFUL LADY! Thank you - and thank you so much! - O MY BEAUTIFUL LADY! for appreciation to us. O MY BEAUTIFUL! Save Our Planet 🌍🌏🌎! O my beautiful lady! Thank you. ### .

[@fraumusica.violin]

To interview such brillant mind puts high demands on the intellectual capacity of the moderator...! This usual artificial "seriousness", where the moderator pretends to get involved with the guests mindset, arguments and thoughts while she actually is just busy with trying to catch first possibility to present her in-advance prepaired interjections, no matter if it has anything with the guests thoughts and arguments to do, is, when your guest happens to be Slavoj Zizek himself, pretty much out of place...

[@LibertarianLeninistRants]

have him on more often!

[@ankursharma2502]

The comedy of the situation just when he says "democratic socialism is an actual option you can talk about it and you won't be immediately excluded " she interrupts him and ends the show.

[@akmmoinulhassan6431]

Great conversation.

[@EdwardLawrence-12345]

O admin. Thanks for your tolerance with me.. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much, admin. Thank you. And May God's peace 🌍🌏🌎 be upon you all: Staff and Crew of the 🌏 Al Jazeera Group 🌍🌎. Good luck to you all! God bless us 🌍🌏🌎 everyone! GOOD HEALTH ALWAYS! # Thank you. ***** .

[@huzaifbhat7838]

Apppsolutely..there is aljazaera and then there is 🌍🌎🌏 period.

[@paull2166]

Happy New Year Femi!

[@hissendaud653]

Thanks very much🙅

[@mariokery7155]

Such an esteemed guest and brilliant orator. I'm dreaming of an interview with Zizek and the president of Russia. Imagine.

[@seanmoran6510]

Putin would most likely throw him in prison And I can’t say I’d blame him

[@joea363]

It is worse, we no longer agree on the facts or have a shared reality.

[@ilhan1936]

Looks like the network fell short of their guest in this interview. The subject matter calls for better format and more qualified interviewers to do justice to this guest.

[@livefromplanetearth]

powerful questions are the answer!!!

[@ThePathOfEudaimonia]

I could listen hours upon hours to this great man.

[@alexandryapouliot913]

Poor Slavoj, the interviewer was really not up to snuff

[@Ecovaluations]

I would love to hear a discussion between Slavoj Zizek and Noam Chomsky, two brilliant thinkers.

[@jornalistarenatarosa4205]

and Yuval Harari as well

[@U4Eye]

You mean two Clowns🤣

[@theconfusedarmchairphiloso850]

@@U4Eye you cannot reasonably call chomsky a clown...

[@theconfusedarmchairphiloso850]

They wont talk, they despise each other.

[@murdochjennings7796]

@@theconfusedarmchairphiloso850 Zizek doesn’t, just Noam.

[@NobuhikuObayashi]

❤️ you ZIZEK

[@joshparrott8841]

More Slovoj

[@Experimentaccount1]

Yo the way they cut Slavoj off was foul gotdamn hahahahahaha

[@MonsterMacLLC]

So right you are about comedy! I really enjoyed your comments on reinventing democracy, because it is not adequate for expressing all sentiments, it seems to only be designed around caging them.

[@jakubhladil5340]

Im considering reading this book for a bit

[@megalocoman]

Wonderful interview, just as good as when he talked about CK Loui, the comedian.

[@fallenIights]

Interview Zizek again!

[@danielomar9712]

Slavoj Uncle back at it again , sniff sniff and so on.

[@Lydia1Fan]

interviewer did a great job here, asking straightforward questions and keeping the conversation moving with great presentation.

[@kyriakos232]

She certainly have a good grasp on Žižek's basic ideal and knows when to pull of when Žižek is starting to copy paste his own old stories.

[@jakubhladil5340]

I feel for Slavoj so much… My feelings are so relatable sometimes, I feel like we share some circuits in brain with Slavoj. I feel so different from some people in my circle and my family.. sometimes I feel they trust the system too much and just follow the rules and never question anything, I understand why they do it (they care about different metrics in life). They profit from this system and its in their best interest for it to thrive. Especially with this war thing going on I am trying to initiate a dialogue and talk about the causes and about the hypocrisy of the goverments in the west but the wont listen, they are so indocrinated in this system that they automatically reject any criticism or any other political stances and blindly consume what is being presented in the media? I cannot stop these people from participating in this Blindness. They judge everything from the surface level… and I came to the same conclusion as Slavoj: I cannot do anything but I will feel angry about it and possibly make jokes and fun of these people…. In the long run It will change, Im just so dissapointed with all the cheap lies being presented….

