tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post9121279686885974046..comments2023-10-17T08:19:58.196-04:00Comments on FreeThinke: FreeThinkehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-39196476617541833332013-03-04T10:43:27.863-05:002013-03-04T10:43:27.863-05:00Marx's demonically destructive influence on Wh...Marx's demonically destructive influence on White European Christian Civilization does not mean that Marx was entirely wrong, had nothing worthwhile to say, or that he was "stupid."<br /><br />He -- like so many of us who sincerely believe we "mean well" -- may have been just another victim of The Law of Unintended Consequences.<br /><br />In "real" life I have known many Marxists who were very kind, decent, well-meaning individuals. That, of course, makes it much harder to deal with them in the manner their beliefs deserve.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-63138469811326848322013-03-03T21:12:24.724-05:002013-03-03T21:12:24.724-05:00I'm glad you liked it. Don't let the fact...I'm glad you liked it. Don't let the fact that Zizek is a.Marxist throw you. He's more "Lacanian" than Marxist. Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-82011283991923435262013-03-03T11:05:06.836-05:002013-03-03T11:05:06.836-05:00Thank you, Jen. Compliments are rare in the blogos...Thank you, Jen. Compliments are rare in the blogosphere, and therefore, all the more appreciated.<br /><br /><br />Thersites, your last Zizek link was so remarkably astute -- and so in line with my own thinking --, I'm going to post it directly here. I hope you don't mind?<br /><br /><b>Multi-culturalism - Embracing the Good, Repressing the Bad, about the "Other"<br /><br />Lacan shares with Nietzsche and Freud the idea that justice as equality is founded on envy: the envy of the other who has what we do not have, and who enjoys it. <br /><br />The demand for justice is ultimately the demand that the excessive enjoyment of the other should be curtailed, so that everyone’s access to enjoyment will be equal. <br /><br />The necessary outcome of this demand, of course, is ascetism: since it is not possible to impose equal enjoyment, what one can impose is the equally shared prohibition. However, one should not forget that today, in our allegedly permissive society, this ascetism assumes precisely the form of its opposite, of the generalized injunction “Enjoy!”. <br /><br />We are all under the spell of this injunction, with the outcome that our enjoyment is more hindered than ever – recall the yuppie who combines Narcissistic Self-Fulfillment with utter ascetic discipline of jogging and eating health food. <br /><br />This, perhaps, is what Nietzsche had in mind with his notion of the Last Man – it is only today that we can really discern the contours of the Last Man, in the guise of the predominant hedonistic ascetism. <br /><br />In today’s market, we find a whole series of products deprived of their malignant property: coffee without caffeine, cream without fat, beer without alcohol… and the list goes on. What about virtual sex as sex without sex, the Colin Powell doctrine of warfare with no casualties (on our side, of course) as warfare without warfare, the contemporary redefinition of politics as the art of expert administration as politics without politics, up to today’s tolerant liberal multiculturalism as an experience of Other deprived of its Otherness (the idealized Other who dances fascinating dances and has an ecologically sound holistic approach to reality, while features like wife beating remain out of sight)? <br /><br />Virtual reality simply generalizes this procedure of offering a product deprived of its substance: it provides reality itself deprived of its substance, of the resisting hard kernel of the Real -– in the same way decaffeinated coffee smells and tastes like real coffee without being the real one, Virtual Reality is experienced as reality without being [real].<br /><br />Everything is permitted, you can enjoy everything -– on condition that it is deprived of the substance which makes it dangerous.</b><br /><br /><br />~ Zizek, "How to Read Lacan"<br /><br />FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-9555567340500527682013-03-03T00:16:10.692-05:002013-03-03T00:16:10.692-05:00Thanks,FT. I really enjoy your blog. You have a un...Thanks,FT. I really enjoy your blog. You have a unique view on life and personal communication, which I appreciate.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02531079334473031464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-79282652119104876512013-03-02T12:26:46.546-05:002013-03-02T12:26:46.546-05:00@Jen
