Originally published in the August 2010 issue of Leftfield, we today republish the following article in tribute to the dearly departed, friend of the people and bullwark against imperialism, Kim Jong Il. Long live Juche!
The Dear Bieber: JBiebz hangin at some crazy procession thing in downtown Pyongyang
Earlier this year, users of cult online messageboard 4Chan struck a strategic alliance with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. In return for a supply of tactical nuclear weapons, the internet memesters rigged a competition on the website of teen popstar Justin Bieber. The competition invited fans to vote for the country that they wanted Bieber to tour nexact, and in proof of the glorious success of the Democratic People’s Republic, North Korea won out top! Here, Leftfield brings you an exclusive look at Justin’s tour diary in the land of the Dear Leader:
“Yo, what up, this is JB, live from my tour of the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea. I arrived in through a place called the DMZ, don’t know what it stands for but it sounds street. Probably NK is doing what I do and just calling things names or saying stuff for their credibility, so it’s cool with me. I know how hard it is to convince people that you really are straight street, when you come from somewhere like Ontario or NK.
The border guards were all tense and straight, they could do with a lesson or two from my swagger coach, and maybe Usher telling them how to act.
We went to meet the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-Il, and I was like woah, cos the North Korean shorties be going wild for him, just like they do for me back home. I explained to KJI that I believe if I stay humble and keep following the right path, I will achieve my goals and keep reaching success. He said that he believes the same thing, and calls it the Juche ideology, which apparently a whole philosophy that he came up with by himself with a little help from his Dad!
Then we went to see some Korean mass games, which made me think that KJI must have caught Bieber-fever, the way they straight took my love of hot choreography to the next level. KJI asked if I’d perform with his 10,000 personal dance crew, and I was like “Whatever you want, JBiebz will give it to you.”
KJI was so happy he told me that alongside his Dad (the Great Leader) and himself (the Dear Leader), I was going to get the honorary title of the Dear Bieber of the DPRK.
So now, after 6 months of intense rehearsals at gunpoint, I think I’m bout ready to represent for the people’s homeland. I think the true North Korean Beliebers are going to have a Biebergasm when they see what we’ve put together.
Hopefully KJI will be satisfied, I been trying to get him to say when we can actually end the tour, but he never really answers the question and starts talking about rice harvests instead. I love the paradise on Earth that is North Korea, but I can’t wait to touchdown for all my sweet fans on the next stops of the tour, Afghanistan and Somalia. Plus I’ve been wondering what’s happened to Usher, I haven’t seen him since KJI told me he’d gone to a holiday camp for a relaxing vacation breaking rocks and making rifles.
Until then, I’m going to leave you, live here in North Korea. Peace! (But never with the American Imperialist Pig Dog Aggressors Who Will Be Crushed by the United Efforts of the Heroic Korean People, Juche is Invincible!)”
The super-cool mega-amazing singer that is Rihanna released the video for her new (and fucking awesome) single Man Down just the other day. As well as being visually stunning, it tells a compelling story. Shot in Jamaica, the first scene shows Rihanna shooting a man in a train station. A day earlier, the viewers are prompted; Rihanna visited a club and danced with a man. Things became more heated, but she firmly pushed him away, telling him “no”. She left the club sometime later, only for the same man to approach her from behind. After a struggle, it is implied that he raped her. Following the attack, she flees home, where she takes a gun and seeks the ultimate Thelma-&-Louise-style revenge.
The video can be viewed below. Some people may find it upsetting and potentially triggering so viewer discretion is advised.
The video has sparked controversy, mainly for its depiction of violence. I find it unsettling that people are shelving the rape and instead choosing to protest at the shooting; “How dare she condone murder?”; “Promoting violence as a solution to violence is wrong”; “Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the children?”. I find these analyses quite weak and hysterical. People who watch this video aren’t going to go on to shoot rapists (not that that would be a terrible loss), and it’s not going to increase someone’s capacity for rapist-killing. People won’t take this video literally as no-one is that suggestible. Rihanna is merely cinematising one of the many reactions a rape victim is wholly entitled to feel following their attack.
Some victims will have feelings of revenge and anger, just as some will have feelings of shame or guilt or shock. I sure as hell would not dispute a rape victim being allowed to have payback fantasies, and wanting to cause their rapist the same harm he’s brought upon them. To go through something so dehumanising as rape is something those of us lucky enough not to be victims of will ever be able to comprehend, and we have no right to tell a rape victim that they are morally deranged or wicked for wanting to see their rapist dead.
