I saw this book - haven’t skimmed through it yet. But you can guess from the title it’s about the Dixie Chick who spouted off about George Bush to a country music crowd. Larry the Cable-Guy quipped, "That’s kind of like walking into a trailer park and yelling, ‘Wal-Mart sucks!!’" There seem to be quite a few people who think that entertainers should just entertain and keep their mouths shut about politics.
If you read my St. Patty’s Day post, you can guess my reaction to that attitude can be summed up in five words: "Blow it out your ass!" I have been performing on stage for more than twenty years - most of that time I have been the front man. I have spoken about my political and patriotic feelings many times from stage. But carefully - that’s just my style. I’m not trying to persuade people to do anything other than think about it. Just think about it. And there are plenty of political songs that are good for prodding the gray matter.
I am really concerned about this culture of not talking about politics. You can’t talk about politics at work - or you might lose your job. Talk about politics in a bar and you might get thrown out - or start a fist fight. Talk about politics with your friends and they get fidgety and really want to do something else. That’s just not American. Politics is our national sport. It should be a full contact sport with people fully intellectually engaged.
Look at our history - political newspapers printing all kinds of slander about each other, barroom arguments lasting late into the evening, rowdy public meetings that often devolved into shouting matches. This fear of speaking your mind about politics is something new - dates to the McCarthy era, but it seems like it’s become part of our culture. Be bland. Blend in. Keep your mouth shut. Shut up and work. Shut up and shop. Shut up and eat it. Shut up and sing. Just Shut up. Sieg Heil.
Not me. Not you either, I hope.
By the way - that Saint Patrick's Day thing below - I did that last night at Locals Only and again at Deano's Vino. No one came up to me and said, "How dare you talk about Iraq??" I did get a few people who said, "I'm with you brother!!" And I did notice quite a few people paid attention while I was saying it - and more than a few heads were nodding in agreement. Maybe some of those people will find their way here. I can hope.
rbs
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2 comments:
This posting is in response to the question of our evolving American identity, an issue that I have thought about with great concern because I grew up with an entirely different world view from what I have had to cultivate in the past couple of decades.
I am old enough to remember the image of America many decades ago and compare it to that of today. When I was growing up I was "taught to believe" that America was the best of all possible places to live, that
there was simply no better place in the world, on whatever level one wanted to evaluate the concept.
One of the books I remember reading when I was in the lower grades of elementary school was Children of Other Lands, made memorable not only because it reinforced my belief in America, but because of illustrations which I think I can remember with a modicum of accuracy. I believed that everyone all over the world envied me as a privileged niece of my Uncle Sam.
Additionally, as a Texan, I thought I was living in the best location in the best of all possible places, and I had an especially enviable spot in South Texas.
Certainly I fully agreed with the statement of the brazen Dixie Chick a few years ago, even though by that time I had already lost that ridiculous hubris of being a Texan.
My self image as an American began to shift with the realization during the Civil Rights movement that we weren’t being fair to our fellow Americans, and a deep resentment and dismay that so many were violently fighting the efforts of those who dared to make us a society of equals.
Still, I didn’t question the core ideas of my youth that we were the best of all nations, that we were getting better and better, and all envied those of us who were the chosen.
My awareness of evidence of our
questionable self image began to wax through the decades. With many years’ experience traveling around Europe, I saw levels of sophistication of ideas that somewhat surprised me, and talked with many, who in no way envied Americans.
In the last four years, my faith in the singularly righteous position of America has been quite threatened: we are not the golden children of God. Now, as a nation, we have been faced with the fact that we are not envied by everyone else, but are actually reviled by many. We are the enemy that we so feared in the fifties, the ones who could drop the "A" bomb on innocent victims.
This shift in my self image as an American has, indeed, been gradual, but has been on a rapid free fall in the last four years. Instead of the blessed, we seem to be the gluttons of the world’s resources, wallowing in pleasures and consumption that not only deprives others today, but will create incredible burdens for the future. And we don’t seem to be able to put the breaks on our recklessness.
My faith in who we are, and perhaps our collective will to make changes, is further threatened by the realization that we now have what is essentially a private mercenary army, Blackwater, hired by the Bush administration to supplement our stressed legitimate military institutions, to serve in roles that should belong to the Army and Marines. Additionally, the National Guard, I believe, is being used in a highly questionable manner to buttress stressed Army and Marine forces.
The reckless wasting of resources, the uncalled for attack on another nation, the questionable use of our
military institutions are but a few of the issues that I find disturbing about our current national direction, a direction which calls into question our self identity and how we are seen by others: selfish, irresponsible and a threat to world peace.
I agree with your sentiments.
One thing that Europeans may be in denial about, along with most other people worldwide, is how critically important it is for them to do everything they can to have a positive impact on American culture. Love the US or loathe it, they can only ignore us at the peril of the entire species. We are way too powerful and our leaders are drunk on it.
We could do so much good in this world. When Clinton and Gore were elected - that night - their victory speeches - I felt we were going to live up to that potential. But the promise of that shining moment was, not stillborn, but snuffed out early in its infancy. What we have now is horrifyingly like imperial Rome - complete with a new Praetorian guard that goes under the name Blackwater.
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