This weekend’s choice was found with great ease…by typing “libertarian” and “song” in youtube’s search box. Ha!
According to this website, the music video won the Critic’s Choice Award at the 2006 Florida Music Festival.
Huh…Florida as an artistic sanctuary for libertarians? I never knew.
As recently mentioned, on March 3rd, 2008, I had a chance to sit down and talk with Tim Asher, Executive Director of the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI).
Welcome to my inaugural “Rando Thursday Whatever”, a…well…random, outpouring of whatever stories and snippets—of a more apolitical and non-ideological stripe—I find worthy of mention. Yes, get excited for word vomit on a weekly basis!
Firstly, I’m not sure if I made it explicit in my last post, but I was in St. Louis, Missouri all last week documenting a state-wide civil rights initiative. Pretty awesome stuff.
See! Right there to the left. Me and visual substantiation of my claim.
Anyhow, I made a video during my time there…which, should be up if not tomorrow then early next week.
Second up, coming form my current geographical location there’s a somewhat comical—actually, no,very disturbing—story today about three teens accused of digging up an old grave and stealing the skull to use as a bong. While I fully denounce such disrespect—done to the carcass of what once housed an autonomous human agent—I can’t help but mock the on-duty policeman’s report:
“(He) suggested they had actually dug up a grave in an unrelated incident and ultimately removed the head of a corpse,” Houston Police Officer Jim Adkins said. “By what he told me, they turned it into a device used to smoke marijuana, which is referred to as a bong.”
Thank you Ward Clever.
A picture of the stupid <shakes head> stupid adolescents now:
Let’s see. What else. Ah, on my way out of the bank today, I heard a 40-something customer talking to an employee about the class-action-lawsuit check he was holding. Big bucks. I’m wondering how much it was; I’m sure more than pure justice would restitute…
Moving on, I don’t know how I can claim I’m all about libertarian dance parties and not have been on top of
this.
Lastly, I change my mind. I will cross into ideology:
Surrounding my St. Louis hotel I counted more than 10 unions. In like a 2 block radius. Yeah, union central.
Union yes? Eh…no thanks.
Finally, I explain the seemingly nebulous Nietzschian reference. Whoo! Actually, as it turns out, I had already explained it long ago. From a religious studies paper I wrote in 2005 for Robert Williams (my fav professor at UIC):
…life’s ultimate spheres of expression…the two fundamental drives that govern the world. These drives or spheres–inherently opposed to each other–are embodied in Greek culture by the art deities Apollo and Dionysus…
The Apollinian drive–striving towards that which is structured, sculpted and measured–symbolizes all that has form and shape. Because objects that have form consequently have a limit or a physical restraint, the Apollinian drive can be thought of as a cognitive faculty that organizes and individuates, making sense out of an otherwise incoherent reality…
Where as all is shaped and individuated in the Apollinian sphere, in the Dionysian drive “everything subjectives vanishes into complete self-forgetfulness” (BOT, p.36). This tendency yields the collapse of the individual–the collapse of limitations and coherenecy–and manifests a state of personal detachment or temporary self-oblivion. “Its annihilation of the ordinary bounds and limits of existence contains, while it lasts, a lethargic elemtn in which all personal experiences of the past become immersed.” (BOT, p.59).
If one thinks of the state of mind intoxication or music brings, where one’s inhibitions and individual concerns vanish–sometimes thought of as ‘losing oneself (in the whole)’–one gets a better idea of this drives. Nietzsche specifically references ancient orgiastic festivals where “the most savage natural instincts were unleashed” (BOT, p.39), and consequently, a situation in which all order, civility, and individuality disappeared…
…this feeling of a higher community–a mystical feeling of oneness among many…The Apollinian drives is necessary is protecting man from the chaotic rapturous ecstasy of Dionysus, giving him a foundation from losing himself completely self-oblivion.
I think Nietzsche’s metaphysical dichotomy speaks to the human condition. Moreover, I think a libertarian dance party–an event that combines a uniquely Dionysian activity (the dance party) with an Apollinian message (lyrics espousing a libertarian philosophy) is the perfect way to express that condition. It’s celebrating individuality collectively!
With that said, let’s jam out to this week’s pick:
As apart of their new MEAexposed campaign, Education Action Group (EAG) put up the following billboards in Gladstone, MI.
Why? To provide some (much-needed) common sense to a dialogue that has otherwise been dominated by MEA propaganda, scare tactics, tantrums at board meetings, and–if that weren’t enough–the opening of their own crisis center.
As you can guess, negotiations between the school board and the employee union haven’t gone too smoothly. Which is generally a good thing in my book…
But a crisis center? Haha. To quote Police Chief Bruce Grady (think Super Troopers), “desperation is a stinky cologne”. Yes, especially when it’s coming from the MEA.
From MEAexposed.com:
[B]illboards were recently posted in the Gladstone community to paint a fuller picture of the school board’s situation there. The union has been using particularly over-the-top tactics…
The school board and larger community seem to have taken notice. To get a better understanding of what’s going on, check out the EAG video below.
Fine! I’ll go halfway…
Nietzsche on song and dance via The Birth of Tragedy:
In song and in dance man expresses himself as a member of a higher community; he has forgotten how to walk and speak; he is about to take a dancing flight into the air…He feels himself a god, he himself now walks about enchanted, in ecstasy…He is no loner an artist, he has become a work of art: in these paroxysms of intoxication the artistic power of all nature reveals itself to the highest gratification of the Primordial Unity”.
This weekend’s song–No Government by Nicolette–correlates quite well with the quote above…for a number of reasons.
For one, the techno beat.
Secondly, the lyrics border on a naive form of anarchism, which–if you ask me–is, well, fairly naive. The quote above is similarly incomplete and Nietzsche will be the first one to tell you. Tune in next week for the why!
Fifteen years ago yesterday–on April 19th, 1993–a 51-day standoff between the feds and the Branch Davidians ended in an appalling, totally-avoidable tragedy. The Waco Massacre, the fault of a stupid, brute-ridden federal government unable to respect both the 1st and 2nd Amendments, resulted in an incineration of 76 civilians, including 21 children.
Anthony Gregory at lewrockwell.com provides a commemoration:
Waco still matters. Not just because it has become the paradigmatic symbol for federal police power gone out of control. Not just because it starkly demonstrates the American government’s militarism unleashed against its own people. Not just because it showcases the propensity of politicians and law enforcers to deceitfully cover and obscure their wrongful actions. No, Waco’s still important mostly because it shows exactly what happens when people resist the unjust incursions of their own government, including under democracy.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the details of the original event, I highly recommend Waco: The Rules of Engagement. I saw it at my first IHS seminar in 2006.
Remembering how moving it was, I bought it from amazon last week in order to see it again. After I do that–since I live less than 200 miles away–I’m going to make the 3 hour trip and visit the historic site. Maybe even next weekend! I’m excited. Expect video and pictures.
Yes, eff the government.
Hmm, now that I think about it, “eff the government” is a pretty cool catchphrase…I’m thinking Bureaucrash should make a tee-shirt out of it.
H/T: TNCM
This week’s pick reminds me of two things: high school and this reason article. Oi! Oi!
This is a hilarious video.
“Chairman, that is pronkrageous!”. Haha…easily my favorite line.
Born in '82, I've lived in Illinois all my life and, moreover, Chicago since I began school at the University of Illinois at Chicago in...[more]
Powered by FireStats