The controversy also has underlying racist motives. The media is always quick to demonise music primarily performed by black people (for instance rap, hip-hop, r’n’b and dancehall) for its moral shortcomings, whilst smiling approvingly upon the white musicians who perpetuate the same message. Critics are quick to penalise Odd Future for their misogynistic lyrics (and rightly so), but will turn a blind eye to the rampant sexism in, say, rock music; where groupie culture thrives, and women are categorised in lyrics as either sexy devilish ’sluts’ or pure and helpless maidens. The same trend applies to violence in lyrics. Was the media up-in-arms following Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, where he sings about how he ‘shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die’? Was there nationwide outrage following Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody (‘mama, just killed a man, put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger, now he’s dead’)? No, there was not, despite the facts these lyrics glorify gun culture just as much as any rap song can. Kenny Rogers’ country ballad Coward of the County tells a story almost identical to Rihanna’s; a young boy finds out the girl he loves has been gang-raped, and shoots the perpetrators in an act of vengeance. Yet this song is regarded as a classic, and is not subject to petty complaints from parent councils and reactionary censorship boards. Why? Because the music industry is inherently racist.
The media outrage over the shooting is also distracting people from what should be the real issue in the video, and that is the rape itself. Why are people so quick to scold Rihanna for the shooting, and not the man who rapes her for being a rapist? The shooting is obviously an exaggerated reaction, primarily for theatrical purposes (it’s not as if many rapes end in the rape victim shooting her rapist), but this does not deter from the fact that rape is critically under-punished in society, with conviction rates under 5% in most countries. This is what Rihanna has honourably tried to raise awareness of.
Rihanna - actual feminist icon
Sadly, a lot of the public reaction echoes the media’s out-of-touch attitude. The YouTube comments on the video, for example, are absolutely soul-destroying. There are people trying to make a petty geographical issue out of it; claiming the Jamaican setting is offensive and that Barbados (Rihanna’s home country) sees much more sexual crime. This fickle game of “my country is safer than your country” sorely misses the point. What these people are failing to understand is that rape is endemic in any society and in any culture, and I think this is what Rihanna is trying to say, especially if her Tweets regarding the video are anything to go by:
“Thank you for the amazing response on ManDownVideo I love you guys, and I love that u GOT IT!!! Young girls/women all over the world…we are a lot of things! We’re strong innocent fun flirtatious vulnerable, and sometimes our innocence can cause us to be naïve! We always think it could NEVER be us, but in reality, it can happen to ANY of us! So ladies be careful and #listentoyomama! I love you and I care!”
If you continue amongst the comments, you then arrive at the absolute gutter of victim-blaming; commenters who insist that since Rihanna was “dressed like a slut” and “dancing like a whore”, she has no right to complain when he “merely reacts on impulse” and rapes her. The level of misogyny is really quite outstanding. It makes for a distressing read, and sadly these attitudes are microcosmic of society’s general attitude to rape; blame the victim for getting raped, not the rapist for committing the rape.
Rihanna stuck to her guns, Tweeting: “I’m a 23 year old singer who doesn’t have kids. What’s up with everybody wanting me to be a parent. I’m just a girl, I can only be our voice. We all know it’s difficult and embarrassing to communicate touchy subject matters to anyone, especially our parents. The music industry isn’t “Parent’s ‘R Us.” We have the freedom to make art, let us! It’s your job to make sure your children don’t turn out like us. You can’t hide your kids from society, or they’ll never learn how to adapt. This is the real world!”
When controversy like this arises, it reminds us of why women have far from achieved equality. It reminds us that plenty of people have appalling views regarding rape, and will mock arguments to the contrary because they’re men and they know better. It reminds us why events like Slutwalk and Reclaim the Night are so important to the feminist movement; that attitudes need to be challenged and we cannot suffer in silence any longer. I’d encourage anyone who wants to stand against sexist and apologist bile (like the feedback to this video) to attend a Slutwalk event over the coming months. To find the nearest one to you, check here: http://www.slutwalktoronto.com/satellite.
With that, all I have to say is that Rihanna is a fucking rockstar, and I for one salute her for trying to raise awareness about the nature of rape and sexual violence. Bollocks to the haters.