[@roxysponge3447]

Love Slavoj

[@Cooliofamily]

I love the state of media today. Democracy now even sometimes leans towards bite sized sound bites and concision. It hinders the audiences abity to get thorough information. Chomsky, for all of his faults, got this idea across wonderfully in manufacturing consent

[@jakubhladil5340]

You named it so right… its even more true now with the war… we are being manipulated into hating Russia so that the people are super agressive against it, so that we support our corrupt system…. We need a restart… we are being lied to constatly and its sad to see people falling for it with no chance of repair.

[@andyzhang7890]

For all the great things the internet has done, it’s really exacerbated this issue where most of us (me included most of the time) can only bare to intake news when it’s either short and concise, or interesting/inflammatory/etc, leading to a really skewed public perspective on everything… in this day and age I totally get why Zizek loves to joke and provoke, hard to get your thoughts heard otherwise. Also I’m not sure whether I love or despise your username 💀💀

[@Cooliofamily]

@@andyzhang7890 it’s okay to do both.. about how I feel about it as well

[@RobinHerzig]

Never seen a novice interviewing Slavoj like this, then get in a question from someone who knows who he's talking to. Kinda feel like she realized after a few mins she's in over her head. Maybe she'll be better prepared next time.

[@Ch0ckl8]

Much more appealing and comprehensive than his previous topics. Going for the book

[@jornalistarenatarosa4205]

Subtitles, please!

[@IvoMaropo]

His account on Don't Look Up is wrong. The scientists were REALLY shocked that nothing would happen to prevent the imminent thread from space to hit us. It was NOT an empty spectacle. With regard to the Glasgow meeting, though, he's spot on.

[@farrider3339]

The cultivation of apathy has a charme of its own. Social interaction is tremendously overrated and sold to us as to be the fuel for our existence. Question this in the first place. Toxicity in social relations everyone knows , but we are unwilling to draw the consequences. Next encounter will be good again. Next time we will find a compromise. Stop buying these doctrines ! Slavoy in great form 🏆 Now where are the questions to the assertions I've done 🤔

[@natasjadelange1062]

Wow

[@babydragon2047]

Get the word

[@ZARAAAKSHI]

He has a genius mind! Buying the book tomorrow!

[@joe.oneill]

I get where he's coming from, but I don't think the problem is so much our not asking questions, I think its more a matter of not getting answers to those questions. Especially from our governments.

[@that8858]

Because you aren't asking the RIGHT questions neither to the RIGHT persons, the government job is to keep their power and system in place and secure, THEN on the side tasks he will answer some questions.

[@PrincessWithoutLand]

I think there's truth to what you're saying. But some questions don't need answers from the government. And when we ask the right questions they can empower us to find the answes independently. For example, the interesting things we see from climate activists. I remember a movement of middle class Americans collecting food from the garbage bins, because of how much edible food was being wasted. Although this isn't appealing, it changes how a consumer understands the expiry date on the packaging. Suddenly they can save a couple of dollars each week

[@livefromplanetearth]

@@PrincessWithoutLand bruh listen to this queen 💍

[@lettucesalad3560]

At the end of the day, the "answers" from politicians is just a bunch of BS, to keep their current system of power and influence running and their pockets full of cash.

[@lowhat]

Slavloy ZeeZEK

[@nightoftheworld]

Perfect first episode for 2022-Heaven is in Disorder. Glad she can’t pronounce his name.

[@oro7114]

Anyone read this book, any thoughts on it?

[@PATR1CKBATEMAN]

it would be really awesome if she would stop interrupting him

[@zzzaaayyynnn]

I refuse to use the term "capitalism" any longer...we live within a global corporate fiefdom...

[@IGOR-wu4bx]

Varoufakis ✊

[@seemee5192]

Only Zizek can say Of course I condemn it in a second and then go on for five minutes why he condemns it.

