denyingphoenix: Brian Faust - No Capacity for Change

Returning home from vacation this past weekend, I was happy to see the latest issue of Rolling Stone in the mailbox. I was having a bit of a literary hangover, and welcomed some mindless entertainment. As I flipped through the pages the first evening in bed, I was saddened to find out that this issue was (for the third time this year) a retrospective look at the anniversary of the magazine and the late Sixties era that birthed it. I groaned, anticipating another full issue dedicated to the unparalleled brilliance of The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

What has pleasantly surprised me since beginning to read the entire issue is just how wrong I was initially. Instead of the tired, bitter political recriminations and tabloid tidbits that usually comprise the bulk of the magazine, it was filled cover-to-cover with quality writing. Insightful. Engaging. Entertaining, even. What struck me most while reading the personal accounts of the summer of 1967 was just how seemingly magical that time was, filled with an air of opportunity and desire for change that blew not just in the US, but elsewhere as well. Or perhaps it’s merely a testament to persuasive editorial. As I pour over these articles, one thought continually tries to break my concentration and rhythm: “There is no way this could happen in the world we live in today.”

Iggy Pop recounts the coexistence of racial tensions and musical brotherhood in Detroit with a fondness. He speaks about how, despite the fear of increased police presence in black neighborhoods, it was still an electrifying time to live through, unrestricted and seemingly limitless in it’s potential. The in-depth article about the making of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band reveals much the same: everyone the world over could almost palpably feel things shifting and changing, and how artists during those days felt partnership in helping to steer it onward. Sure, the mind-expanding drugs helped, but even in the non-hippie sector where The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol’s Factory existed, the stories still share the same theme.

Will 2007 ever be just as fondly delineated, waxed nostalgic or celebrated by future generations? I just cannot see how. The lack of boundaries that seem to have existed in 1967 are no where to be seen today. Bob Dylan and the members of The Band would not simply run into each other in a rural mountain town in the Catskills and spend a summer chopping wood and recording in basements. High-spirited, enthusiastic individuals simply looking to create the ultimate music festival would never get off the ground today, let alone be able to arrange the roster of 32 legendary artists (playing for free) as was done for the Monterey Pop festival. It’s no secret, the world is just not the same.

“As I pour over these articles, one thought continually tries to break my concentration and rhythm: ‘There is no way this could happen in the world we live in today.’”

The national and global climate today is just as troubled, bruised by war and injustice, political scandal and abuses of power. People young and old are seemingly just as disaffected and frustrated as their counterparts 40 years ago were. So why is there no magical air of potential blowing through the plains of this country, no growing tremors of hope to be felt? Have we run out of resolve? Where are the musical and visual artists trying to spark the fires of change?

Maybe I’m simply jaded and callous. Perhaps the world has not reached a critical mass where the potential for such a radical change is impossible. For all I know the artistic communities around the world might very well be engaged in creating ground-breaking creative works that will help promote and define these times for decades to come. But from the humble position where I sit today, at 27, I just don’t feel it.

Comments

i saw this issue in the store and as i'm usually attracted to all things shiny and glittery i picked it up and read snippets. intrigued i purchased the issue and have many of the same sentiments. correct, no such a wave of hope exists and nor will 2007 be remembered in any of the same capacity, if at all.

while today's technology creates the ability for massive social organization on a global scale to launch protests, marches, and movements, that same technology creates a life far too comfortable for people to take risks. we might disagree with the current administration and its policies, but who, myself included, is willing to risk their lives or lifestyles for the possibility of change?

another reason for the impossibility of hope (i wish that didn't sound so bleak), and though its not my own personal doctrine, is that the masses lack any threat, violent or otherwise, to the status quo. once a protest becomes violent, it becomes labeled as anarchic->undemocratic->unamerican->proterrorist. to voice our discontent we are told where, when, and how we can protest. in other words, our ability to protest must follow the rules of the game we are disagreeing with or it will be met with widespread repression (1997 WTO, every G8 summit of the last decade). Following the rules of the status quo leave our message of change to go unheard and leave us with no other channels than the kind-hearted candle-light vigil.

lastly, a change in the social organization of western society has lead for the incapacity to make change. society has moved away from neighborhood, community, school, and faith-based organizations toward the corporate, nondescript, and capitalistic office, and has left people to compete against each other for better salaries (and a more comfortable life) rather than working together to achieve change on a community, state, or national level.

the music has become uninspiring over the last 40 years partly due to all of these reasons, i think. every genre has a label and a market and a target demographic. music labeled as protest music is categorized and marketed as such, rather than promoting the message within.

i have felt the world change in my lifetime. in september of 2001 i was overcome with a wave of hope in the days following 9/11. that that would be the moment that opened america's eyes to the impact and discontent it has caused throughout the globe to achieve its own security and comfort. needless to say that hope has been crushed by more than five years of ongoing and escalating warfare.

said sullivan

Bill, you should have written the post for me. Well said.

I especially agree with the notion that the shift away from community/neighborhoods has had a disastrous effect, even more far reaching that my puny little brain can likely comprehend.

Thanks for your insights (and you should write more)

said Brian Faust

i know, i need to write more, but i'm out of practice. its hard to break the habit of not writing, except when someone touches a nerve in which i cannot help but to respond as you clearly did.

I don't know what you're talking about- design can change the world: http://designerslashmodel.com/movie.html

said Hillary

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No Capacity for Change

Originally posted on July 11, 2007

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