Justin Bieber says a big FUCK YOU to women's rights
Today, in what can only be described as an ABORTION EXTRAVAGANZA, we bring to you not one, not two, but THREE news stories that should cause sighs of woe from all sensible (i.e. pro-choice) people.
First and most stupidly of all, is the worrying news that pre-teen hearthrob and Leftfield laughing stock Justin Bieber is ignorantly and vocally anti-choice. Not only is he against a woman’s right to choose what she does with her body & mental health because “it’s like, killing a baby yeah?”, he also has some very worrying views on rape too.
Speaking to Rolling Stone Magazine, J.Biebs said he didn’t agree with abortion, and was asked by the interviewer one of the obvious questions – “but what about in cases of rape?”
Instead of sticking to his bollocks “babykilling” line, The Biebs went further, saying “Um, well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason [to have an abortion].”
Bieber, listen up, or I’ll fucking abort you. Rape does not “happen for a reason”, other than the ‘reason’ that there are some disgusting men who make the choice to horrendously abuse women. Being raped is not a woman’s “fate”. The idea that “everything happens for a reason” is nonsense invented to try to force people in disadvantaged and oppressed positions to accept the abuse and discrimination that they face from privileged sections of society. Usually with some sort of religious undertone of “it’ll all work itself out when you get to heaven, so just accept your shit life and get on with it and don’t question authority”.
Women should be the only people allowed to judge whether they want to have a baby or get an abortion, and to make the vital decisions at this time regarding their physical and mental health. In an ideal world, that would be accepted as a matter of principle. However, it seems that Justin Bieber is so far behind in his social attitudes that he hasn’t yet even accepted the basic right of women who’ve been raped to not be forced to have a child that their rapist forced into their body without their consent, under violent and/or emotionally damaging circumstances. Even most right wing fuckwads generally make a wishy-washy type of exception for abortion in cases of rape, so it’s particularly disheartening to hear The Biebs hold that kind of backwards view. Get yourself a clue, Bieber.
I suppose some might say, Justin Bieber is only 17. It may sound excessive to judge the views of a stupit wee boy so harshly. However, two things are important to remember here – Justin Bieber is old enough to get a girl pregnant (and has many young girls flinging themselves at him daily, so it’s not unlikely), and therefore it’s time he grew up a bit and thought about the real issues at stake here before he opens his mouth to the media.
Here come the Gards, so put yer half ounce up yer arse
At long long last, SSY’s favourite comedy hip hop outfit The Rubberbandits are getting the recognition beyond their Limerick empire that they deserve. Their single Horse Outside looks set to beat boring X Factor winner Lazy Decorator to the Irish Christmas number 1 spot. They’ve earned the support of Fianna Fail politician and erstwhile hash dealer Willie O’Dea, Minister for Gee. They are no doubt knee deep in fanny as we speak.
But you don’t reach great heights without making a few enemies. Not everyone in Ireland has fallen in love with the charm and wit of the Bandits when they croon that they’d quite like to invite a hot bridesmaid back to a hotel for a finger and a shift.
The Bandits have found themselves subject to *crucial investigative journalism* determined to unmask these plastic bag-wearing, yoke-dropping foes. Irish papers have revealed their names, former schools, and the streets that they grew up on. The Daily Mail even printed pictures of Mr Chrome and Blindboy Boat Club’s lovely faces which you can click through to if you must, defeating the point of the comedy disguises and attempting to ruin a bit of the oul Bandits magic.
In an astounding feat of missing the point, the media have insisted on playing out a false dichotomy argument over whether the Bandits are too middle class to be rapping about drugs n horses, or if they are in fact glorifying the madcap drug-taking n horse-riding based lives of Limerick’s working classes.
Joe Duffy’s Liveline hosted a radio debate on the subject, which got off to a cracking start when Duffy asked Blindboy Boat Club if he could “talk properly” -- apparently Limerick accents don’t make good radio copy. Willie O’Dea was on hand to defend what is after all a piece of comedy and should be treated as such. What ensued was an argument where Blindboy proved himself to be someone who is clever and thoughtful and clearly takes genuine pride in creating art. ‘Antony’, the naysayer, proved himself to be a bit of an idiot, with exchanges such as:
Antony: What’s coming out of that video is the usage and promotion of drugs. It’s a joke!
