SECTION ELEVEN
sm
COLUMN
SEVENTY-TWO, JUNE 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 Al Aronowitz
The
following article appeared in the March 2002 issue of Mass Dissent,
_______________________________
If we were to
write the truth about recent U. S. history, it might read something like this:
The spoiled
son of the former head of the secret police, having failed at everything else in
life, runs for U. S. President. Since
it appears he
The President
assembles a cabinet that includes a general who got his start by covering up the
Mai Lai Massacre in Vietnam. His
Attorney General is so hated in his old Senatorial district that he actually
lost his last election to a corpse. (He
is now engaged in a campaign to drape the breasts on statuary in Government
buildings.)
When the new
gang gets to Washington, they immediately reward themselves and their rich pals
with a trillion dollars in stolen tax money.
They then set about the task of the serious long-term plunder of the
country.
They were all
having a swell time when two jet airliners slam into the symbol of US financial
power - World Trade Center - and the symbol of military power, the Pentagon.
Fearing attack, the President immediately took off for parts unknown - a
reprise of his role during the Vietnam War (which would have been fine - if
done out of principal instead of cowardice.)
The Mayor of
New York actually stayed in town and showed up at the site of the disaster,
therefore he was immediately proclaimed a hero.
Prior to this he was mostly known for supporting police violence,
harassing the poor and homeless and chasing artists off the steps of the
Metropolitan Museum. He proceeded to see if he could have himself declared mayor
again.
The hijackers
were apparently Arab. Though there was no declaration, war was immediately
declared on Afghanistan - although none of the hijackers were Afghani.
Evil was denounced. Howdy
Doody strode the fields of Crawford, Texas threatening to git the varmints.
AFL-CIO officials promptly stepped forward to pledge allegiance in the
employer's mission for mutual slaughter of the working class. The most advanced
military machine in the world then proceeded to bomb the most backward -
spending billions of dollars to turn rubble into finer rubble.
Heroes again.
The purpose
of this was to kill a terrorist originally promoted by the U.S. But, after a few
weeks that was all forgotten. Like
the anthrax scare. Like the pipeline that the oil companies wanted to build
across Afghanistan if they could only get a stable government in place.
Having proven
their prowess on the field of battle, the politicians are now bickering over
what country should be the next target. Here
at home they are celebrating this new victory for freedom with the establishment
of military tribunals and a discussion of the benefits of torture. . .
You get the
idea. I'm only scratching the
surface here. I could go on.
*
* *
What has all
this got to do with art and artists? Everything. We package and sell the lies.
When they drag out the talking heads to convince you to support US war
aims, we operate the cameras, create the graphics, design the lighting, handle
the sound, write and play the background music, pull out the safari jacket, put
on the make-up and otherwise make them appear sincere.
When you see
the same twenty Palestinians purportedly dancing in celebration of the NY
disaster, it was edited and put together by video artists all trained in our art
schools. We create the billboards
and posters, the snappy army ads and the tearful ground zero photographs.
When the
patriotic extravaganzas are performed, we are the choreographers, dancers, prop
and costume makers that appeal so effectively to your emotions.
The
entertainment industry is the second largest export industry of the US. The
first is war materials. In a sense,
they both do the same thing. We
make the world safe for Enron.
*
* *
Art is a
magical process - and you don't see it illustrated any more effectively than
when US artists transform war into play. We make the real become unreal, and the
unreal become real. We can
transform the horror of war into a video game.
If you're good at it they will pay you millions of dollars - sometimes
hundreds of millions.
Of course
most artists don't make much money at all.
We are cultural workers struggling to survive.
Like workers in the armaments or chemical or nuclear industries, you
block out the ultimate consequences of your labor in order to survive.
But while
artists are forced to do the employers bidding during the eight or ten or twelve
hours, the rest of the time is ours. We
can choose to use our skills to fight for peace and justice - to reach across
borders or rip the veil off the American system of racist injustice.
*
* *
A living art
challenges it's audience to look at the world in new ways: to be critical; to
look at things from all points of view. It
is an active process between the viewer and the author. Revolutionary politics
requires the same. That is one of
the reasons there has been a historical alliance of artists with the labor
movement.
Over the past
fifteen years the Labor Art & Mural Project (LaMP) has traveled throughout
the US and the world to support working-class struggles for social and economic
justice. We have created murals
that are projects not of governments but from workers to workers.
Wherever we have gone we have been welcomed warmly by those who
understand that there is a difference between the American people and the US
government. Other groups have
created puppets for demonstrations, held hip-hop concerts for global justice,
conducted poetry readings and used their art in a myriad of ways. It's all part
of an organic process of building international solidarity.
In recent
years the American labor movement has begun to recognize and reach out to
immigrant workers. We have also
made strides in building unity with our fellow workers in Mexico, Central and
South America. The tragic events of
September 11 provide an opportunity to extend similar solidarity to the workers
of the Middle-East. Whenever given
the opportunity, these workers have jumped at the chance to fight for their
unions and extend the struggle for democratic rights.
We can and must work together in solidarity.
As the
politicians rush to create a permanent war, we artists have a special
responsibility. Never has there been such an overwhelming deluge of lies. Those
who wish to continue the bloodbath are a small minority.
The great majority of the earth's working people have demonstrated that
they favor peace and solidarity. We
can use our art to give expression to that vision. We can be a voice for those
who are voiceless. We can use our songs, poems, theater and paint to illuminate
a future where human needs come before profits. Amidst the cries for blood we
must raise a voice of peace and justice. ##
* * *
Mike Alewitz is a mural painter
working in the US and internationally. He
is the Artistic Director of the
Labor Art & Mural Project. He
teaches mural
painting at Central CT State
University.
MIKE ALEWITZ
LaBOR aRT & MuRAL PRoJECT
Department of Art
Central Connecticut State
University
1615 Stanley Street
New Britain, CT 06050
Phone: 860.832.2359
##
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