[@israeldiegoriveragenius2th164]

We have a moral duty not to comply. No to discriminatory vaccine passports and mandates, it is an utter disgrace. This must not happen England. Will never vote Labour or Tory again. Disgraceful

[@ZeenathKauser]

🙋🥺

[@thedelta72]

Slavoj is great but good gawd, if he wants to convince broadly (which, given, is a different task than he’s used to) he should modify his language. I would substitute “communism” with “re-invigorated social democracy” or some such thing, which is arguably, at the end of the day, what he is advocating anyway. Or “a political alternative to neo-liberalism” would be another way to frame it. When he says “the answer is communism, never mind the 20th century” at the outset, he loses countless ppl who went through that, and cannot wrap their heads around anything going by the same name, as a legitimate solution. The interviewer seems smart, professional etc., yet also seems never to have even watched a Zizek interview on KZbin, as anyone who has knows you won’t get a short answer from him LOL. Overall, good to see though.

[@unkleskratch]

the wrong format to listen to Zizek...in a fast paced half hour show, he's just getting warmed up...

[@rauf3192]

Just put the anchor away...and let him speak😑😑

[@renatopordeus7683]

His discuss is music to the USA imperialism.

[@taki2owaki]

He is right Biden and democrats are lunatics just like the 2 party system itself

[@Dinofaustivoro]

The World is really far from democracy now

[@kareemkalisari]

SAVE OUR PLANET 👉 🌏 and Save Our Planet 👉🌎 Yes, it's Our Planet 👉🌍 Ladies and gentlemen! -- Ladies and gentlemen.. The Holy Bible tells us: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." The people of the world 🌍 can live together in peace. We know that is God's vision. Now that must be our work here! - on Earth🌍. Thank you. And may God's peace 🌏 be upon you all Thank you 🌍 very much. Thank you. 🌏 ...

[@xDemonTech]

Amen brother

[@aprilhawkins6406]

i like you a lot.

[@adamlewis3729]

Isn't the point of a podcast or stream like this to let the guest answer the questions? Even if it takes time, just ask less questions then. It seems like her only goal was to interrupt him as much as possible in order to squeeze in as many questions as possible.

[@neovxr]

call it cybernetic feudalism, that has coopted a helper-movement that should be recognized as neo-puritanism.

[@jameskenny8821]

She's a professional talk show host but can't communicate with her optimism against his pessimism.

[@marsulgumapu2010]

This unfortunately felt like the TV interviews on Don’t Look Up references in the interview. No fault to the interviewer… what can she do? “The sky is falling? Oh, ok .. we’ll what do you think about topic B”?

[@joannasott5675]

Touchee

[@milliemitchell3782]

No comment. Regards from Texas !!!

[@yamanaswad7769]

Let the man talk

[@jarosawbielski2301]

Your eyes see strengers things, and your hert utters perverse things.

[@ChicagoTurtle1]

Crisis is the answer to the problem? Maybe the crisis IS the problem.

[@Mikestheman2b]

The crisis originated from somewhere. It didn’t just appear for no reason. It is a symptom of something wrong with the system. A crisis is an opportunity to find out what’s wrong with the system and fix it.

[@ChicagoTurtle1]

@@Mikestheman2b Yup. What you explain is the normal process of crisis. A crisis is a result of a thousand poor decisions.

[@stella1444]

1:40 you can hear how nervous she is he's about to do a jewish joke

[@jessicaanderson750]

9:05

[@skyinuri8868]

Žižek 2019: catastrophe and so on.. Žižek for Aljazera: no snort no touching nose (Appreciated) Quran: chapter 36 : 45

[@taki2owaki]

??? Wat u mean

[@jarosawbielski2301]

The plea of Moses, the man of God. Lord, you were our refuge from generation to generation.

[@maxheadrom3088]

The main problem with racism is the concept of race itself.

[@genericfaceless]

0:20 'slavllloyd zhiksalck' say wut?

[@murdochjennings7796]

Comrade Ž

[@linfenghuang2115]

Why Zizek is so in love with Mao.

[@TeaParty1776]

He likes mass murder/

[@IvoMaropo]

But he's not. Badiou is much more of a "partner in crime".

[@TeaParty1776]

There is no chaos. Everything is ordered. Zizek should drink some tea and do some Yoga exercises. He should move to Los Angeles and find a California girl.

[@marsulgumapu2010]

As long as you got yours, what’s the problem, right? Never mind the generations you (unintentionally?) sold out to get it.

[@TeaParty1776]

@@marsulgumapu2010 The Objectivist ethics holds that human good does not require human sacrifices and cannot be achieved by the sacrifice of anyone to anyone. It holds that the rational interests of men do not clash-that there is no conflict of interests among men who do not desire the unearned, who do not make sacrifices nor accept them, who deal with one another as traders, giving value for value. -Ayn Rand

[@cbeeteeshirt393]

i am a reactionary but i cant help but admire zizek and his work unfortunate they had such a small time frame

[@austejalunskyte-yildiz287]

The Host needs to learn the name of the guest... I mean Žižeks is one of maybe 5 most importatnt living philosophers on this planet. How unprofessional and unprepaired the for the interview the host is shocked me! Was not only the name... some questions were a shame if posed by a higjschool student.