Blindboy: It is a joke, yeah! You’ve hit the nail on the head there, kid
BANDIT BLASPHEMERS
Blindboy carefully explains that, just like Father Ted repackaged the false images of ‘thick Irish people’ that Brits had in the 90s and sold it back to Britain in the form of comedy, the Bandits’ songs and live shows where they talk about Limerick youth culture and subculture are not promoting a bad image of Limerick like is being claimed, but rather are lampooning the image of Limerick presented in the Irish media. But the point isn’t even that. They’re not doing what they do with the set goal of specific social commentary. They’re creating their art based on what they experience and what strikes them as funny and what they want to create, and as artists it’s their absolute right to define what they do on their own terms. You can’t take a piece of art or a joke or a song in isolation and apply your own meaning to it and then go ranting about how immoral it is. The rules of acceptableness that are placed on society are fucking arbitrary pish, so we love the Rubberbandits for defending themselves in a good natured way against daft conservative humourless wankers.
Here in the Scottish Socialist Youth we’ve taken some amount of pelters in the past for our pish-taking attitude towards serious issues. Take for example our treatment of the serious matter of former Glasgow City Council leader Steven Purcell’s “chemical dependency” and corruption. It’s how we choose to get our message across, because a) sometimes if you don’t laugh you’d cry, and b) we are ordinary young people who are able to see the funny side of things and we shouldn’t fucking have to apologise for that. We’ve also been criticised for not following the conventional rules of behaviour, such as being outspoken with our views on drugs (which shamefully seem to chime with scientific advice, but not government policy) -- that harmful drugs like heroin should be provided safely to addicts on prescription, while recreational drugs should be decriminalised and perhaps even enjoyed from time to time. Crack open a bag o yokes and pass us a big fat J -- we’re OUT OF CONTROL! Our former MSP Rosie Kane got pelters too for wearing jeans to the opening of Parliament in 2003 -- it’s this fucking snobby attitude that you have to respect these ridiculous ‘rules’ invented by rich white guys to keep order or you can’t be sincere in your message. Basically, we understand where the Bandits are coming from and we respect their right to make all the satirical music they want.
Not for the first time, Blindboy has been forced to explain the concepts of ‘the unreliable narrator‘, ’self-mocking’ and ‘having a sense of humour’ to po-faced kneejerk critics. When they put out their hilarious satire on armchair Republicanism, Up Da Ra, they were forced to defend themselves against accusations that they were disrespecting the memory of those who died for Irish freedom. It’s just balls.
At one point in the debate there’s a funny exchange where someone texts in to highlight the line in Horse Outside where Mr Chrome sings “I don’t pay no tax, fuck NCT”, with Willie O’Dea saying that they probably don’t earn enough to pay tax. Blindboy replies “that’s true!” It probably is true yunno, but there’s a spectacular sense of humour failure if you can’t understand that YOU’RE NOT REQUIRED TO PAY CAR TAX ON HORSES.
You can hear the full debate here:
This incredibly stupid argument on the virtues or otherwise of the Rubberbandits in the Irish Herald states that the “so-called band, the members of which remain unidentified but seem to get a kick out of dressing up like sinister masked Provos from the 1970s, extolling the virtues of drugs and the former Minister for Defence,” are basically evil. Lololololol, I don’t think I ever saw a picture of a man with an inside-out Spar bag on his head on TV accompanying an actor’s voice representing Gerry Adams, but maybe I’m mistaken and Martin McGuinness actually struck a six figure fashion advertising deal with Spar throughout the Troubles. The author, Sinead Ryan, is a prize chumpo who attempts to argue that artists aren’t allowed to define their own art, and that because the song wasn’t allowed on the radio unless they changed the word “fuck” to “suck” throughout that this means they are sell-outs who can’t call themselves artists. As Blindboy said “I’m an artist, but I looooove money, like Andy Warhol”. Clearly, Sinead Ryan has never had to worry about money, or wanted her work to reach a wider audience, or seen the comedy value in taking the fucking piss right out of the established channels of promoting pish identikit music. Sinead, chill the fuck out. It’s SATIRE. If you don’t like the “sinister” Bandits, fuck off and listen to Daniel O’Donnell.
Anyone who can seriously watch a funny song -- about using your ownership of a horse advantageously to get yer hole -- shoot up the charts and denounce all its fans as impressionable idiots who are incapable of understanding irony really doesn’t deserve a media platform for their shite views. The Rubberbandits are truly something special. They are intelligent, danceable, singalong-friendly and most importantly, fucking funny. They’re welcome to play to an SSY-filled audience in Glasgow any time, chalk it down.
