Comments on: Goodbye, Mr. Capitalism! http://www.steelbananas.com/2009/11/goodbye-mr-capitalism/ that post-pomo variety show Tue, 24 Aug 2010 08:47:47 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: B-Rad http://www.steelbananas.com/2009/11/goodbye-mr-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-9279 B-Rad Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:36:27 +0000 http://www.steelbananas.com/?p=4595#comment-9279 Communist sympathy is certainly low amongst the mainstream media and the majority of the populace effected by said media. But the issue is then what we mean by the term 'communism'. If you're referring to the Soviet Union and the experiences of the 20th century, then that is separate from the idea of communism itself. If we take the experiences of China and Russia, then I myself do not want to see that repeated again, and as do many people. It's interesting that you think communism is a dead, old idea. Coming from a philosophy background, I can tell you that ideas never die off. Even the most backward, absurd ideas are still 'alive' in discourses. Now, 'the way things are going' doesn't necessarily mean that the idea of communism is irrelevant. As Zizek point out, if anything, our way of life cannot sustain the 'way things are going'. We will soon find ourselves is a form of society that is best portrayed in the movie 'Children of Men'. The very notion of communism, as the human strive for social equality in its entirety is something which dates back to Plato. So long as there is social and economic antagonisms, the idea of a classless and prosperous society will never fade. I recommend looking into Zizek's short book, cited below if you're interested. Communist sympathy is certainly low amongst the mainstream media and the majority of the populace effected by said media. But the issue is then what we mean by the term 'communism'. If you're referring to the Soviet Union and the experiences of the 20th century, then that is separate from the idea of communism itself. If we take the experiences of China and Russia, then I myself do not want to see that repeated again, and as do many people.

It's interesting that you think communism is a dead, old idea. Coming from a philosophy background, I can tell you that ideas never die off. Even the most backward, absurd ideas are still 'alive' in discourses. Now, 'the way things are going' doesn't necessarily mean that the idea of communism is irrelevant. As Zizek point out, if anything, our way of life cannot sustain the 'way things are going'. We will soon find ourselves is a form of society that is best portrayed in the movie 'Children of Men'. The very notion of communism, as the human strive for social equality in its entirety is something which dates back to Plato.

So long as there is social and economic antagonisms, the idea of a classless and prosperous society will never fade. I recommend looking into Zizek's short book, cited below if you're interested.

]]> By: Johnnyman http://www.steelbananas.com/2009/11/goodbye-mr-capitalism/comment-page-1/#comment-9276 Johnnyman Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:11:24 +0000 http://www.steelbananas.com/?p=4595#comment-9276 What do we make of the fact communist sympathy and working class agitation has appeared to be (almost ridiculously) low during this recession? It seems that the most common political reactions have been calls for regulated capitalism--people seem less interested in actually overhauling things than every before. I can never help feeling that communism is an old, dead idea that isn't relevant to the 21st century. The way things are going, it seems like everything's just going to accelerate into some kind of hyper-capitalism where the economy is sustained by a small mechanized workforce exploited by a small elite, and the rest of us just leech off the refuse. I did, however, pull that theory out of my ass in the last 5 minutes, so I could be wrong. What do we make of the fact communist sympathy and working class agitation has appeared to be (almost ridiculously) low during this recession? It seems that the most common political reactions have been calls for regulated capitalism--people seem less interested in actually overhauling things than every before.

I can never help feeling that communism is an old, dead idea that isn't relevant to the 21st century. The way things are going, it seems like everything's just going to accelerate into some kind of hyper-capitalism where the economy is sustained by a small mechanized workforce exploited by a small elite, and the rest of us just leech off the refuse. I did, however, pull that theory out of my ass in the last 5 minutes, so I could be wrong.

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