'We can make it better'
Wilco was last night.
One of the best rock 'n' roll shows I've ever seen in my life. You might have missed out.
If you did, too bad.
After the show, a friend of mine briefly spoke of the third anniversary of the Iraq war and its accompanying nationwide protest on Saturday afternoon. He said, and I quote, "it won't change anything." I countered with a recent consensus of my personal, composite poll (i.e.: no one I've talked to in the past 4 months is for the war) and a recent CNN/Gallup Poll that says 55% of the country thinks the Iraq war was... wait for it... 'A MISTAKE.' I got no response. I know better than to really pry at someone who deletes MoveOn.org e-mails from his inbox without even so much as a skim.
Fifteen minutes earlier, he was chanting "we can make it better" at the Wilco show right next to me. Disingenuous? He also, 20 minutes earlier, heard Jeff Tweedy lament, after not hearing enough people responding to his call, that "when not enough people try to make it better, the people trying to make it better have to make it ten times better to..." blah blah blah, you get the idea. Apparently, my friend has an awfully short memory. I blame the beer, sleepiness and the aural trauma inflicted on us by the amplifiers-- yet my friend would have said, and will say, this under even the most ideal of circumstances. If an amazing, amazing rock show can't give him (or anyone else for that matter) a little hope that he can change the world, then what, I ask you, the fuck can?
Maybe some amazing American television?
Maybe this:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead
Don't stop. We can make it better.
One of the best rock 'n' roll shows I've ever seen in my life. You might have missed out.
If you did, too bad.
After the show, a friend of mine briefly spoke of the third anniversary of the Iraq war and its accompanying nationwide protest on Saturday afternoon. He said, and I quote, "it won't change anything." I countered with a recent consensus of my personal, composite poll (i.e.: no one I've talked to in the past 4 months is for the war) and a recent CNN/Gallup Poll that says 55% of the country thinks the Iraq war was... wait for it... 'A MISTAKE.' I got no response. I know better than to really pry at someone who deletes MoveOn.org e-mails from his inbox without even so much as a skim.
Fifteen minutes earlier, he was chanting "we can make it better" at the Wilco show right next to me. Disingenuous? He also, 20 minutes earlier, heard Jeff Tweedy lament, after not hearing enough people responding to his call, that "when not enough people try to make it better, the people trying to make it better have to make it ten times better to..." blah blah blah, you get the idea. Apparently, my friend has an awfully short memory. I blame the beer, sleepiness and the aural trauma inflicted on us by the amplifiers-- yet my friend would have said, and will say, this under even the most ideal of circumstances. If an amazing, amazing rock show can't give him (or anyone else for that matter) a little hope that he can change the world, then what, I ask you, the fuck can?
Maybe some amazing American television?
Maybe this:
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Mead
Don't stop. We can make it better.
posted by Paul at 3/15/2006 12:41:00 PM
4 Comments:
Paul, I'm glad I'm not the only person who can engage in a little healthy infighting with Matt, especially as I am 1,200 or so miles away. So, in the interest of my own amusement let me offer you folks a devil's deal:
Matt, I will gang up with you against Paul on the war/politics issue, and
Paul, I will gang up with you against Matt on the merits of John Mayer's existence.
Let the inane rancor fester!
No targets. I'm talking about cynicism in life and in rock 'n' roll. Its natural to be cynical when you're an inherently idealistic person in today's world. My overall message, obviously, is to never give up. No targets, no guns, no firing, no attacks.
Thanks for explaining yourself. I disagree, though. Here's why:
Like most people, I am fundamentally opposed to pretty much all war. Yes, Saddam should've been ousted a while ago (by us, a decade ago, perhaps?) but he wasn't because W's daddy was smart enough to realize what would happen if we really went all the way and did that shit.
Now we've turned every block of every Iraqi metropolis into a ghetto war zone. Poor people, women and children are getting killed. The bad people are stealing and killing and getting away with it, exaserbating the situation. The evil people are blowing themselves up for a pandering cause. The good people, and according to the New York Times this is actually happening or has happened, are latching their bodies onto suicide bombers to save the lives of their friends, families and even total strangers.
I honestly can't think how the situation could get worse. Let me rephrase that: I honestly can't think how the situation could get much worse. I mean, they've actually told us to leave directly. We may be able to "make it better" at home, but there's not much hope for it over there. Why can't we give freedom and democracy and unity for ourselves (our poor, our marginalized minorities, etc.) but we're qualified to do it, "help" do it, for Iraqis who have a trifractal (Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds) identity in the first place? Short of a fundamental restructuring of economy and politics in Iraq and America, I don't think we can do anything for them. We have to admit that.
I know when to be cynically aloof and hopefully determined. It's a gift, I guess.
Three years is enough time to do what we could have done for the Iraqi people after we stuck ourselves there. We were big, bad, loved, feared and admired world's policeman in a country for a little while and now we need to wash our hands of it. The only reason we haven't yet is because America's collective ego is so huge that we can't admit defeat.
That said, I love America as an idea and certainly am a fan of its ideals. I consider myself somewhat of a patriot. To do that, we must have an open dialogue and open debate. Sometimes, we must even dissent.
To paraphrase a line from "The West Wing": Patriots are honest with each another.
War protests may have been naive before the war, when we were on our way there, but now that a poll, or public, is behind us, what's damaging about staging a demonstration? What's wrong with capitalizing on this situation to achieve something that's undoubtedly right?
Even better question: Can't someone go to a place, immerse themselves a crowd of people, and maintain their own ideals and essence without being touched by the surrounding environment? That's definitely what journalists do. It's what strong people do. Wouldn't you like to see if you can do this? Even if you know, what's the harm in reinforcing that? Would you go to this, even for me? I'll even buy you some SoulVeg (vegan soul food) for lunch.
Two things to tack onto this:
- I'm not attacking your character. I used your character as an example to make a much broader point. There was certainly no attack intended. The way I framed it, I thought, was pretty objective... maybe a tad inaccurate.
- And I don't hang around all liberals, that's grossy inaccurate. If I did, I'd spend all my time at the Progressive Center (where I dislike visiting even briefly) or All Saints (which I dislike more and more each time I go there, pretty much -- good coffee and location, though). Take my best friends: You and Sean. Both of you are moderate, pro-working class Democrats (right?), but not liberals.
Awesome! Online arguing is fun! Glad there's no hard feelings.
-"You unknowingly sometimes sabotage your own cause by allowing the worst parts of its supporters to manifest in your speech and behavior and in doing so alienate not only people like me who are your friends, but more importantly, strangers who are necessary in helping you win the good fight."
Wanted to speak on that real quick. I think it starts as a kind of pure, unbridled passion at first and then it turns into something a little more misanthropic the more frustrated I get. Naturally, I have good intentions, I just think my focus is sometimes off.
Maybe reeling the rhetoric in about four or five notches wouldn't hurt. At least someone like you or I understand that the volume ("volume" or "intensity" in the abstract sense) just gets turned up sometimes, and usually its not an affront or to be taken personally. Sometimes something that's loud is what it is: loud. Sometimes it's just inherently that way. I remember you once said to me that: "I don't know how to lower my voice," or "I don't have an inside voice." I totally found that inspiring.
My concern about you not going was that you were in a personal/political, complacent sort of apathy. I guess I should've known better. But you know I don't want that kind of awful, awful thing for you. The thought of it makes me cringe. Indifference is the most awful thing in the word.
I cannot overstate how strongly I believe that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. But maybe I should reel that in a little bit, too.
I want you inside me,
Paul
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