Anyone else feel like there are times that your cat is looking at you wondering how they are going to destroy you? "Do I make it quick and painless? Or do I make him suffer? Well... while I'm deciding I'll just knock over this plant. It has begun..."
A conservative paper at Harvard was the first paper to reprint the caricatures of Muhammad. Liberals decried this saying that it was "disrespectful" to Muslims. Disrespectful. Let's see what other groups the new is "disrespectful" to: DSS, The Catholic church, the government, Conservatives, Democrats who aren't liberal enough, Democrats who are too liberal, other news outlets, celebrities, to name just a few. So, on behalf of liberals everywhere, I hereby announce a new standard for newspapers everywhere: You are not allowed to report anything that could be construed as disrespectful to anyone.
The Olympic opening ceremony had Yoko Ono (the woman who broke up the Beetles) read a poem about peace written by her late husband John Lennon. Then they had Peter Gabriel sing "Imagine" also by Lennon. Does anyone realize that this song is not about peace. This song is about Communism (Socialism at best). What are we imagining? No countries, no religion, no heaven, no hell, no possessions, and yet no need for greed or hunger. Please note: this song does not say "Imagine there's no government. No leaders in this land. Imagine there's no tyrants, no rulers with iron hands..." So what I'm hearing is a religionless government that owns everything and controls the world, giving to each according to their need. Shame on the Olympics. Without capitalism these games would not exist. Sing about peace all you want, but leave Communism and Socialism outside of the Stadio Olympico.
Food for thought: In one weekend both of the following occur: Vice President accidentally shots a fellow republican in a hunting accident. Former Vice President and Former Presidential candidate Al Gore is in Saudi Arabia for an economic forum making statements selling out his government in an attempt to get Saudi support for his party. The current Veep contacts the media and informs them of the occurrence. The former veep says that Saudi's are being "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable." In the post 9/11 America, does anyone think that breaking federal laws by overstaying your visa is a minor offense? Also, I'd like to see the "foreign" section of our detention centers. Silly me, I thought we kept all law breakers in the same place. Day after day I hear about the unfortunate hunting incident. I stumbled on the Gore story deep in the paper and have yet to hear of it on TV or radio.
Just a few quick thoughts, courtesy of Just My Opinion.
17 comments:
After reading your second paragraph, I'm again left to ask...what are you afraid of? Unchecked capitalism is just as oppressive as unchecked socialism.
I fear you've sorely misrepresented Lennon here.
sorry...i meant to say after reading your third paragraph...
To be honest, I have nothing against socialism... In an ideal world it would work. Personally, I believe that Jesus would have been a socialist.
I'm not afraid of it. I have issues with things being portrayed as things they aren't. Imagine isn't about peace as much as it is touted to be. It is clearly (after a rhetorical critique of it's lyrics) a song about socialism at best, but I believe it is more about communism. I do fear communism.
Remember the first time I read your blog and I told you that I wasn't sure whether I love it or hate it? Capping on the Beatles like that certainly does not win my favor......but we've already discussed that. You definitely have valid political points....but I'm still really confused as to how music from the 70's (?) has any bearing on that.
I'm not crapping on the band. I'm blaming Yoko for breaking them up. It was one of the greatest travesties in music history!
Music from the 60's and 70's was often politically motivated. I think that's how...
Dude, I don't use words like "crapping".....I meant what I wrote. Don't you listen to ANY rap music?
You said that the song is communist...does that mean that if you play it backwards it's a secret message to Hitler to put another load in the oven? I just think you're a bit overboard on this one. And I hate it when you criticize the Beatles!
Alright, I wasn't "capping" on the Beatles.
Hitler was a fascist, not a communist.
I'm not criticizing the Beatles; I'm criticizing people who think the song is about peace. (and John Lennon)
How is it that you manage to get me all wound up when I can't even hear your big mouth?
The song that Lennon wrote about peace was Give Peace a Chance. (And don't worry, I'm not going to bring up Beetles vs Beatles since you've spelled it correctly in the comments).
Ali, if this is going to get personal, I'm going to horonably back out.
Samuel, I'm aware of give peace a chance, but the Olympics set up "Imagine" as though it was this amazing song about peace. They had Yoko read a poem about peace before it and had gymnists form the shape of a dove after...
Upon re-reading the lyrics, I support the opinion that Imagine is a song about peace:
Imagine all the people
living for today...
living life in peace...
sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer,
but I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.
Lennon is envisioning a world without some common historic causes of war - religion, nationalism, greed, need/want. A world where all recognize the humanity of the other instead of vilifying or dehumanizing the other is peaceful world. The common humanity in us all would call us to view those different from us as brothers and sisters. The Olympics is a great place of peaceful competition where places like North and South Korea can enter as one delegation under a common flag.
But Imagine is poetry - not a detailed political manifesto.
What do you think Communism claims to create? Hostility? The major premise is removing those freedoms: religion, possesions, soveriegn countries, etc.
The solution to "recognizing the humanity in the other" is not removing these items. It is respecting them. Removing them has not worked in the past and will not work in the future. To strip someone of their religious or national identity simply begins to chip away at their humanity.
You are mostly correct, Imagine is poetry, it is also a political manifesto.
Dude, Imagine was not a policital suggestion. It is a song! Just a song, just one man's opinion of a peaceful Earth. Get over it!
And his vision clearly involves a one world religionless government whose people are possessionless. What does that sound like to you?
It sounds like a song. It's just a song. Aren't there some hip hop songs that concern you more?
rapid fire pts:
"Imagine" is a Lennon song, not a Beatles song. It isn't cool to cap on The Beatles, but bash John all you want.
Imagine is a political suggestion. Saying it's "just a song" sells it short. Most works are political in some sense.
Point in Marc's favor: The Chinese love this song and have pins of "Imagine" on the backpacks. Point against: Most Chinese don't have the fainest idea how their gov't is run.
Lennon isn't talking about forcibly taking people's religions from them. That would be violent and that's exactly what he wants to eliminate. He's just saying "imagine it. imagine how peaceful the world would be if we didn't have any of this crap. religion teaches us to love, yet we kill for it. gov't is supposed to create order, yet chaos ensues. What if we could do away with those constructs?"
Of course, he doesn't offer a plausible alternative, but if he's singing against gov't, he's also singing against communism.
Marc, what you fear is a form of communism. China, for instance, isn't communism; it's a bizarre mix of capitalism and martial law. Do you think all communism is the same? Do you differentiate between communism and Marxism?
Ali, yes, there are hip hop songs that concern me but no one claims the song "Slap my Be-otch" is a song about a good marriage any more than "Pop a Cap in the Pig" is about model citizenship.
AZ,
I have problems differenciating between Marxism and Communism. Can you enlighten?
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