Always a pleasure.@Jen<br /><br />Always a pleasure.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-74416802056882310462013-03-02T12:16:18.511-05:002013-03-02T12:16:18.511-05:00On the melting pot w/o the "melting" (ak...On the <a href="http://thersitescampsite.blogspot.com/2013/03/multicultural-totalitarianism-depriving.html" rel="nofollow">melting pot</a> w/o the "melting" (aka - liberal multiculturalism)Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-46502907104550812642013-03-02T11:51:44.586-05:002013-03-02T11:51:44.586-05:00Hello, Jen. I am very glad to see you here. I hope...Hello, Jen. I am very glad to see you here. I hope you will be a frequent "guest."<br /><br />I gather that what FJ means is that when ALL is permitted, everything soon loses its meaning and value. In such an environment we quickly lose our moral compass, degenerate very rapidly, and then fall prey to the first would-be dictator who comes along promising to straighten out the mess.<br /><br />Freedom is a terrifying prospect to the majority, I suspect, and that must be why we keep putting ourselves back in chains over and over and over again.<br /><br />I hasten to add that "mind-forged manacles" are every bit as inhibiting as those made of iron and steel. The unenlightened human mind might just as well be living in a dungeon.<br /><br />At the same time precious freedom is worthless to those who are not prepared to guard, protect and defend it. FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-4597497871722598272013-03-02T11:15:35.167-05:002013-03-02T11:15:35.167-05:00Thanks for clarifying, fj. Thanks for clarifying, fj. Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02531079334473031464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-17516703746502897732013-03-02T10:53:35.904-05:002013-03-02T10:53:35.904-05:00Thank you for your boilerplate argument attempting...Thank you for your boilerplate argument attempting to challenge what-you-mistakenly-believe to be my argument, Anonymous.<br /><br />If you took the time to read more carefully and react with less vociferation, you would realize how wrong you are in your interpretation of my motives in presenting the data that comprises the bulk of the article in question.<br /><br />Human nature in action never fails to astonish, appall and amuse, which is the primary reason I bother to maintain this blog. <br /><br />The search for affirmation and comprehension rarely fails to come up empty-handed.<br /><br />The all-too-rare occasions when that is not the case are still a source of hope, but Alas! hope these days is beginning to fail for lack of oxygen.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-22435058981646044012013-03-01T22:03:20.764-05:002013-03-01T22:03:20.764-05:00This blog is called free think but is covered with...This blog is called free think but is covered with white bashing non sense and reasserting the BS theories that whites hold their advantage by exploiting other races, while the opposite is true. Everywhere whites formerly dominated, in African colonies for instance but also chicago, detroit or Haiti, these countries and cities have returned to chaos as soon as whites left. Germans have prooved they can rebuilt a down to the ground bombed country anew in 10 years and being a europe firster again another 10 years later. YOu use very ill chosen exemples which give more reasons to Obama on his warpatrh against white society. America owes nothing to slavery, and from what I read in this NatGeo article of the missipi flood for once blacks were used to save their own land, so? Big deal. Nor is sending some apaches or japanese prisoners in times of war to a camp a serious misdeed. Learn about world wide barbarism, cannibalism and slavery in the 19the century and you will find that the continents most exempt where there were whites lived, europe and america. All big slave owners, traders and hunters were of the tribe we dare not mention BTW and who turned into welathy big pharma or food comapnies later on like Mopn santo, not your typical greatgreatgranddad who had any profit from slavery . Start to free think, start with history research. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-41562008428739692072013-03-01T21:22:31.773-05:002013-03-01T21:22:31.773-05:00What you are NOT allowed to do is smoke a cigarett...What you are NOT allowed to do is smoke a cigarette, and/or force others to breath second hand smoke. THAT. should make you feel very VERY guilty and ashamed.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-51332960919395262932013-03-01T21:20:29.838-05:002013-03-01T21:20:29.838-05:00Use as much energy as you want, provided you buy c...Use as much energy as you want, provided you buy carbon credits.... etc., etc... etc...Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-67328386535449884642013-03-01T21:18:52.765-05:002013-03-01T21:18:52.765-05:00...and so, they believe they can enjoy coffee, pro......and so, they believe they can enjoy coffee, provided it has no caffein, and sex, provided there are no pregnancies.... and "tolerate" Muslims, provided they can be sent to Gitmo if they get out of hand.