The Art of War

40 years ago the Vietnam war was in full swing and the world was in turmoil. This tumultuous time nearly tore the social fabric of the world to bits. The cold war was in full swing and the anti-war movement was a societal force to be reckoned with. Sounds eerily familiar doesn’t it? Fast-forward to today and the similarities are stunning. Where the cold war has been replaced with terrorism and long haired hippies have been recast as red bull swilling cyberpunks who protest via facebook petition and wrists loaded with plastic (irony) bands. While the comparative effectiveness of dope smoking hippies to bringing about the end of the Vietnam war verses social networkers and pseudo-political rent-a-crowds is endlessly debateable and not the purpose of this posting…

While my personal political ideology on the issue is somewhat beside the point, it is fair to say that I agree with all of the forthcoming opinions that I’ll bring forth in this posting. Actually the way that I get motivated to exercise now is to watch clips of Bill O’Reilly on You Tube – by the end of the interview I’m so filled with rage that I’m predisposed to working myself to near death to get the hate from my lungs…

What this post is about, isn’t about ending a war, electing a government that will actually make a difference or learning to face fear and shrink it into its place. This post is about art. The art that comes from war. Like in the 60’s we are in a golden age of protest art. While the Clinton era was a sort of utopian dreamland (except if you lived in say Bosnia, Somalia or Central America) the art that the era produced was equally fucking awful. I could pull you tube clips of MC Hammer but just the thought makes me throw up in my mouth a bit .

Art comes from pain. And it’s a pretty fucking painful time in the world at the moment. But through that pain there is some amazing artistry coming to the fore; artists are doing what humanity does best - making the best out of a bad situation.

Here are a few pieces that will make you think, maybe tap your toe, and maybe piss you off. Maybe you’ll stand up and get out on the street and yell and scream and knock on doors and maybe you’ll decide to vote – both NZ and the US get to do that this year – so don’t forget!

Eddie Vedder performing No More a song about a US soldier who was shot in the back in Iraq to come home to nothing…

Ani Difranco – telling it like it is – as always…



Here is a link to a piece that I wrote a couple years ago that still rings painfully true…. http://www.adventureskope.com/documents/fundimentalism.pdf

In my heart I know you didn't come here just for me, you came here because you believe in what this country can be. In the face of war, you believe there can be peace. In the face of despair, you believe there can be hope. In the face of a politics that's shut you out, that's told you to settle, that's divided us for too long, you believe we can be one people, reaching for what's possible, building that more perfect union.

--Barack Obama

-peace-
SK