If it’s not already been posted on the SSY blog before, I’d recommend checking out this song:
The song was written by socialist songwriter Alun Parry (with the help of his mum). He’s a Liverpudlian legend, writing songs for all manner of socialist, trade-union and progressive causes. He describes his purpose as “to use my music where I can to support political change and others doing good things in the world”. He’s also involved with the Liverpool Socialist Singers group, which is itself a fantastic group of singers motivated by the need to express socialist ideals and aspirations through music and song, singing everything from songs about the Limerick Soviet to the need for Palestinian liberation.
Songs like ’Oh Mr Cameron’ capture the mood of the times and help us project our struggle by using humour and ridicule to lacerate the establishment. They also highlight that essential to the process of building a socialist movement and challenging the status quo is to create our own, radical culture. As the Edinburgh-born socialist James Connelly put it in 1907:
“No revolutionary movement is complete without its poetical expression. If such a movement has caught hold of the imagination of the masses, they will seek a vent in song for the aspirations, the fears and hopes, the loves and hatreds engendered by the struggle. Until the movement is marked by the joyous, defiant, singing of revolutionary songs, it lacks one of the distinctive marks of a popular revolutionary movement; it is a dogma of a few, and not the faith of the multitude”.
In our struggles today, we need singers like Alun Parry and the Liverpool Socialist Singers more than ever. In participating in the movement of resistance to cuts, along with dubstep, street drumming, and mobile sound systems, I’m still heartened by the sight of a singer with a guitar, bashing out some chords and calling for socialist revolution: so ‘mon yersel Alun!
Oh Mr Cameron: Lyrics
Oh Mr Cameron, what can I do
I never voted Tory but I ended up with you
Now we’ve got two muppets governing the land
Oh Mr Cameron I just don’t understand
CHORUS
Oh Mr Cameron please don’t think me mean
But I really think we should bring back the guillotine
For you and Clegg and Osborne and Lady Thatcher too
They’re the only kind of cuts I want to see from you
Oh Mr Cameron what can I do
I voted for one party but I’ve ended up with two
You and Nick together, he’s eating out your hand
Like a little puppy dog obeying your command
rpt chorus
Oh Mr Cameron I know what I’ll do
We’ll start a revolution -- then we’ll get rid of you
You and all your cronies banished from the land
We’ll have the workers run the show, now wouldn’t that be grand
It’s not uncommon for political leaders to use their musical preferences to try and engage with the public; in fact it’s practically become a tradition. Tony Blair told us he was an Oasis fan, Gordon Brown (despite later not being able to recall a song of theirs) thought the Arctic Monkeys ‘really wake you up in the morning’ (yes, as will an alarm, but I guess they’ve not had a number one album in a few years), but the most cringe worthy attempt at assuaging the electorate has to be David Cameron’s frequent name-dropping of The Smiths.
In a February 2009 edition of The One Show, main guest Morrissey (the lead singer of The Smiths) was shown a montage, filled with adoring comments from various fans and celebrities. David Cameron, one of the speakers, had this to say: “I’m sure when Morrissey finds that he’s getting an endorsement from the leader of the Conservative Party, he will think ‘Heaven knows I’m miserable now’ (that joke isn’t funny any more – Sophie). But I’m a big fan, I’m afraid. Sorry about that.”
Morrissey tried to brush off the comment, saying “It’s very difficult to pull the right face, but it’s… it’s… it’s very interesting. That’s all I can say. It’s fascinating.”
More recently, fellow Smiths band member Johnny Marr publicly made his frustrations at Cameron’s name-dropping known, posting on Twitter:
Tweeted on the 2nd of December
Johnny Marr has hit the nail on the head. Of course there is the argument that music is ubiquitous, which I agree with to a certain extent. If David Cameron wants to vibe out to ‘Frankly Mr. Shankly’ in number 10’s living room, I don’t have a problem with that. If he buys tickets to see Morrissey in concert, who am I to stop him? The problem arises in the way he uses The Smiths to show himself in a better, more approachable light, when, throughout the ‘80s, The Smiths championed the working class with their music, the people David Cameron has now completely alienated himself from, the people he shows no compassion for in 2010.