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-80863272924323824682013-03-01T21:16:33.561-05:002013-03-01T21:16:33.561-05:00In other words, "consciously" they belie...In other words, "consciously" they believe that everything is permitted. Subconsciously, however, they are "repressing" all prohibitions (nothing is permitted).Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-68762535919251423272013-03-01T19:38:14.895-05:002013-03-01T19:38:14.895-05:00acan's 4 discourses...acan's 4 discourses...Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-1970096520794661482013-03-01T19:19:06.066-05:002013-03-01T19:19:06.066-05:00The 'social progressives' aren't speak...The 'social progressives' aren't speaking the discourse of analysts, Jen. They're speaking the discourse of the university.Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-31090674402896545982013-03-01T18:43:13.411-05:002013-03-01T18:43:13.411-05:00Nope. You missed my point.I realize that the very ...Nope. You missed my point.I realize that the very notion of "tolerance" nowadays is inherently unaccepting and exclusive. My point was,the "social progressives" who profess atheism, according to Zizek, would denounce the very groups and causes that they support, if no God = nothing is allowed.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02531079334473031464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-60064453760871359712013-03-01T18:29:05.156-05:002013-03-01T18:29:05.156-05:00Your last message from Zizek, FJ, reminded me of t...Your last message from Zizek, FJ, reminded me of the "official" decision to have the fur collar she habitually wore in cold weather removed from Mrs. Roosevelt's coat on the sculptural representation of the lady at the no-longer-new FDR Memorial. Likewise the decision to show the man, himself, in his wheelchair, even though such an image was never permitted to be seen by the public during his [seemingly eternal] presidency. Presumably the sponsors of this extensive snow job wanted the public to see Mrs. and Mrs. Roosevelt -- "as they really were" -- and yet her habitual fur collar, and habitual cigarette are nowhere in sight, because ...<br /><br />Well, do I really need to finish that sentence?<br /><br />This kind of censorship is only a level with Parson Weems' nonsensical portrayal of George Washington as a Super-Prig, and Bowdler's idiotic attempts to "sanitize" Shakespeare and other great classics.<br /><br />Feminism's revolting "anti-sexist" impositions on our use of English and the all-too successful attempts by Church Official to alter traditional texts of longstanding so they now use "Inclusive Language" are other cases in point.<br /><br />You've brought to light some extraordinarily important points, FJ. <br /><br />Thanks for your contributions.FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-30767275271108344582013-03-01T18:18:36.621-05:002013-03-01T18:18:36.621-05:00btw - best stay away from those homophobic "b...btw - best stay away from those homophobic "<a href="http://whatdoyouchoose.org/" rel="nofollow">bullies</a>", Jen. It may serve to discredit your notion of "gay tolerance". ;)-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75181119178273191982013-03-01T18:14:50.055-05:002013-03-01T18:14:50.055-05:00Tolerance? lol!Tolerance? <a href="http://thersitescorner.blogspot.com/2013/03/lie-to-me-again-pinocchio.html" rel="nofollow">lol</a>!-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-25525011626028193262013-03-01T18:13:07.429-05:002013-03-01T18:13:07.429-05:00" ... the more you perceive yourself as an at...<i><b>" ... the more you perceive yourself as an atheist, the more your unconscious is dominated by prohibitions which sabotage your enjoyment."</b></i><br /><br />That makes very good sense to me.<br /><br />I have always believed that Existence is a Paradox, therefore the biblical injunction from Our Lord -- <i><b>"If you would have your life, first you must [be willing to] lose it"</b></i> -- is perfectly sensible, because it's seeming lack of logic is in accord with the very nature of human existence.<br /><br /><b>So, paradoxically we find true freedom only when we submit to the urgent and compelling need to discipline our appetites and instinctive drive toward limitless pleasure with the nurture and admonition of a Higher Power.</b>FreeThinkehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16682678301019952436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-75309197487290977362013-03-01T17:47:00.681-05:002013-03-01T17:47:00.681-05:00Wow fj. From Dostoevsky to necrophilia? Seems like...Wow fj. From Dostoevsky to necrophilia? Seems like Zizek was reaching on that one.<br /><br />I understand the self-repressive notion of "if God doesn't exist, nothing is allowed". But it doesn't jive with the social tolerance of todays liberals, i.e. gay marriage,abortion rights, etc.Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02531079334473031464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-13494138272997988752013-03-01T16:40:37.708-05:002013-03-01T16:40:37.708-05:00Civilization would never have occurred were it not...<i>Civilization would never have occurred were it not for the fine art of dissimulation.</i><br /><br /><i>Mikhail Bakhtin saw in "<a href="http://thersitescampsite.blogspot.com/2013/03/bobok-from-somebodys-diary.html" rel="nofollow">Bobok</a>" the quintessence of Dostoevsky's art, a microcosm of his entire creative output which renders its central motif: the idea that "everything is permitted" if there is no God and no immortality of the soul. In the carnivalesque underworld of life "between the two deaths," all rules and responsibilities are suspended, the undead can cast aside all shame, act insanely, and laugh at honesty and justice. The ethical horror of this vision is that it displays the limit of the "truth and reconciliation" idea: <b>what if we have a perpetrator for whom the public confession of his crimes not only does not give rise to any ethical catharsis in him, but even generates <a href="http://thersitescorner.blogspot.com/2013/03/lie-to-me-again-pinocchio.html" rel="nofollow">an additional obscene pleasure</a>?</b></i><br /><br />- Zizek, "How to Read Lacan"Thersiteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15751286903359745316noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-53737219104831628452013-03-01T15:34:19.088-05:002013-03-01T15:34:19.088-05:00From what seemed like a lonely whine in the wilder...From what seemed like a lonely whine in the wilderness several years ago from the whinger, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has evolved a movement whose well-funded backers have been able to purchase activists whose spokes-folk have become the representatives of aboriginals who have legitimate grievances. Those funding the movement today are from, how to phrase this delicately, the most hated family in America today—the Rockefellers. The family whose earlier generations were able finagle privileges from their government to protect their wealth from "competition", in the form of "charitable trusts". These trusts are used today to advance the overarching cause of global tyranny under a world government under the banner of the United Nations. <br /><br />Since this does involve the Keystone XL Pipeline built to carry tar sands crude oil from Canada to the Gulf coast, it is definitely within the "interests" of the Rockefeller family to monitor and restrict "competition" in the oil business, always has been, so there's nothing new here, I guess.<br /><br />Just the pretense that it involves a manipulated group of aboriginals being used to create chaos and problems and destruction where this should not be. Likely we can see that the idea of creating less dependence on "foreign oil" is nothing but a sham to protect those that own the industry, the status quo, intending to restrict competition to keep oil prices high. As if they don't already know that wind and solar power are not viable sources of energy, they do restrict new competition from arising in the established industries from which the Rockefellers gained their prodigious wealth and influence over America, North America and most of the world.<br /><br />Are they also behind the increased emphasis on race and the lunatic fringe,the likes of Louis Farrakhan? Stranger things have happened ... Waylonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08533895509055020394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-145653764764266444.post-23374745661081351852013-03-01T12:47:54.073-05:002013-03-01T12:47:54.073-05:00This is the case even with the growing prohibition...<i>This is the case even with the growing prohibition of smoking. First, all offices were declared "smoke-free," then flights, then restaurants, then airports, then bars, then private clubs, then, in some campuses, 50 yards around the entrances to the buildings, then - in a unique case of pedagogical censorship, reminding us of the famous Stalinist practice of retouching the photos of nomenklatura - the US Postal Service removed the cigarette from the stamps with the photo-portrait of blues guitarist Robert Johnson and of Jackson Pollock. These prohibitions target the other's excessive and risky enjoyment, embodied in the act of "irresponsibly" lighting a cigarette and inhaling deeply with an unabashed pleasure (in contrast to Clintonite yuppies who do it without inhaling, or who have sex without actual penetration, or food without fat) - indeed, as Lacan put it, after God is dead, nothing is anymore permitted.<br /></i><br /><br />- Zizek, ibid.-FJ the Dangerous and Extreme MAGA Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16745768408538827278noreply@blogger.com