Die Paradoxien der Mehrlust

Today's life is characterized by abundance. There always has to be more, never is it enough. However, Lacan has shown that we always need a surplus of what we need; otherwise, we cannot enjoy what we have. Using this conceptual framework, which Žižek intertwines with Marx's "surplus value" and Freud's "pleasure principle," the master thinker from Slovenia analyzes the paradoxes of the current political situation. Among other things, drawing on Hollywood films such as "Joker," the Corona pandemic, and the constraints of "Cancel Culture," Žižek illustrates that perhaps we can find a way out of our entangled predicament if we only recognize that the gain promised by "excess pleasure" is both substance-less and pointless.