From cardhore Sent Tue, Apr 13th 1999, 22:24
From cardhore Sent Tue, Apr 13th 1999, 22:24
>Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 23:27:16 EDT >From: xxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx >Subject: (idm) the revolution will be remixed > >Without in any way belittling the drug-related problems of the poor, some >suspect that drug abuse can be found across all economic strata. oh, of course. i was just saying that, if the point is to jumpstart a revolution for the poor, drug use/abuse ends up hurting the poor, too. i'm in no way trying to say the problem is isolated there. >As for "substitute for productive thought and activity" and "turning free >will over," the first thing that comes to my mind is *television*. i agree with you that tv is guilty of encouraging these things, but i think drug culture, and especially alcohol culture is just as bad as television in this respect. in regards to the quote from Ninja Tune, about drugs being a tool that can be misused, it just seems like i'd wanna check and see if my warranty on this one is still valid, and maybe take it back to Sears and get a set of Craftmaster screwdrivers or something instead. i was going to rant about this, but i'm not going to. >It's difficult to motivate change among the cushy people...what should we do? well, check out my pal James Joyce. the guy was all about the politics -- the Irish home-rule, the rights for women, the end of economic tyranny... but what could he do about any of this? besides educate himself as much as he could, and throw in his support here and there when the cause was rallied, there's not much James could do. so the badass makes art. art inspired by his contempt of the paralysis and hemiplegia he sees in the city he lives in, and how the state, the Church, the family, the economy all keep things stagnant. and it's not like he set out to write giant epics that exposed some massive truths that had been heretofore obscured... he wrote stories about everyday life, the most naturalistic and mundane plots, harsh realism. he chucked the rules and made his art his way, and he's recognized as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, literary rebel in history. yeah, so, despite what mr. reynolds says, i think my idm does make a difference. it's an honest attempt to make meaning out of the mess of experience i encounter in my mundane life... and if it doesn't inspire crowds to revolution, that's because it's not supposed to... i'm expressing my feelings because i feel a compulsion to do so, to "mediate in awful truth before the veiled face of god," as Joyce put it. if i was simply writing music as a form of propaganda, to get people to do what i want them to do (as opposed to offering up my perspective, my feelings, sharing my little bit of insight) i'd hardly call that art. it's a practical application of musical technique. but, who am i to define art, right? someone trying to open this can of worms on this list is bound to get called out into the street for an old-fashioned pistol duel, so i'll stop right there. but anyway, to paraphrase Daniel Quinn, a bad-ass if there ever was one: change doesn't come from people with old thinking and new programs. it comes from people with new thinking and no programs. my belief is that making progress with this civilization may not appear to be around the corner anytime soon, but if you bring a lucid and deliberate mind, sympathy for your fellow man and a healthy contempt of inertia to whatever we do, be it your art, your job, your education, your community, whatever, you've been a part of the revolution. (awww.... cue "we are the world", roll credits.) ,rj../ ___,"www.gl.umbc.edu/~nworth1 ___________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com/getjuno.html or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866]