Žižek on Authentic Conservatism
March 17, 2005
From Slavoj Žižek’s “Psychoanalysis in post-marxism: The case of Alain Badiou,” thanks to “Ponocrates”–What a true Leninist and an authentic political conservative have in common is the fact that they both reject what could be called liberalleftist “irresponsibility” (advocating grand projects of solidarity, freedom, etc., yet ducking out when their price proves to be concrete and often cruel political measures); an authentic conservative, like a true Leninist, is not, however, afraid to pass to the act and bear all the consequences, unpleasant as these may be, of realizing a political project. Kipling, for example (whom Brecht admired very much), despised British Liberals who advocated freedom and justice while silently counting on the Conservatives to do the necessary dirty work for them; the same can be said of the attitude of liberal leftists (or “democratic Socialists”) toward Leninist Communists: “democratic Socialists” reject the social-democratic “compromise,” wanting a true revolution yet shirking the price to be paid for it; they thus prefer to adopt the attitude of a Beautiful Soul and keep their hands clean. In contrast to this false liberal-leftist position (pro-democracy for the people so long as there are no secret police to fight and no threat to their academic privileges), a Leninist is, like a conservative, authentic in the sense of fully assuming the consequences of his politics, of being fully aware of what it actually means to take power and exert it.
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