Morrissey, always one to make his own opinion known, has come out in support of Marr, posting on one of his fan sites the following tirade against Cameron:
“I would like to, if I may, offer support to Johnny Marr who has spoken out to the media this week against David Cameron. To those who have expressed concern over Johnny’s words in view of the fact that David Cameron has pledged immense allegiance to the music of the Smiths, I would like to try to explain why I think Johnny is right not to be flattered.
It is true that music is a universal language – the ONLY universal language, and belongs to all, one way or another. However, with fitting grimness I must report that David Cameron hunts and shoots and kills stags – apparently for pleasure. It was not for such people that either “Meat is Murder” or “The Queen is Dead” were recorded; in fact, they were made as a reaction against such violence.”
His rant continues (somewhat ramblingly so) here, where he goes on to explain why Cameron should be the last person to enjoy The Smiths’ music, and encourages his fans to write to their MPs to oppose the coalition’s plans to reconsider the Hunting Act (as if his glorious ‘Margaret On The Guillotine’ (1988) wasn’t enough to dissuade the Tories from pledging allegiance to his music!)
This isn’t the first time David Cameron has sorely overlooked the message behind the songs he likes. In May 2008 he listed The Jam’s ‘The Eton Rifles’ as one of his favourite songs, saying: “I was one, in the corps. It meant a lot, some of those early Jam albums we used to listen to. I don’t see why the left should be the only ones allowed to listen to protest songs.”
Paul Weller, lead singer of The Jam, was quick to lay into Cameron’s absurd interpretation of the song, saying: “Which part of it didn’t he get? It wasn’t intended as a fucking jolly drinking song for the cadet corps.”
It seems he’s never going to learn. What next? Is he going to ask Billy Bragg to compose the next Conservative anthem? Is Nick Griffin going to join the Love Music Hate Racism campaign? Is Nick Clegg going to host a dubstep night at the House of Commons to try and win over all the young people who once put faith in him?
For credibility’s sake, I hope not. Leave music out of your ridiculous propaganda, Cameron, you’re only making a hypocritical dick of youself.
Kanye West yet again has done something inexplicable, by apologising for pretty much the best thing he’s ever done: slagging George W. Bush on live TV.
You might remember from 5 years ago the moment that broke from the script in a televised charity ‘give-money-cos-the-government-can’t-be-arsed-athon’, to declare “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
But now, he’s felt it necessary to go on US TV to apologise to Bush:
“I would tell George Bush, in my moment of frustration, I didn’t have the grounds to call him a racist. But I believe that in a situation of high emotion like that, we as human beings don’t always choose the right words. And that’s why I’m here.”
In a radio interview he even went further:
The comments come after Bush referred West’s comments in 2005 as “the most disgusting moment of my Presidency.”
It’s worth noting that the whole story has become about how Kanye called Bush “a racist” when he actually said no such thing. When this was pointed out to him he said that’s what it had meant to him.
“I didn’t appreciate it then. I don’t appreciate it now. It’s one thing to say, ‘I don’t appreciate the way he’s handled his business’. It’s another to say, “This man’s a racist”. I resent it, it’s not true and it was one of the most disgusting moments in my presidency . . . The suggestion that I was racist because of the response to Hurricane Katrina represented an all-time low.”
You know what would be way worse than this? Getting slagged on telly
At the time, Kanye’s comments were heard round the world, and he became a hero to many as they saw the outrageous response by the US government to Hurricane Katrina. They were sampled and reused again and again. The fact that he’s climbed down from the remarks 5 years later will be a big disappointment for the many people who respected him for speaking his mind.
The reason for that is that the way the government handled the destruction of New Orleans was racist. New Orleans at the time was one of the poorest cities in the US, with a 67% black population. When it was clear that a disastrous hurricane (likely to have been made worse by the heating of the ocean’s surface by climate change) was going to hit, the poor majority, who didn’t own cars they could use to leave, were left to fend for themselves. At least 1836 people died as a result, and five years later refugees are dispersed across the US, unable to return. The reason why they haven’t been able to go home is that the wealthy and the their friends in government saw it as an opportunity to transform the city, evict the people that live there, and seize the land where their homes were to make a profit at their expense.
