Julian Assange and the Queen

 politics  No Responses »
Aug 202012
 

Crowds On The Mall for Queen´s Diamond Jubilee CelebrationsA roaring crowd packed the Mall this morning to hear Mr Julian Assange address them from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Amongst his retinue, Her Majesty herself, standing graciously at  a respectful pace behind him. In his speech, Mr Assange exhorted the crowd to have no secrets one from another, lest the people who walk in darkness prevail upon the earth. He encouraged them to rise up and to demand.   The President of Ecuador spoke movingly of how Mr Assange had changed his life. He then released thousands of pages of secret police files upon the winds; they turned into doves and flew away.

Mr Assange then put the motion, That this house declare war upon Sweden, which was carried nem con.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that there were many familiar faces in the crowd and that it was nice to see old friends.

 

Literature kills student

 literature, politics, universities  No Responses »
Aug 092012
 

Love reading? Thinking of enrolling in ‘literature’ at university? Don’t. What is offered today under that heading is a study of the politics of representations. If that’s what you want, go for it, but be warned: the department has a very particular idea of the scope of politics.

Number one son is a reader of considerable ability, the recipient of a Premier’s Award for literature. He lasted two weeks at university level. “I want to talk about the books”, he said, “not fit them into a narrative.”

The nature of that narrative was made pretty clear to him: the first prescribed reading was from Marshall Berman’s All that is Solid Melts into Air.

Ah well, not much harm done. My son’s course plan is intact, thanks to a credit he had in reserve.  In any case, he plans to major in Chinese, where he will meet a rather more urgent politics of representations.

Bruce Springsteen: fence-sitter

 politics  No Responses »
Aug 052012
 

BruceWell, what else can you conclude after this week’s revelations? First we have Australia’s Treasurer, Wayne Swan, telling the country that Bruce Springsteen rocks, that the PM herself gets her mojo from the Boss.

If I could distil the relevance of Springsteen’s music to Australia, it would be this: don’t let what has happened to the American economy happen here. Don’t let Australia become a Down Under version of New Jersey, where the people and the communities whose skills are no longer in demand get thrown on the scrap heap of life.

Meanwhile, the current Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie (the Mario Cuomo of the Republicans) is rocking out at his 129th Springsteen concert. Wait: isn’t this the governor who detests unions and shreds the public sector and wants more tax cuts for the rich?

Christie believes fiercely that Springsteen would understand him if he only made the effort. “My view on it is that I’m not a priority of his right now,” he said. “At some point maybe I will be. If Bruce and I sat down and talked, he would reluctantly come to the conclusion that we disagree on a lot less than he thinks. … He’s writing about the carpenter and the pipe fitter, the bricklayer.” He pauses for effect. “And let me tell you something. Those guys voted for me.”

(As they did here, when they returned Howard, and as they will again for Tony Abbott.)

People in the arts find it hard to believe that people they don’t like might like them. How can we believe that popular culture is a giant force for liberation when guys like Chris Christie get down to ‘Born in the USA’? Is the Governor just a really bad listener? Has Springsteen become phony?

 

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