The Little Man’s Sacrifice

 

(Zizek holding Alain Badiou’s book)

 

‘Crisis is the Spectacle: Where Is the Real?’, is taken from the book The Communist Hypothesis, by Alain Badiou. The chapter starts off in an interesting way: comparing the current global financial crisis to a blockbuster movie. Playing also on the link between the financial world and the cinema world, which in itself is a billion dollar industry. However, as Badiou points out, the financial world is not a Hollywood film, where the good guy always win. The reality of it is that is those who run the system that win, that stay in control. And their interests are not to save the weak, “their only ‘responsibility’ is to make a profit”. And the way they make profit is by deceiving the common man. They create things so that we will spend, to create profit. They want us to become dependent on these things and on them so that when they are in trouble, we will want to save them. And it is not them that ends up with a few scratches fighting off the evil, to save us, but it is the simple man, that is hurt and feels the repercussions of their system not working. All the while they are saved, and come out probably even better than before.

In this text, as we can expect from a Marxist, Badiou criticises capitalism and how it is the source of the current crisis the world is in. Capitalism isn’t working. It, in fact, has never really worked, which is why there is so much debt. We just made ourselves believe, and the ones in power made us believe that it did, so that they could make profit on their deception. They want us to become dependent on this system, because they are dependent on us. And we let them. People know that the system is flawed but they are too scared to act on it, try and change it. The failures through History have scared us from starting again and try and find something better. We would rather continue with the same problems, and start in a position of disappointment, than try and have the possibility that the fall is greater; rather the evil they know than a possible new ‘evil’ they don’t know. People have become comfortable in their deception. They willingly spend the money, increase the profit, make the rich richer and then save them because they hope that they make some kind of profit from it as well.

Badiou’s text is quite cynical, pointing out the laws of the world but how can it not be, looking at the state of things you cannot not stop and wonder that he might be right. And then you will dismiss this thought you just had, because you have already been sold on the illusion. The ‘ordinary man’ is ready to suffer. Society is so afraid of knowing the truth, really understanding what is happening, that they would rather the illusion. Society wants to be protected. And it is because of the want to be sheltered that capitalism continues.