Even worse than their inaction was the action that Bush’s government did take. As they left people to starve or die of thirst, people were forced to fend for themselves to survive. They did this by taking what they needed from abandoned stores. But the US military was deployed to protect private property rather than human life, shooting the “looters” who the media dutifully condemned with made up stories of murder and violence. Vigilantes and cops shot and killed those trying to flee the disaster, under the watch of President Bush.
The truth of the matter is that George Bush doesn’t care about anybody except the wealthy elite that put him in power in the first place. What happened in New Orleans was disaster capitalism in action -- using a crisis as an opportunity to transform the face of the city in favour of the rich. Kanye West seemed to get that at one point (see his comments from 3 years ago below), but now he’s backed away. You also can’t deny that part of what happened was racism, that it was a fact that the government, headed by Bush, didn’t care about the black people of New Orleans.
It’s even more disappointing that the thing that seems to have prompted Kanye to take this step is the racist abuse he faced as a result of his madcap behaviour at the VMA awards when he interrupted Taylor Swift getting the best video prize. After that, many ignorant white people in the US labeled him a racist, and accusation that’s patently ridiculous. Yes, it was daft and strange what he did, but the fact that some claimed it was motivated by a hatred of white people says more about them than it does about Kanye West.
One infamous Twitter response to the VMA awards
With the US electing its first ever black President to succeed Bush, there is a huge backlash of racial unease underway in the US. Part of the same politics was what motivated the furious backlash against Kanye for something that didn’t really matter. But the idiots saw a classic racist script of innocent white womanhood being violated by a black man, and went berserk, accusing him of racism. Rude, yes. In the words of Obama, a “jackass”, yes. But racist, no.
This continued pressure on him though has pushed Kanye into capitulating, which is sad and disappointing from someone who sometimes shows some flashes of social conscience and is from a family of Black Panthers.
Of course, what all the fuss ignores is the fact that Bush felt getting slagged on telly was the worst moment of his Presidency. Not the hundreds of thousands of people that died as a result of his actions in Iraq. Not the economic crisis which he helped create by allowing finance capital run riot. Not the the thousands that died in New Orleans. All these pale into insignificance compared to a famous rapper giving you some lip on TV.
Bush doesn’t deserve apologies, he deserves to be put on trial for the crimes committed by his regime.
Bonus: There’s obviously a lot more we could go into about why Bush is racist, such as his policies on affirmative action, his party’s approach to racist white southern voters, or the fact that he was only able to seize power in the first place by systematically disenfranchising black voters. But we’ll leave you with these two slightly more banal examples, firstly by him and then by his mum.
LIAR: nick clegg promises to vote against fee increases.
If last month’s Browne Review was the warning shot, today’s announcement that the government intend to treble the cap on fees for higher education in England to an astounding £9,000 a year, is the declaration of war.
All universities will be able to charge up to £6,000 a year, double the current rate of £3,290. However, if certain conditions are met in relation to admitting students from ‘poorer backgrounds’, the top-level that universities will be able to charge will jump to £9,000. This is nothing more than an attempt to create a two-tier education system, where top universities are able to charge more and price out anyone but the richest. The measure to allow some students from ‘economically disadvantaged’ background is sheer tokenism and will do nothing to redress the already overwhelming inequality in access to higher education.
The vast majority of students will be forced to take out astronomical student loans to cover their fees -- and proposals are afoot to raise the level of interest to well-above inflation. The huge rises in fees are to make up for the, in some cases, total departure by the state in funding for higher education. Indeed, in humanities, arts and social sciences, the teaching budget at English unis is facing a cut of 100% -- the shortfall will be made up by students paying for it.
What’s all the more shocking about this is that if the proposals pass, it will be with the backing of Lib Dem MPs. The same Lib Dem MPs who stood for election on the basis of opposing rises in tuition fees -- 57 of whom even signed an NUS pledge to vote against any rise in the cost of tuition. In fact, they went further than that -- the Lib Dems said that they would scrap tuition fees altogether! But as we’ve come to expect from Clegg and pals, any principles they once pretended to hold went straight out the window when some shiny ministerial cars and cabinet jobs came along.
