Week 9_3/17/16_Zizek's Examined Life

From watching Zizek’s videos, I was very confused at first what the point of watching them was. From watching the first video, “Examined Life”, a couple of times, I understand that it was talking about ecology and the environment. The point that he made that really made sense to me was that “part of our daily perception of reality is that this disappears from our world” (0:33). In this quote he was referring to a bunch of garbage. I never really thought of it like that because at home the garbage trucks come once a week and it’s no longer our problem. At school I empty my garbage can at the end of the hall which is then emptied. Thinking about it, the garbage is just taken somewhere else such as a junk yard. Zizek talks about how people do not see the harm in the world from all of the garbage, but personally I don’t think everyone is aware of what is going on. If they are not aware of global warming and other things occurring within the nature, people would be more willing to help with the garbage problem. The problem Zizek explains “is that trash doesn’t disappear” (0:59). So although I agree with Zizek that people cannot help if they are not informed, I believe it should be talked about more.

            For example, one easy way to ease this problem some is to recycle a water bottle rather than put it in the garbage can. Around the city, neighborhood, schools, etc., it is more common to find garbage cans than recycling bins. If cities got on board of having recycling trucks go around each week just like garbage trucks, it would greatly help the environment. I don’t think it is that people do not want to help, but in their minds they have to go out of their way to recycle. Educating the population and specifically the youth while they are young will inform people of the affect they have on the world by throwing their garbage out the window. At the time, throwing a pop can out the window does not seem like a big deal, but if everyone has that thought process then there will be pounds of garbage on the side of the road. A single person can help by picking up some garbage as they are walking outside. With a person throwing their garbage out the window or littering anywhere, Zizek explained how they believe it is out of sight and out of mind.

            Zizek used a simile of the toilet to explain this process and it is very true. You flush the toilet and what is in there just goes down the pipes. It is not gone at all; it is just not in your presence anymore. Exposing people to where all their garbage and trash is might make people rethink their decisions and want to better the environment. Although Zizek is crazy and weird, I agree with his points about the nature on how people need to step up since we are a part of nature like Zizek believes.