Let’s Play Pretend
Did you play ‘pretend’, when you were about five or six years old? I did.
What if
a large majority of voters
succumb to anti-immigrant, populist propaganda
and decide to close the borders
make life more difficult
for those already inside the country…..
and
what if in such a country
the voters, despite such propaganda,
assert the commitment to solidarity,
their will to help the refugees.
The difference is not just objective:
in the one case
a reactionary racist decision,
in the other case
the right choice of solidarity.
The difference is also subjective:
a different type of political passion
is at work in each of the two cases.
In the first case,
no matter how sincerely convinced
the voters
deep in themselves
know that they have done
a shameful act.
All of their agitated reasoning
just covers up their bad feeling.
In the second case,
people are convinced
of the liberating effect of their act:
even if what they have done is risky,
and crazy,
they have achieved a true breakthrough.
Both acts achieve the impossible
but in an entirely different way.
In the first case,
the public space is spoiled,
ethical standards lowered.
What was up to that moment,
a matter of private dirty prejudices
becomes something one can talk about
publicly.
One can be openly racist, and sexist,
preach hatred and spread paranoia.
In the second case,
most of us,
ashamed that we do not trust people more
before the referendum,
we were silently expecting defeat,
and are surprised by the ethical composure
of the voters.
Such ‘miracles’ are worth living for.
Excerpt, The Courage of Hopelessness p. 262 Slavoj Zizek
