I hope you're right about Obama's victory representing a sea-change in America. And I hope there will be a comparable sea-change in our appreciation of "fine arts" and "political" art. For now, I'm observing, holding my fire. (I can tell you that I don't like the way Obama is being packaged: all these silly comparisons to Lincoln; Obama working with a bi-partisan cabinet-and Jeez!--the guy isn't even in office yet! Frankly, I'm not a great fan of Lincoln's, but that's another story.)
I don't think we've had really good and effective political art since the Beat Movement petered out in the 70s. Of course, we have had notable exceptions, but artists, in general, have been constrained and restrained since the Reagan Revolution-which, among other things, was a backlash against the Arts and artists! (Patrick Buchanan was right about a kulturkampf here!) Even before Reagan, with the end of America's involvement in Vietnam, a lot of energy leaked out of the arts. We saw the rise of Master of Fine Arts programs in universities-and the focus of the writing workshops became very insular, formalistic in style and conservative in outlook. There has been a don't-rock-the boat attitude from the universities-probably inevitable when you "institutionalize" something with the feral roots of art. (After all, Plato wanted to ban poetry from his very institutionalized Republic!).
Do you know Lawrence Ferlinghetti's wonderful poem with the powerful refrain, "I am waiting"? Well, I'm waiting. I've been waiting and pushing and probing and crying and elucidating and yelping and roiling and rolling out the words for decades now.
Ferlinghetti, by the way, is one of the marvelous exceptions to the general trend these past 30 years or so. He should long ago have been our poet-laureate-but the political class would never abide it. He would have resigned over Clinton's long embargo of Iraq, or on the first day we bombed Baghdad. He would have resigned over Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, bailouts for financial whiz kids (all whizzed-out now!), etc.
LR : Actually, I'm reading "I Am Waiting" right now. But it was written for jazz accompaniment, and I prefer my poetry written for the blank page.
GC: I prefer my poetry where I find it.LR : Vive la difference! But what about rock-and-roll? I still hear rock-and-roll as (white) America and Britain's protest art form of the 20th Century.
GC: That's a huge subject, which I'd rather not get into now.
LR: Okay. Did you vote for Obama?
GC: I did not vote for Obama, or for anyone else. I don't want to legitimize a corrupt electoral system, and I didn't see substantive differences between the two corporate candidates. Both are pledged to policies of maintaining the latter days of our American Empire. Both talk the language of militancy and bellicosity; i.e., maintaining our strong defense; defeating our enemies; supporting our allies, especially Israel; opposing Russian "expansionism." They differ tactically: Obama would "withdraw" (really re-deploy) more quickly from Iraq so that he can more speedily buttress our forces in Afghanistan. Obama would "talk" to Iran, but the message he would bring it is the same as the no-talking, non-negotiating McCain; i.e., Iran must not develop its nuclear industry because even one Iranian nuclear bomb would change the equations of power (and Israel's latitude for action) in the Middle East.
Economically, both McCain and Obama came to heel when the corporations and lobbyists came calling: they both supported the bailout. I thought it telling that when Jim Lehrer asked both candidates if the economic meltdown would affect their proposed policies, both men skirted the question, and acted as though everything was exactly as it had been; in other words, they continued to ask voters to trust them and to buy into their pipe dreams. Equally telling, Obama already appears to be back-tracking on his proposal to raise taxes on those American families with incomes above $250,000 per year .
I don't like being herded, and I felt that this was one more election when people were being herded. I think the idea that if we don't vote we have no right to complain is patently absurd. Complaining is a sacred human right--an animal right, too! Eagles don't vote, but they will claw at you if you try to abuse them. Let's not congratulate ourselves too heartily over this symbolic election. Let's sharpen our talons!LR: Do you think it is necessary for lefties to continue to pursue impeachment between now and Inauguration Day, in the United States? I'm referring here to lefties who cannot travel abroad or prefer not to.
GC: How do you define "lefties"?
LR: I was defining "lefties" to refer to activists in the United States who advised voters this year that voting for a Republican or a Democrat presidential candidate would be endorsing the system and said, in effect, that voting for McCain or Obama would be meaningless in terms of accomplishing change in America. However, the specific individuals I had in mind may or may not consider themselves "lefties" in that sense. For example: Ramsey Clark, Cindy Sheehan, and Elizabeth Holtzman, who was on the House Impeachment Committee in 1974, and Dennis Kucinich, of course, have stated their intention to pursue impeachment regardless of whether McCain or Obama prevailed.
(I'm also conscious of the fact that the word "lefties" has an American tilt, and is in fact still applied by Americans when referring to American communists. I suppose that as a (Castro) Communist and American myself, I gravitate to the usage of the word. But I have no difficulty with using "leftist" or "the left" instead.)
GC: "The Left," of course, covers a wide spectrum of political beliefs and activities. There were "lefties" who advocated for Obama, believing he was the best chance we were going to get from this system. There were "lefties" who went with Nader or McKinney or local Greens. And there were leftists who advocated not voting - but not voting with a purpose, not out of apathy!
Back in '04, I posted a piece called "The Six Best Reasons Not to Vote." Names have changed since then, but there has been no real change in our electoral system--which I often think of as organized and theatricalized disenfranchisement.
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