I sent this email to a bunch of my friends earlier today and figured the rough form was worth sharing:

i think i’ve mentioned this zizek-ian idea to some of you about how right now most people cannot even fantasize about world peace or an end of capitalism or something like that (i believe he specifically mentioned an asteroid in the movie zizek!). i’m feeling punchy today for some reason and managed to find some very interesting things…

first, the next book i am going to read is: archeologies of future by fredric jameson.

second, oddly enough the stranger (of all papers) intelligently and engagingly reviewed said book:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=25666

third, the author even paraphrases that idea!

As the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek puts it, we find it easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. We are scarcely able to envision a tolerable and pleasant world without money, advertising, and brand names, and without the vast inequities that characterize a competitive economy. We are missing what Fredric Jameson terms “the desire called utopia.”

point of the story: when you think i’m spouting some crazy idea that is totally impractical and unrealistic and what you consider to be a waste of time, consider the fact that i might be trying to, if nothing else, at least establish that such an idea can at least be imagined and discussed and in doing so that might plant a kernel somewhere in your mind (or someone else’s) and that if we can at least HOPE for it that some aspect of it might come true.

oh and also: i thought i wrote a blog entry once (or maybe i emailed it or im’d it to someone?) about how dystopic movies/stories often have a very socialist aspect to the “big brother” idea and that bothers me too and i think it’s another way to keep the status quo (despite some of these dystopic things often being critiques of capitalism, normality, etc… so i guess i need to do some sort of counter-counter reading?)