[Marxism] <no subject>

[Mike Alewitz]

Please Post and Distribute:




LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
AGITPROP NEWS: 10.22.8




In this issue: 

1. The Con is On
2. Up for some social unrest?
3. Robby Stamps ­ Presente
4. Fun with Sarah



_______________________________




1. The Con is On


The following is an edited and expanded version of a speech that
was given to an anti-war rally at Trinity College on October 11, 2008
by Mike Alewitz, Artistic Director, Labor Art & Mural Project

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


 
Along with being a political muralist, I'm a member of the scenic artists
union. We work in the entertainment industry - television, movies, and in
the theater. We create imaginary worlds, we let you suspend your belief and
take part in theater.
 
In corporate America, unfortunately, the job for most artists (if you're
lucky enough to be employed) is to sell either commodities or ideology.
 
In the first case, it is the designers, filmmakers, illustrators, writers
and musicians who get people to buy things they don¹t want or need.  We
convince people that this or that automobile will make them cool, or that
wearing the right jeans or shoes will make them irresistible to their
romantic interest. We give life to inanimate objects. We get people to buy
drugs or cigarettes or booze.
 
But today I want to talk about the second case - selling ideology for the
ruling class. It is the sound engineers, make up artists, lighting designers
and actors that create the fake news. Film editors cut video to deceitfully
show Palestinians are dancing when planes crashed into the World Trade
Center on 9/11. Writers develop the scripts and frame the scenes so Arnold
Schwarzenegger can dehumanize and mow down Arab terrorists. Graphic
designers create the jumpy texts that make you an army of one.
 
Of course we don¹t really think of it in these terms, any more than a
machinist can dwell on the end result of machining parts that will be used
in a bomber.  We think ³Hey ­ look at this cool thing I designed.² We take
pride in our work - we don¹t have a choice about what we produce.
 
Reality Check
 
So when I¹m looking at one of the so-called reality shows, I am thinking
about the crowd of people on this side of the camera, how the editing was
done, how it was made to appear unscripted - all that kind of stuff.  And
today, I¹m watching the greatest reality show of all: the elections.
 
To sell the elections, you put the artists to work to create an entirely
fictional world. You take Sarah Palin, who believes the victims of rape or
incest must bear the child of their rapist  - and you make her funny and
cute.  A person who represents the most ignorant, anti-scientific and
superstitious ideas ­ becomes, well, folksy.
 
You take someone like John McCain. Unlike working-class youths who were
drafted and had to fight in Vietnam, McCain volunteered to do so - he chose
the vocation of dropping hideous weapons of mass distraction on innocent
people. He was bombing civilian targets when he was shot down over Vietnam.
But he¹s transformed into a hero.
 
These politicians are not stupid - they are just good actors. They are
chameleons, unrestrained by moral qualms. They are representatives of a
ruling class in decline ­ a class that has no future, a class without pride
or vision.  The candidates read their lines and follow direction.
 
The Republicans are the strong right arm of the war machine.  They
unabashedly denigrate community activists for trying to improve their
neighborhoods.  They openly proclaim that wealth should not be shared.  They
campaign around contemptible racist attacks directed against Barak Obama.
 
So what happens? You are so repulsed by these characters that you run to the
left arm of the same creature ­ tens of thousands of you!  Tens of thousands
of people who are completely opposed to the war - instead of marching to
bring the troops home, they are off rooting for the handsome young
hero-actor. This is despite the fact that he will not only support the
continuing occupation of Iraq, but is even more vociferous in his saber
rattling to extend the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan!
 
The Con is On
 
It's a con game and we are the victims. And it's such a brilliant con, that
even knowing you're being swindled, you still give money to the criminals.
You know they are lying! You¹ve seen Obama betray his own advisers. But off
you go, running to support the ³lesser evil.²
 
It¹s as though a couple of con artists were trying to sell you oceanfront
property in either Nebraska or Tennessee. You know that both states are
landlocked and the salesmen are crooks - but you¹re told to give your
savings to the Tennessee guy.  What else can we do, ask the union officials,
as they turn over millions of your dues dollars.  At least it¹s closer to
the ocean!
 
The Democratic and Republican politicians would be laughing all the way to
the bank, if they hadn't already looted the banks and dumped the remains on
us.
 
So why do American workers do this?  It¹s because all of the resources of
the bosses, all the artistic talent they control, all of the tens of
millions of dollars but they spend, all of the hundreds of hours of media
exposure that they possess, all of the pressure of all of the institutions
in our society: the church, the university, the government - all of that is
used to get you into the voting booths.
 
The capitalist-controlled press, rich celebrities, big-name artists,
preachers, college professors, union officials, civil rights leaders, the
women's movement's notables - all of them are telling you to stop
demonstrating and put your efforts into electing so-called progressive
candidates. They will admonish you if you don¹t vote for one of the two
ruling class candidates. They will brand you as divisive or apathetic - as
though abstaining from voting for con artists means you don¹t care about
social issues.
 
And because workers aspire to a better world, because they want to show that
they are against racism and for peace, because they do not yet see an
alternative - they will go to the polls and vote for Barak Obama - the wrong
act for the right reasons.
 
Real Democracy