Zizek uses the image of the towers falling on 9/11 as an example. He says that our reaction to this event wasn’t “Oh my god I can’t believe I’m seeing this,” but rather, “where have I seen this before.” For an ever increasing number of people that answer is “I’ve been seeing this everywhere my whole life.”
At the bottom is a short clip from the Matrix, a scene I kept thinking about tonight as I sat through class number 1049 of 1056 of my undergrad career. The whole bit isn’t important, only 45 seconds to 1:30. But I digest...
Tonight I was thinking of Braudrillard's phrase as I suffered what was (possibly) the last hearty session of Harper bashing I would have to endure here at MUN. The students shared loathing of the Prime Minister, disgust with his crew, and a general aversion to conservative ideology. The instructor showed solidarity and everyone had a laugh.
I sat there, hopefully for the last time, dreaming up ways to undress all the anti-Conservative rhetoric without ever actually saying anything. I don’t usually say much because going against these student masses requires that your arguments be damn good. If you try to break the groupthink with a weak argument you will only reinforce the groupthink.
I’ve never had a problem with proper argument against things I believe in, and despite the low-road nature of tonight’s class, I’ve heard a great deal of good arguments here. My time at MUN, Canada’s No Conservative Headquarters has changed many of the things that I once believed in. But I wonder what it would be like if I had grown up in a family that subscribes to more left of center values? - I certainly wouldn’t have been challenged if I had gone into a liberal arts degree, at least not at Memorial. I would have gone to every class with home ice-advantage.
With that said, I’m tired of it now. The Desert Of The Real exists just outside the university, ideologies have it out in real time, and each one wins and loses a little. In general it’s been a good four years - but now I’m looking forward to unplugging.