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cetian's review
5.0
Badiou's call for a positive political cause (not just "down with X") makes a lot of sense. He explains in detail that such demands can only momentarily unite people, but once the negative goals are achieved (like the overthrow of Mubarak in Egipt) unless there are also positive causes, politics ends and old powers realign.
He ends with Plato and again carefull intensely meaningfull language. He says we should seek "a way out of capitalism", just like Plato proposed philosophy as a way out of the cavern. We should not, warns Alain Badiou, seek to overthrow capitalism but find the way out of it.
This inspired end makes me think of a clever tv ad. In an imperial palace, the people's army (or some other similar name) overthrew their rule. The rebels just had a taste of a brand of vodka, sat down in the big chair and continued to rule, corrupted by power since the start. Then another army comes along (the liberation army of something) and they too are corrupted. Power just changes hands, again and again.
Badiou proposes we search for a way out of this. And I see no reason why we shouldn't.
He ends with Plato and again carefull intensely meaningfull language. He says we should seek "a way out of capitalism", just like Plato proposed philosophy as a way out of the cavern. We should not, warns Alain Badiou, seek to overthrow capitalism but find the way out of it.
This inspired end makes me think of a clever tv ad. In an imperial palace, the people's army (or some other similar name) overthrew their rule. The rebels just had a taste of a brand of vodka, sat down in the big chair and continued to rule, corrupted by power since the start. Then another army comes along (the liberation army of something) and they too are corrupted. Power just changes hands, again and again.
Badiou proposes we search for a way out of this. And I see no reason why we shouldn't.
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