[@bshbz82]

zizek as usual....

[@hadirahimi2311]

Good but definitely not enough. For a brilliant mind like his 25 minutes maybe would have been enough if hadn't been interrupted.

[@1330m]

very good . Longitude 127 Seoul Okinawa Soul Axis -- Bahai Faith Rael Jesus Huh kyung young Great aletheia

[@josephs9600]

The answer is no

[@farrider3339]

Yes , "no"

[@andrewmyers8483]

''Of course I condemn it, but...'' Who would have thought Maoist chic could be presented to you by the Emir of Qatar before this. The Heavens are indeed in disorder.

[@NoNameNoShame22]

lol "​is liberalism the final boss?"

[@letrockonalternate]

she butchered that pronounciation she did my boy dirty

[@amyswigert7206]

Doctor my brother is pregnant with a chicken I need a second opinion not to put him down, doctor says why not put him down man says because we need the eggs$$$

[@downtownphoenix1gossippodc78]

zizek has been repeating the same psycho-babble for the last 15 years. senility is not a hoax

[@alltheuseduniverse]

42

[@andrewign5806]

More and more. 🤣

[@AveCaesar2112]

I really do enjoy the host, but man does that face look twisted

[@rayray9093]

天上大乱，形势大坏

[@jorgeabraham3414]

Jeez, what a terrible interview, felt like the most stupid of the morning shows. I was really disappointed, I saw Zizek... on Al-Jazeera and I thought this is gonna be amazing and OMG what a disappointment. You have Zizek on your show and you are still with that "elvis of cultural theory" stuff from Wikipedia? I felt totally akward watching this, sorry guys I usually love your content but this was BADDDD. You have Zizek and make a ridiculous conventional interview, c'mon guys, be serious. Watch Jacobin for examples on how to engage thinkers like him on an interview.

[@Smittumi]

Yes, well put.

[@monibahmad]

Exactly my sentiments. Couldn't have said it better.

[@dushanmlakar7099]

Everyone is not a scholar and an intellectual, they too need to hear the massage...

[@booneblocker3200]

Exactly what we don’t need, more Marx.

[@xDemonTech]

Get over it, he's super relevant. The problems he laid out still plague us

[@booneblocker3200]

@@xDemonTech there’s better, more contemporary thinkers than old communists. And no, I won’t get over keeping Marx in the dustbin of history, where he belongs.

[@rominafalconi8243]

you haven't even read marx

[@booneblocker3200]

@@rominafalconi8243 and you haven’t honestly thought about how many Stalin, mao and pol pot exterminated. Kick rocks commie.

[@booneblocker3200]

@@JohnSmith-mc2zz found another communist.

[@tytospokojnie]

oh gee, this presenter is so cringe xd

[@tytospokojnie]

a real-life version of the two in "Don't Look Up"lol

[@R_e_d_L_i_o_n]

Sounds very anarchist

[@konkos5473]

no offense to the presenter of this show but i suspect , from what i know about Zizek, he must have been contemplating suicide throughout this interview

[@arisplugis5197]

i myself am so called far right. but it always interests me what this man say. i always respected Zizek because he doesn't hide his socialism. like Greens and Progressives tray to do. i'm completely opposing Zizek and his Marxist ideas. but they always interests me though. i keep my friend close, but enemy even closer...

[@dushanmlakar7099]

Fool

[@arisplugis5197]

@@dushanmlakar7099 no. he is not. he is just socialist. borderline communist.

[@lawxs9114]

Fool conservative

[@arisplugis5197]

@@lawxs9114 no. i consider myself national populist. i want reforms. conservatives don't. that is the difference in terminology.

[@arisplugis5197]

@@JohnSmith-mc2zz he is my enemy because communism killed all my family. he is my enemy because he thinks that nation states are a mistake. he is my enemy because he supported Soviet Union.

[@SpishvSpash]

What bullsh!t!

[@fv8631]

You will grow.

[@dushanmlakar7099]

Wake

[@benjamindavidovichwaals2899]

Slavoj? Ewwwwww

[@denniskiruai9125]