We personally know people who are finding the need to reinvent or “upskill” themselves in these times. In other words, we are tired because we compete without any incentive, simply because we feel we can be “better.” Individuals see themselves as “projects.” They feel the compulsive need for achievement to catch up with the competition, who, in most cases, are themselves. Zizek quotes Byung-Chul Han, who claims that class struggle has been reduced to an internal battle in the 21st century. Some of the observations he makes, albeit whimsical and peppered with pop-culture references, are relevant and interesting. Slavoj Zizek’s new book Pandemic!: Covid-19 Shakes the World (2020) devotes a whole chapter to the question of why, as a society, we feel tired even while staying at home. Why so? Observing the human condition and its coping mechanisms during such a crisis is an academic and historic duty. Even without stepping outdoors to go to work, run errands, or travel, we still suffer from unexplained fatigue and tiredness. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries are now under strict quarantine. As a project deeming itself free of external and alien limitations, the I is now subjugating itself to internal limitations and self-constraints, which are taking the form of compulsive achievement and optimization” Byung-Chul Han, The Burnout Society.Ī society under lockdown is a prime example of stringent external limitations being imposed on people.
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