A Military Charade
I stuck this new Ian Brown single into my CD player, and thought 'oh yeah, here we go. Another anti-war song'. Then I realised that actually there's not been too much musical opposition to this ridiculous war, and perhaps a good anti-war song is exactly what we need. Remaining silent is to be complicit in this murderous farce.
Of course now that we're up to our necks in the mire (in Afghanistan as well as Iraq), singing 'bring the soldiers back' isn't quite as easy as all that. But at the same time we shouldn't be forgetting that this is going on, and shouldn't be forgetting that Blair and the labour party went directly against the wishes of the electorate (as well as the UN of course) in waging this phoney war.
ITV screened John Pilger's must-see documentary 'The War on Democracy' the other night... a very interesting look at US 'interference' in Latin America... 'interference' being one of these terms like 'collateral damage' that really doesn't cover the complicity in murder, torture and theft of natural resources that has been endemic in latin america for the past 50 years. I've spent quite some time on the continent myself, and have seen first-hand the poverty and ruination caused by US imperialism in the region. It warms the bottom of my heart to see Chavez & Evo Morales sticking two fingers up at their powerful neighbours, and implementing policies that actually benefit the people of their countries rather than a military junta and their US multinational backers.
(you can watch the whole thing on youtube if your eyes & broadband can take it)
Now I can't pretend that this Ian Brown single is going to change any of the world's ills, but it made me sit and think about what's going on for the first time in a while. And reminded me of how quickly we accept. And forget. So for that reason I applaud it.
One song won't make a shit heap of difference to the world, but it's good to occasionally be shaken from the political apathy enduced by Tescos cheesecake, cheap trainers and Sky Super Soccer Sunday.
IAN BROWN - ILLEGAL ATTACKS
SAM COOKE - A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
Of course now that we're up to our necks in the mire (in Afghanistan as well as Iraq), singing 'bring the soldiers back' isn't quite as easy as all that. But at the same time we shouldn't be forgetting that this is going on, and shouldn't be forgetting that Blair and the labour party went directly against the wishes of the electorate (as well as the UN of course) in waging this phoney war.
ITV screened John Pilger's must-see documentary 'The War on Democracy' the other night... a very interesting look at US 'interference' in Latin America... 'interference' being one of these terms like 'collateral damage' that really doesn't cover the complicity in murder, torture and theft of natural resources that has been endemic in latin america for the past 50 years. I've spent quite some time on the continent myself, and have seen first-hand the poverty and ruination caused by US imperialism in the region. It warms the bottom of my heart to see Chavez & Evo Morales sticking two fingers up at their powerful neighbours, and implementing policies that actually benefit the people of their countries rather than a military junta and their US multinational backers.
(you can watch the whole thing on youtube if your eyes & broadband can take it)
Now I can't pretend that this Ian Brown single is going to change any of the world's ills, but it made me sit and think about what's going on for the first time in a while. And reminded me of how quickly we accept. And forget. So for that reason I applaud it.
One song won't make a shit heap of difference to the world, but it's good to occasionally be shaken from the political apathy enduced by Tescos cheesecake, cheap trainers and Sky Super Soccer Sunday.
IAN BROWN - ILLEGAL ATTACKS
SAM COOKE - A CHANGE IS GONNA COME
posted by headphonesex @ 3:03 AM
