Push me pull me
Talk about juxtaposition - I was listening to Bob Dylan a couple of nights ago - not that there’s anything particularly strange about that, it happens pretty regularly. Dylan, Springsteen, Mr Cash, Pink Floyd amongst others are very often part of my sonic landscape - it just so happened that during the day I had the misfortune of being subject to talking head politicians on the radio of various ilks - a couple of U.S ones, an English one and a couple of New Zealand ones - they’re all pretty much interchangeable - takes a certain breed to be a career bureaucrat - but the thing that struck me is - if Dylan can be relevant after almost 50 years, if Johnny Cash’s voice still resonates etc - how did it happen that we ended up with people who’s voices are not only unmemorable for the most part, but often times un-listenable - I’m not suggesting artists should be in politics, far from it - I am suggesting however that politics seems often to be so far from the mark in terms of it’s voice - Obama aside for now - if a politician could be relevant for the period of time these artists have been now that would really be something. Being able to echo the whispers of the Zeitgeist - to be able to change direction, to grasp the fundamentals, to not get caught in the spin cycle of hypocrisy, the list goes on. It must be possible, other humans do it.
Where are there long serving leaders? Who lasts 50 years? Well I guess Castro has or did - Kim Jong in North Korea either through father or son has - the Singaporean leader has been there for ever - I know not great examples - but from a pragmatic standpoint - they are effective - even if you disagree with their methods - I’m not advocating dictatorial process - I am saying that without lobbyists and the silly game of “if your party says this, then my party is going to disagree with it” regardless of whether or not it makes sense - this serves to further the advance of the politicians, it doesn’t as far as I can tell have much to do with the people they supposedly represent. Seems to me that politics is about gaining traction irrespective of logic, need or want or much thought. If you have the misfortune of watching or listening to debates in the Senate, or in parliament I’m surprised anything ever gets done - talk about a dysfunctional affair - a group of people who appear to be from some other place yelling at each other regardless of the topic - “if you say it’s green, then I’ll say it’s yellow, even though it’s obviously pink. Meanwhile you got silent texts coming in to remind them that if they don’t say it’s green the funding from the gay christians for road signs will be pulled and there goes that - what ever that funding gets spent on. I know naieve again, but I was under the impression that we pay for things - that’s why we get taxed - and if that’s not the case how bout passing them dollars back. Off topic but anyway.
I know it’s naive, but the idea that the party is supposed to represent the people - that I thought was the underlying structure of democracy. Artists are relevant always because they’re able to convey, sing, paint, write whatever without being pushed and pulled by external forces. Sure I can hear people say “democracy allows them this right”, it does, but that’s not the point.
Your picture of the day: food for thought. china






