Occupy first, make demands later—Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek writes in the Guardian on the Occupy movement, its taboo-breaking nature, and why hard and patient work is now required.
Carnivals come cheap - the true test of their worth is what remains the day after, how our normal daily life will be changed. The protesters should fall in love with hard and patient work - they are the beginning, not the end. Their basic message is: the taboo is broken; we do not live in the best possible world; we are allowed, obliged even, to think about alternatives.
He goes on to respond to some of the criticisms of the Occupy protests:
Are the protesters violent? True, their very language may appear violent (occupation, and so on), but they are violent only in the sense in which Mahatma Gandhi was violent. They are violent because they want to put a stop to the way things are - but what is this violence compared with the violence needed to sustain the smooth functioning of the global capitalist system?
They are called losers - but are the true losers not there on Wall Street, who received massive bailouts? They are called socialists - but in the US, there already is socialism for the rich. They are accused of not respecting private property - but the Wall Street speculations that led to the crash of 2008 erased more hard-earned private property than if the protesters were to be destroying it night and day - just think of thousands of homes repossessed.
They are not communists, if communism means the system that deservedly collapsed in 1990 - and remember that communists who are still in power run today the most ruthless capitalism. The success of Chinese communist-run capitalism is an ominous sign that the marriage between capitalism and democracy is approaching a divorce. The only sense in which the protesters are communists is that they care for the commons - the commons of nature, of knowledge - which are threatened by the system.
They are dismissed as dreamers, but the true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are, just with some cosmetic changes. They are not dreamers; they are the awakening from a dream that is turning into a nightmare. They are not destroying anything, but reacting to how the system is gradually destroying itself. We all know the classic scene from cartoons: the cat reaches a precipice but goes on walking; it starts to fall only when it looks down and notices the abyss. The protesters are just reminding those in power to look down.
Finally, Žižek asserts the importance of silence:
What one should always bear in mind is that any debate here and now necessarily remains a debate on enemy's turf; time is needed to deploy the new content. All we say now can be taken from us - everything except our silence. This silence, this rejection of dialogue, of all forms of clinching, is our "terror", ominous and threatening as it should be.
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I've been working on a (hybrid) economic system that values Health, Education, and the Environment. The goal is no unemployment, no homeless, no commercials. Everything is premised on a person's net worth being a number on a screen (direct deposit, credit cards); a number that could potentially be manipulated/tweaked.
A Remedy:
Everyone keeps what they have. If you are currently employed, you sign a contract with your employer promising 40 hours of quality work a week (maybe we can eventually change it to 35). In exchange, you will receive your current salary (and/or a credit for hours worked), health care, schooling for your children, and you will be taken care of after retirement (age 68? 70?), or if some debilitating illness occurs. Farmers continue producing food.
No Taxes. Federal, State, Local – none. "The hardest thing to understand in the world is the income tax." -Albert Einstein. Instead, we give a “blank check” (or an Invisible Hand, or "a black hole") to city and local governments (or grassroots organizations) to hire everyone and anyone willing to work for the common good. It becomes a City Improvement or City Beautiful Movement. If you want to help rebuild Missouri, go do that. If you want to teach, (and meet the requirements) do that. If you want to do cancer research at a public hospital, do that. If you are willing to plant trees, do that. After verifying that you have worked your 40 hours a week, the city and local governments credit your account (change numbers on a screen). Perhaps we can also give this authority to a well respected local nonprofit or, perhaps, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. All salaries from the “blank check” are public information (listed on a website). (If we can print money out of thin air, why can't we create jobs out of thin air?)
A moratorium on the stock market – either by vote, a congressional resolution, or executive order. Or we just pretend it's Good Friday and “the market” never opens again. Every penny (except margin accounts) invested gets returned to the shareholders. (at the current price, or if speculation occurs, the price on a specific day, say 4/30/11 -the courts can figure out what is fair).
To compensate companies for market capitalization, private companies get to "draft" (100, 500) workers who submitted resumes. All unemployed people enter the “Employment Draft”. Starting with GE (largest market cap), companies choose the workers who will be the most beneficial to them. Jeffrey Immelt may choose the head of Goldman Sachs or Hank Paulson, or he may not. Erin Burnett can cover it on CNBC or Erin Andrews can cover it on ESPN 8 “The Ocho”. (or both, at the same time)(smile) The best companies also receive priority in architectural improvements etc.
Every two years(?), workers feeling unfulfilled, disillusioned, or people wanting a change, may reenter the draft and work for a different company and/or in another industry. (a 2nd Round Draft, if you will)
Medicine: Highest priority placed on Prevention and Early Detection. Medical ID cards for everybody (like a credit card). Heavy focus on research (at least 10 years of “delibrate practice”) and maybe we can beat death. (harvested organs, stem cells, maximum nutrition, etc.)
Advertising No more advertising. Not on TV, not on radio, not in magazines. (Maybe an exception for the Super Bowl. Maybe). Massive expansion of Consumer Reports and Zagat websites keeps consumers communicating and well informed.
Entertainment Industry Media companies get a “blank check with a limit/salary cap” (what they are currently spending on talent). Actors/People in the Industry will receive a credit to their account, either negotiated with management or based on ratings.
Sports Same as Entertainment Industry. (Sports are considered a public good.) Owner of team has a “blank check with a limit/salary cap”. Players must be clean of performance enhancing drugs and submit to regular blood testing. If they don't like it, they can retire or work in another industry.
College athletes will be paid (accounts credited by the university) commensurate with TV ratings, playing time, and jersey sales. They will also be required to take blood tests. No compliance, no compensation. Other student performers will also be paid by the university (musicians, theater performers etc.) commensurate with attendance and/or TV ratings, if applicable. Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery do the Final Four.
Insurance industry None. Ideally, the entire industry can transition into Safety and Preparedness – making sure levies are built properly, bridges are earthquake proof, nuclear power plants are out of harm's way. “Failing to Prepare is Preparing to Fail.” -John Wooden
Schools: Universities will be the center of our society. Universities will help run/improve K-8 and high school. School will be year round. Teachers will have summer off (or a different season off). All classrooms, school grounds, and day cares will have video cameras enabling parents to monitor their child any minute, hour, second of the day. We make music a priority.
Pricing: We pass a law requiring product prices to accurately reflect labor. Beers at the ballpark will not cost $9. Manolo Blahniks will not cost $645. Popcorn will not cost $6.50.
Eventually we can (slightly) adjust hours worked to more accurately reflect their importance to society (i.e., 1 doctor hour equals 3 hours cooking - but we can decide that by vote, or like the NFL, in a courtroom). That way doctors can own the best real estate. But I have an inkling that musicians will be our most treasured asset.
We can vote on all other issues or let the Supreme Court decide. Ideally all decisions will foster Health, Education, the Environment, and quality Journalism.
In short, I'm trying to Maximize Labor. Maximizing Labor will compensate for the loss of taxes and private sector motivation.
Thank YOU for Your Time,
Julian (Lennon) Accornero