This weekend, I had the good fortune of attending a Massive Attack concert at the Fox Theater. For those of you who might be unfamiliar with the group, it is (according to Wikipedia) "a collaborative music duo from Bristol" as well as the "progenitor of the trip-hop genre."
Okay, so what the heck does that mean? Basically, these guys (and occasionally gals) sing awesome, haunting melodies to an electronic though elegant drumbeat. My personal favorites are "Paradise Circus" and "Atlas Air."
The concert itself was pretty fantastic. Despite the fact that I was about three rows from the back door and surrounded by couples that felt that their love was meant to be shared, I had no problem seeing the stage. Sound wasn't a problem, either. Actually, my head is still ringing.
Now I've been to a variety of concerts, and most of them (thankfully) focused on music-making, not politicizing. So for me, a seizure-inducing light show that contained statistics about WMDs was a new experience. For the most part, it was interesting; it even added a new dimension to the work that I'd previously associated with the treadmill.
But there was one track (complete with corresponding light show) that I just couldn't rationalize: "Better Things."
Like most musicians and superstars that have the luxury of a soap box, Massive Attack crushed the wooden crate with its weight. Their intentions were good. Really. During this song, which, for those of you who decided not to have a listen, discusses freedom, a small screen scrolled through numerous quotes that related to the subject. For the most part, they were well-matched. Take a gander at some of these:
"No one can be at peace unless he has his freedom." Malcolm X
"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you." Jean-Paul Sartre
"...If you're in favor of freedom of speech, then that means that you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for those you despise." Noam Chomsky
You get the picture.
Here I am, reading and considering each quote, when this one comes scrolling along:
"Sometimes democracy must be bathed in blood." Augusto Pinochet
Hold it right there. Pinochet? Really? You mean, the Chilean fascist dictator who was responsible for the torture and/or death of thousands of his own people? According to the omniscient Wikipedia, 2,279 people "disappeared" for political reasons while he was in "office." Approximately 31, 947 were tortured under this regime--but that's not so bad, right? At least they lived.
So here's my question: why would Massive Attack choose to use this quote by Pinochet, a mass murderer and extortionist, when they could have easily substituted it with this nearly identical quote that is attributed to Thomas Jefferson?
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
Oh, right. Jefferson is a dead white conservative male. In order to avoid citing someone so clearly evil, we instead turn to the immortal words of a fascist dictator. Ah, political correctness, thy name is irony.
Oh, by the way-while researching, I found something interesting about the Noam Chomsky quote that I mentioned above. In context, it goes a little something like this:
"If you believe in freedom of speech, you believe in freedom of speech for views you don't like. Stalin and Hitler, for example, were in favor of freedom of speech for views they liked only. If you're in favor of freedom of speech, then you're in favor of freedom of speech precisely for views you despise."
So, if I follow this correctly, Chomsky is suggesting that we practice what our mothers (hopefully) preached: The Golden Rule. If you want to be able to exercise your right to free speech, you must be willing to allow others to do so as well. But--and this is a pretty major caveat--your right to swing your fist ends at my nose. Stalin and Hitler exercised their free speech to the detriment of others, which, to his credit, Chomsky condemns. Good for him.
In a sense, then, it could be theorized that Massive Attack used Pinochet's quote for the sake of upholding the noble Golden Rule that Chomsky cites in the latter half of his quote. Still, I'm going to have to say that I don't think they took the time to read the quote in context, seeing as the song ended just as these words flashed on the screen:
"Death solves all problems. No man, no problem." Joseph Stalin
And what makes me so sure that I'm right? This quote has been misattributed to our fearless leader. According to WikiQuote, the original source is a novel called Children of the Arbat by Anatoly Rybakov.
Something tells me these guys aren't big on research.
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