"Philosopher Renata Salecl: 'Capitalism Is Humanity's Neurosis'"

[Something completely different]

Freedom is a good thing, isn't it? Not always, argues Slovenian philosopher Renata Salecl. The liberty to choose from an unlimited number of career options or coffee brands ultimately becomes a burden. Our modern capitalist society is ruled by a "tyranny of choice."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeit...07961.html

[Cato]

I prefer being tyrranized by choice than have my choices made by a tyrant.

Salecl is a psychoanalyst that feels burdened by deciding what to order in a sandwich shop.

Here's a more thorough review of her book:
http://societyandspace.com/reviews/revie...july-2012/

I am envisioning an intellectual death match between Salecl and Ayn Rand. The victor must commit suicide.

[CapnAwesome]

That interview strikes me as someone desperately trying to defend a poorly thought out Thesis. For example:

Salecl: No. I don't criticize political or electoral freedom, but capitalism's perversion of the concept: the illusion that I hold the power over my own life.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: But I do have that power. I can decide for myself what I want, even if the thought stresses me out.

Salecl: Not at all. A friend, who's a psychologist, told me about a patient once: a woman who was well educated, had a good job, a house and a loving husband. "I did everything right in my life," said the woman. "But I'm still not happy." She never did what she herself wanted, but what she believed society expected from her.

That's not at all an example of what she is contending, which is that choices are somehow illusionary. The woman in that example did make choices in her life, she just made choices based on other peoples desires rather than her own. That doesn't mean other choices couldn't have led to her happiness. All in all I think it's a pretty poorly thought out idea.

[cratehorus]

when you are a child you do not care very much about what kind of house you live in, because you have little to no choice as to where you live, when your an adult you constantly worry about whether you should have a bigger house, whether you should buy a house that's easier to maintian, whether you add an addition like a patio or a swimming pool or refinish the basement, maybe you should buy one closer too where you work (but what if you change jobs) or in a better neighborhood (but what if the neighborhood improves or maybe worsens) or maybe you should just rent an apartment

rarely if ever do children think of these things if the government simply told you to live in x kind of house you would be much happier and maybe worry only about cleaning said house instead of buying a new one

[Silver]

Even as an adult I do not care how others view the way I live. I do not own a car, so what. I do not live in a house, so what. I do not own fancy things or expensive clothing, so what. I live the way I want to live rather than live in order to receive positive affirmations from others.

[CapnAwesome]

Even as an adult I do not care how others view the way I live. I do not own a car, so what. I do not live in a house, so what. I do not own fancy things or expensive clothing, so what. I live the way I want to live rather than live in order to receive positive affirmations from others.

Exactly, there is a big difference between living the way that you want to, which is what this particular philosopher argues on one hand (in this interview anyway, I'm not familiar with her otherwise) and choice being some sort of negative thing. People who chose to buck societal standards when it comes to the pursuit of wealth are still making a choice. I don't think the set of ideas that she has presented in this interview are very consistent with one another. Even the idea to somehow tie these ideas to capitalism doesn't make a lot of sense. The choice to not pursue material wealth is equally a capitalistic idea as the desire to pursue it. In Marxism everybody works. You have no way to opt out of the system.

[Something completely different]

I only read through it today, the title made me think that it might be a good argument - I was wrong.

when you are a child you do not care very much about what kind of house you live in, because you have little to no choice as to where you live, when your an adult you constantly worry about whether you should have a bigger house, whether you should buy a house that's easier to maintian, whether you add an addition like a patio or a swimming pool or refinish the basement, maybe you should buy one closer too where you work (but what if you change jobs) or in a better neighborhood (but what if the neighborhood improves or maybe worsens) or maybe you should just rent an apartment

rarely if ever do children think of these things if the government simply told you to live in x kind of house you would be much happier and maybe worry only about cleaning said house instead of buying a new one

Could you possibly make a more irrelevant post based on even thinner air and even less proven assumtions.

[Doubting Thomas]

That is the good thing about capitalism. You can try different things and find out what you like, rather than being limited to either having X or doing without.

[Anomalocaris]

when you are a child you do not care very much about what kind of house you live in, because you have little to no choice as to where you live, when your an adult you constantly worry about whether you should have a bigger house, whether you should buy a house that's easier to maintian, whether you add an addition like a patio or a swimming pool or refinish the basement, maybe you should buy one closer too where you work (but what if you change jobs) or in a better neighborhood (but what if the neighborhood improves or maybe worsens) or maybe you should just rent an apartment

rarely if ever do children think of these things if the government simply told you to live in x kind of house you would be much happier and maybe worry only about cleaning said house instead of buying a new one

So?

An idiot is happy not asking "why I shouldn't droll in public", but he is still an idiot and suffers a massive evolutionary handicap as a result of the trait that enables his to be happy not asking such questions.

---

Freedom is a good thing, isn't it? Not always, argues Slovenian philosopher Renata Salecl. The liberty to choose from an unlimited number of career options or coffee brands ultimately becomes a burden. Our modern capitalist society is ruled by a "tyranny of choice."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeit...07961.html

I am oppressed by this absence of oppression.

I think I will feel better if I am oppressed instead by the presence of oppression.

[Faith No More]

rarely if ever do children think of these things if the government simply told you to live in x kind of house you would be much happier and maybe worry only about cleaning said house instead of buying a new one

That's the scariest shit I've ever read on this forum. Seriously.
Scariest. Shit. Ever.

Lots of choices don't make people unhappy. It's not understanding yourself well enough to know which choices are the ones that are right for you and the inability to have confidence in those choices that makes people unhappy.

Psychology lesson 101. Someone that still quotes Freud multiple times as a reference for points being leveled should not be taken too seriously.