Starting over # 4 - Ten degrees to the left and ten to the right...
Phil Ochs on liberals said, 'Ten degrees to the left of center in good times.
Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally.' Slavoj Žižek is no less forgiving saying, 'Today's liberal tolerances towards others... is counterpointed by an obsessive fear of harassment... What increasingly emerges as the central human right in late-captalist society is the right not to be harassed, which is the right to remain at a safe distance from others.' All of which points to the nimbyism we allow the right to use as a great big stick to beat the less fortunate. Let's get something straight, despite the right wing press and the Tory party in the UK, this is not a 'winter of discontent,' the current employment disputes do not have, 'contempt for ordinary people,' the refugee crisis is not everyone else's problem, but neither is driving into innocent people in a Christmas market in Berlin, or even shooting a Russian ambassador in an Ankara art gallery. The juxtaposition of child poverty in the UK and whats going on in Aleppo is a disgraceful stain on all of us, people having to take to boats in search of a better life is a disgraceful stain on all of us, food banks in the rich UK is a disgrace. If 2016 has taught us anything its that we are caught in the paradox of our own lives. Our liberal selves, our ethical and political emotions are ingrained in our instinctive sympathy towards pain and suffering but we still allow the political right and its press to kick us around because reacting kicks up the kind of confrontational storm that most of us would rather avoid. As Žižek says, its Frankenstein's monster, we know the monster deserves our help but we close the door. But lest we forget, the unholy right in Putin, Trump, Turnbull, May et al don't lie, they don't pretend to give a shit and yet some still vote for them. They are already ten degrees to the right and more and they are taking huge liberties with what really matters in the world; being ten to the left then ten to the right as liberals then just fuels their quest to maintain a grip on the very injustices we can all see. I am not standing on a soap box here, I am no better than anyone else, I am very happy to show a picture of my new guitar and album with some protest songs on it and say I have worked nearly 50 years to get to this point in my life. Nevertheless, I am aware of the work to be done and I have pledged a great deal of 2017 to it - starting with the work I am doing with Stephanie Morris on The Boat. Phil Ochs has been talking about this for a long time:
Phil Ochs on liberals said, 'Ten degrees to the left of center in good times.
Ten degrees to the right of center if it affects them personally.' Slavoj Žižek is no less forgiving saying, 'Today's liberal tolerances towards others... is counterpointed by an obsessive fear of harassment... What increasingly emerges as the central human right in late-captalist society is the right not to be harassed, which is the right to remain at a safe distance from others.' All of which points to the nimbyism we allow the right to use as a great big stick to beat the less fortunate. Let's get something straight, despite the right wing press and the Tory party in the UK, this is not a 'winter of discontent,' the current employment disputes do not have, 'contempt for ordinary people,' the refugee crisis is not everyone else's problem, but neither is driving into innocent people in a Christmas market in Berlin, or even shooting a Russian ambassador in an Ankara art gallery. The juxtaposition of child poverty in the UK and whats going on in Aleppo is a disgraceful stain on all of us, people having to take to boats in search of a better life is a disgraceful stain on all of us, food banks in the rich UK is a disgrace. If 2016 has taught us anything its that we are caught in the paradox of our own lives. Our liberal selves, our ethical and political emotions are ingrained in our instinctive sympathy towards pain and suffering but we still allow the political right and its press to kick us around because reacting kicks up the kind of confrontational storm that most of us would rather avoid. As Žižek says, its Frankenstein's monster, we know the monster deserves our help but we close the door. But lest we forget, the unholy right in Putin, Trump, Turnbull, May et al don't lie, they don't pretend to give a shit and yet some still vote for them. They are already ten degrees to the right and more and they are taking huge liberties with what really matters in the world; being ten to the left then ten to the right as liberals then just fuels their quest to maintain a grip on the very injustices we can all see. I am not standing on a soap box here, I am no better than anyone else, I am very happy to show a picture of my new guitar and album with some protest songs on it and say I have worked nearly 50 years to get to this point in my life. Nevertheless, I am aware of the work to be done and I have pledged a great deal of 2017 to it - starting with the work I am doing with Stephanie Morris on The Boat. Phil Ochs has been talking about this for a long time:
