They sit on the beach, another bunch of free spirited festival goers beside a fire they were not given permission to light. "how can you stop people from lighting fires" they say. "Fires have been around since, well since forever. We are just being free. Like our ancestors, they didn't need no lousy governments telling them what to do" They play Psytrance through their speakers, twirl fire, tell stories, paint their faces, and just enjoy the fact they breathe. They connect, and reflect, and amidst all the beers and all the joints they all come to agree. We don't need their governance, for we are all free. And as they watch the setting of the sun, they all truly believe.
"hold on, hold on," they all cry now, screaming "how foul, how foul" Yes indeed how foul things have things have become. Gladys has come robbed them of parties. "what can we do now? We can't listen to our music. they're taking away our freedom. Can you believe that"
Yes I can. In a continuation of what I saw slowly depleting whilst I was sitting in a university forced to listen to Justin Bieber, complaining about the rising cost of cigarettes, the Conservatives of the world are continuing to strip away your freedom. Back then it wasn't such a crime to die before your hundredth birthday. Not as much as it was a crime to call for social equilibrium. "Communism strips humanity of its individual freedoms in favour of the needs of the nation."
Back then I saw the rising cost of cigarettes as a removal of our freedom to get cancer and die. No one listened. Despite my assertions that if they wanted to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning they should quit driving their cars. No, "The economy, the economy, we must maintain the economy." they would scream this rather than say it. Looking at me like some sort of mental defective for cheekily suggesting that the rise of carcinogenic toxins in the atmosphere were not the sole cause of myself and all the smokers of the globe. They continued their govern-mentally and socially approved anti smoking rhetoric ad nauseum while i ignored them thinking "Who the fuck keeps putting Justin Beiber on the juke box. This is worse than Abu Gharib."
And it was. Far, far worse than any psychological torture inflicted upon humanity in history. We had to stomache three doors down and the rise of emos as well as the constant capitalistic propaganda in silence. Why because it was profitable and no one is allowed to stop the profits. Communism had been dead for a decade and with no competition for capitalism our our freedom was now a purchasable commodity. Where else could we shop for systems of governance.
It was at this point I realised that my choices were being limited. Not just in the music shop but the music shops themselves. Not only had the music industry super giants had created clones of every independent music act they had begun cloning the independent music shops. Creating mass chains attempting to replicate the look and feel of that secret little record shop tucked away on the outskirts of the C.B.D. Which left me wondering what the hell had happened.
The best I could figure was that someone had flown a couple of planes into a couple of buildings in the U.S. and everyone panicked. "Your freedom is not as free as you think" Said numerous government officials and media outlets across. A couple of clever capitalists figured that this meant they could charge for freedom and 'lobbied the government to change the laws to suit their imperialistic needs. Any who argued or disagreed were publicly shunned. Called terrorist sympathisers, opposers of this form of politically oppressive slander were forced to covertly allude to the crucible before hanging. We all had to get on the same page, the same agenda. Some of us said "what the hell happened? Surely the right to enjoy yourself, to harvest the fruits of your labour and eat them was the one freedom repeated by capitalists since the second world war." Work hard, be the change you want to see in the world, were the core freedoms of belief inherent in every child born before 9/11. We had a say. A right to opinion. An entitlement to freedom. And they took it from us so they could sell it back at an inflated price.
Now we live in a fascism only Orwell had the foresight to envisage. Gladys is only the start. The end of the beginning of the end. Our right to live free, and die free, is now just a commodity as undervalued as chickens eggs. Hidden under the guise of a mummy knows best for you mentality. Money has now replaced everything, including intelligence and responsibility. You can have a fire on the beach, but only if you can show yourself responsible enough with your finances to purchase a permit.
They are taking our parties and the free spirited indigo children can cry all they want about democracy and their rights to be free. The answer is in their own hands and feet. It is right there in front of them at every small Psytrance festival they attend. Every would be musical wunderkind whose self published album they refuse to buy because it should be free if they're a friend.
Soon it will be corporations openly governing us all in a replica of the fascist states we were warned against following in my youth. The music will be a bastardised distillation of whatever artists make the biggest waves in the alternative scene. Which is foolish for us to allow when I consider all the great bands that came to public attention through anarchistically minded individuals who started their own album labels in response to the corporate greed of the eighties.
The hypocrisy of the government has become our own while ever we scream about how unfair it is that they govern our every whim. Whilst simultaneously decrying our need to be governed in the first place. Nobody allowed Woodstock to happen. They just went and did it. Nobody would play rap at first, so they started pirate radio stations. Repeating the actions of rock and roll fanciers of the sixties. Nirvana rose to attention through an independent start up, as did Pearl Jam. Every thirty years this same battle between conservatives and the free spirited repeats. The wowsers of yesteryear look to ensure their glory never diminishes and the visionaries of liberty are forced to commit acts considered unlawful though not really a sin. Where they learn from the past, we free spirits forget our history. slowly but surely our freedom recedes. These could well be the last days of humanities freedom unless you take your chance to be bold, to be free.
No comments:
Post a Comment