Chigblog: Neil Kramer on leveraged idealism: music edition

The Manics

Every so often Chigblog goes a little dark. Akin to Dan Carlin’s (and Winston Churchill’s) “Black Dog Depression”? From the end of the, um, grim song “Of Walking Abortion” by the Manic Street Preachers:

Little people in little houses

Like maggots small blind and worthless

The massacred innocent blood stains us all

Who's responsible - you fucking are

Who's responsible

And another chunk of lyrics from Black Sabbath's "Cornucopia":

Let them have their little toys

Fast sports cars and motor noise

Exciting in their plastic place

Frozen food in a concrete maze

You're gonna go insane

I'm trying to save your brain

Not so little people these days, nor such little houses, but perhaps yes to the rest, frozen food, fast food and endless car commercials. Where is the hope in this view – none needed: pure fact and realization, uttered succinctly and piercingly.

Neil Kramer

Checked out Neil Kramer again recently. (For another interview check out Neil’s talk with the terrific Jasun Horsley – awkward . . .) I’ve liked what Kramer has talked about since I first heard him though there is a flicker on my bullshit meter. But hey, the same could be said for just about everyone right? (Chris Hedges is awesome but still the flicker – this is bizarre.) Anyway, he was on fire talking with James Tracy. We have just had our record breaking caucus here and Mr. Kramer name dropped the source – or the representative – of all that interest. Here is his quote:

There are two, essential different worldviews in America and Europe at the moment. […] The first worldview holds that the government is democratic, does some good things, does some stupid things and is kind of struggling under difficult circumstances with a lot of bureaucracy and red tape but it is nevertheless freely elected and is a decent representative body to administrate national and international affairs on our behalf – the best thing we have right now. […] An empire leverages that dream, for those people who buy into that, it leverages that idealism – Bernie Sanders being a great example of that – and it provides hopefulness to naïve people I would say, quite frankly. […] The second worldview, much simpler. A view which arises from a very stark realization that the government is utterly broken, deeply corrupt and quite beyond reform. Not something that in any way can be reversed engineered or progressively adapted to meet the need of modern society. And, in fact, one cannot help but conclude that the government is not at all in the business of representing the people. It never was.

So what do we do? Listen to grim tunes? What can break the mold that these rock bands so ruthlessly skewer? I appreciate that in Kramer's interview he compared Napalm Death to George Michael. Michael was a commercial success delivering risqué pop songs while Napalm Death was relatively unheard of singing about the dark realities of the world. Perhaps its time to break out Jared Diamond's Collapse and ruminate on the impermanence of it all. To end with some lyrics to Stereolab's "Wow and Flutter":

I thought IBM was born with the world

The US flag would float forever

The cold opponent did pack away

The capital will have to follow

It's not eternal, imperishable

Oh yes it will go

It's not eternal, imperishable

The dinosaur law