Prócer Progresista: john lennon

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martes, 20 de septiembre de 2011

Occupy Wall Street: what went wrong (up to now)

When AdBusters called for 20.000 people to occupy Wall Street, I thought immediatly, they were not aiming big enough. Last August New York City had at least 756.400 unemployed. Twenty thousand people is a way too little crowd to express discontent.

One simple demand, they say. Which is...
a) Abolish money?
b) Terminate corporations' legal personhood?
c) Judicialize the entire banking system?
d) Wipe out capitalism?

Sorry, but after four days, as John Lennon said, we'd all love to see the plan. After four days, the only novelty is that the police is getting tougher on the occupiers. They appear not to know what they are fighting for...

So, why on earth did AdBusters called for an occupation of Wall Street, even if they could not approach the targeted zone? Without planning and without a clear statement the so-called organizers are wasting my time and the goodwill of the participants.

People came to chant slogans which might be true, but they are embarrasing themselves by not knowing what would follow next if they'd succeed.

I would like to know which society should emerge after kicking the fat cat bankers' butts.

sábado, 9 de abril de 2011

Bob Dylan: It's better to die a hero than to live long enough to be the villain

After a long life of enjoying accolades from sycophantic slaves, after being heralded as the Voice of the Sixties and Patron Saint of the Baby Boomers, Bob Zimmerman a.k.a. Bob Dylan sells out for good. On April 6th, Dylan performed in Beijing, but with a carefully selected song set, looking very carefully not to offend the Culture Minister, the Chinese Government... in fact, it seems he didn't want to speak truth to power.

But if you go carrying the picture of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow... for the counter-culture hero this is frankly embarrassing. Maybe the factual powers of the United States of the Sixties weren't as scary, intimidating or bloody as the Chinese appear right now. Why did Dylan have to go to China to give a concert of his wonderful music and turn his back on his public by hypocritically appeasing the authorities?

We're in it only for the money, that might be the answer. Again: picture yourself Mr. Dylan performing for Nixon at the White House and singing something racist á la Stephen Foster. Bob Dylan lost all moral ground for any kind of criticism he is going to have to withold anyway about his native country. Is he a coward? Did he only took the money and run? Both? Somewhere, John Lennon must be sardonically smiling.

Ah! BTW Bob, how does it feel...?

miércoles, 8 de diciembre de 2010

Treinta años sin John Lennon

Hace treinta años, John Lennon, una leyenda viva, el fundador y líder de la más grande banda del pop/rock de todos los tiempos (muérdete el codo, Lady Gaga), fue asesinado por un pesadillesco "fan" llamado Mark David Chapman (pudo haber hecho carrera como doble de Stephen King), justificándolo al decir que el Artista (sí, con mayúscula) era un farsante (al cantar "Imagina que no hay posesiones" y poseer una fortuna de unos 150 millones de dólares) y dejando entrever también su complejo de Eróstrato reclamado la vida de John para obtener su anhelada notoriedad instantánea.

El día de hoy han sido tratados ya todos los enfoques, así que me iré por el enfoque personal para comentar el aniversario de la muerte de John. Es cansón para todos salir a cantar una vez más todos las alabanzas bien conocidas y bien merecidas. Tampoco voy a empezar a señalar con el dedo y decirles lo terrible que era John como persona. Y es que es aún más fácil descartar todas las deficiencias de John cuando uno recuerda el tamaño y la cantidad de sus logros. Todos los Beatles me han decepcionado en un momento (Paul lo hizo recientemente en la Casa Blanca, tratando de insultar a Bush, terminó insultando a su esposa Laura), pero en mi calidad de beatlemaníaco furioso, estoy más que dispuesto a perdonar.

Por cierto, el carácter de Lennon estaba lleno de defectos horribles, pero eso no le impidió nunca querer y tratar de hacer lo correcto, y una vez más, debemos recordar que sólo unas pocas personas (por lo menos tres de sus compañeros) realmente podían entender cómo era volverse increíblemente famoso, con admiradores adorandote a ti, diciendo también que le era imposible equivocarse.

Whatever gets you thru the night, is alright, is alright.