With the huge rise in fees down south, it wont take long for university principals in Scotland to begin ratcheting up the pressure on the Scottish Government to reintroduce some form of fees in order that they’re ‘not left behind’. But the fees increase in England can be defeated -- last week’s militant demonstration in Oxford showed the level of anger among students at the government’s plans to wreck education as we know it. The campaign needs to be stepped up nationwide, and there’s calls for a national day of action on the 24 November, involving walk-outs, sit-ins and demonstrations. Next week, tens of thousands of students from all over the UK are expected to take to the streets for the join NUS/UCU demo against education cuts in London, in a huge show of force against the attacks on education. The government needs to be made to listen -- and if enough Lib Dem MPs can be forced to abide by their election pledges by voting against, rather than just abstaining, the rise in fees, it will fall.
Although starting late, the event was fantastic – it was really inspiring to see a number of diverse groups pull together and put on a show, explain what it is they stand for and begin to build a support network with each other.
The night consisted of a number of musicians and performers, with poetry and comedy thrown into the mix, as well as speeches given by a representative of each group present. I spent much of the night in a state of nervous panic, awaiting my turn on the soapbox. Somehow, I managed to string together a few coherent sentences on the SSP and what we at the Aberdeen branch have achieved so far, what we hope to achieve in the future and how the people of Aberdeen can band together with us and start making a change today. I got a bit of a cheer and a clap; people signed up for our mailing list, took stickers, bought badges and copies of the Voice, and were generally up for a good discussion, a bit of banter and some home-made cake.
Highlights of the night were: Euan B giving hell to a poor bloke who disagreed with the SSP stance on Afghanistan; the Communist Party of Great Britain not even coming inside the room and just lurking at the door with their stall; making friends with the anarchists and then returning from the stage to discover the cheeky fuckers had eaten all my brownies; getting some inital signatures on the mailing list for the Aberdeen Socialist Women’s Network (never heard of it? that’s cos I’ve just started it!); getting chatted up by a drunken, middle-aged anarchist who really seemed to like the SSY “Take out the Tories” stickers; and watching Ewan and his Dad play a really great set, then joining in when the entire room started stamping feet in time. Who knew that bagpipes could be such a crowd pleaser?
It was amazing to have these different groups, different people, in the same room and for everyone to be interested in what the others had to say, to listen and to converse, without any major argument or disagreement. It can be difficult, sometimes, for those on the Left to organise as a larger, more cohesive movement. The differences between our groups are slight; we have more in common than our in-fighting would suggest. If we are to overcome struggle and achieve anything, we must work together and find points upon which we can agree. There are some major issues, both locally, nationally and internationally, that Aberdeen SSP is concerned about and could be involved in tackling. The cuts that our public services are facing; the worrying trend in our city and shire councils to ignore the wishes of the people and to only listen to those with big money; the continuing war in Afghanistan, and the conflict and unrest in the Middle East. By building links with groups like Aberdeen SPSC, Aberdeen Stop the War, Tripping Up Trump and Friends of Union Terrace Gardens (to name just a few), the Aberdeen branch can throw their weight behind these campaigns and work with as many people as possible to gain empowerment and equality, and to make our voices heard. Suffragette City helped us on our way to building these relationships, and hopefully we will see some worthwhile activism come to fruitation because of it.
An extremly cool, radical cultural and political event is taking place in Aberdeen this Wednesday night with the involvement of SSP/SSY members that is worth letting you all know about!
Aberdeen SSP will be present at a radical cultural event this Wednesday 29th September in the Tunnels, Carnegie Brae. The event is called Suffragette City, and brings together radical and activist groups from around Aberdeen. Along with the Scottish Socialist Party, groups present include the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), Tripping up Trump, and the Scottish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. Each group will have a stall with their materials and will have a chance to get across their views on the issues that concern them. Along with being a chance for various groups of the left to meet with each other and share ideas and experiences, it will also be a chance for particularly young Aberdonians and students to meet the political and activist groups in their area and talk to them about their politics.
The other aspect of the evening is radical and anti-establishment entertainment. This includes a range of live acts and a clubnight, with full details from the event’s facebook page. One of these acts is a political folk set from our General Election, candidate Ewan Robertson (i.e. myself) and a special guest! (the guest being my dad, also an SSP member, with his bagpipes…) For anyone who thinks they can make it, the event starts at 8pm, and entry is free.
I would urge anyone who is looking for a fun night of radical music combined with meeting many of the left activist groups in Aberdeen and having a chance to find out more about their politics, to come along this Wednesday and take part in both the show and the call to action!
Kanye West yet again has done something inexplicable, by apologising for pretty much the best thing he’s ever done: slagging George W. Bush on live TV.
And it was, as the song goes, outta sight!
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