I get what you’re saying about the liberty movement and it being backed by the reasonably privileged – i.e. those who would have a better than average shot in a libertarian society without forced assistance. But what of those who support these ideas that are not well off, not powerful, and would not be natural beneficiaries of a society that doesn’t force assistance? What of those who simply do not with to use legal force on another to accomplish a social goal?

I enjoyed reading the article. It took me back to the heady days of college.

Best wishes,

Justin Alexander

While Žižek’s particular form of ideology critique is potentally valuable (though not entirely novel, with roots in Marx’s work on ideology, Foucault’s discourse analysis, Lacan’s psycho-linguistics, and Jameson’s notion of the political unconscious), it is, Žižek’s own career should be proof enough (see: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011111011283172950.html and http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/01/2013114142638797542.html), no guarantee of immunity to those ideological trends and oversights. Django Unchained continually reproduces the hyper-individualistic and patriarchal assumptions of late capitalism and effectively erases the very real collective struggles of Black slaves, both men and women, for their own liberation (think Nat Turner). Moreover, it is absurd and counterproductive to argue that denying any shred of human decency to whites is somehow progressive. That whites benefit from slavery and institutionalized white supremacy is clear enough, but those are structural and discursive matters; by imputing the problem to some imagined white essence or nature rather than concrete institutions and forms of discourse, Django Unchained merely perpetuates the dominant preoccupation with individual misbehavior rather than systematic injustice. But I’m not saying anything that others haven’t already said much better: http://jacobinmag.com/2013/01/why-django-cant-revolt/. At the end of the day, the question needs to be asked why hacks like Tarantino get a free pass and considerable funding for denying Blacks collective agency while Black directors with a more progressive vision are effectively disfranchised, erased, and denied the financial resources necessary to adequately compete in the film industry.

Your post, while well meaning, misses the fundamental issues.

Full employment is a concept to be worked towards. Sounds like the above voice is from someone who never worked and honest day in his life. And maybe he paid for someone to write the opinion for him too. We need to strive for full employment. Not wasteful staffing, but full job creation for all Americans. Ever read ‘A Modest Proposal?’ It’s the attitude of Chris that has caused so many jobs to be considered unworthy, and therefore, the people who once held those jobs, unworthy. Relative Full Employment is what will save America’s Economy. If the private sector followed its natural re-investment cycle and job expansion instead of sitting on piles of cash hordes, the load on the public sector would be relieved. Chirs Maisano most likely is against unions.

Oh, maybe someone should ask Chris Maisano if he employs or supports the hiring of undocumented workers. This imposter should be locked up.

This article hits home as someone who got sucked into this well intended bull shit. I thank people like Chomsky for enlightening me. I’ll be sharing this all over. Thanks!

Secondly, indeed they did exist. HOwever, the context that I was referring to ‘good white people’ was in the context of film. I can’t think of any racial movies where black characters were their own saviors. One of my favorite philosophers, Slavoj Zizek, talks about how Hollywood has a way of making films channeling ideological attitudes of our times…and films regarding race have a way of trying to ‘whitewash – no pun intended – white apathy and complacency. Django Unchained, for me anyways, was a revolutionary film in this way that it didn’t hold anything back….Even something historically fictional like ‘Mandingo Fighting’ was an excellent plot device in driving the dehumanization of the black body, how it was nothing more than an instrumental of white plantation owners self fulfillment, through wealth, abd, or, sexual pleasure. It was a revolutionary film in this regard because it drove that home clearly….Its not like past movies where it you had this tisket-a-tasket approach to racial issues (like Crash, which I hated as a movie).

While I am aware some people would rationalize that I am wrong for seeing it as a radical and revolutionary, but as a black film watcher that is tired of seeing movies like ‘The Blindside’, this movie rocked my world.