Slavoj Žižek, Freedom: A Disease without Cure (2023)

This is another book I read to prepare for the essay. A deceptively easy path to take in addressing the above prompt, which I figure is pretty common for AP English Language students to write on, is to presuppose freedom as negative, freedom from external authorities, drawing on something like the effect of war or security threat on freedom (i.e. PATRIOT act). However, does not Mencken talk of "wants" of the average man. What cannot be avoided is the consideration of psychology. What is the kind of freedom wanted by the average man?—not the kind suitable for stable political order, although that is important, and it is often the avenue through which change is made. Does he even desire freedom? I think these kinds of questions, more relevant and more interesting, are addressed best through thinkers who consider such a nuance in human beings with all their perversities. So why Žižek? Because it seems to me, he understands. He is willing to entertain these possibilities.