Create Dangerously

Sometimes when things get so bad, and there are no solutions, the only thing one can do is create. It is the only thing that is remembered in time. Think of the sand sifting over centuries, of ancient civilizations come and gone. The only thing that remains is the art. The warmongers are gone. The populace is gone. The only thing that remains is art. So, take courage. And make your statement. Piece and sew your words together of your experience that the whole world will come to know it. Even Bush and a thousand neocons cannot suppress it. The truth combined with art is pretty powerful. CREATE DANGEROUSLY On Reading Camus Again by Janis Schmidt -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Albert Camus is one of my favorite writers because he had so much to say to artists about the process of creating. He saw the 20th century with an uncanny eye for where we are headed. When artists are more concerned about earning bread than revealing truth, then our freedoms are gone. I do not think he would have been surprised to learn that America is becoming a totalitarian state, quite easily and naturally. Camus said, "When a ruling class measures its fortunes, not by the acre of land or the ingot of gold, but by the number of figures corresponding ideally to a certain number of exchange operations, it thereby condemns itself to setting a certain kind of humbug at the center of its experience and its universe. A society founded on signs is, in its essence, an artificial society in which man's carnal truth is handled as something artificial. There is no reason for being surprised that such a society chose as its religion a moral code of formal principles and that it inscribes the words "liberty' and "equality" on its prisons as well as on its temples of finance." He goes on to say that liberty is one of the most misunderstood concepts in the world today. It is regarded as an obstacle in the path of progress. Take a look around. Enron, Worldcom, Anderson, Bechtal, Haliburton, and so on. So what if they are ripping off the public. They still run the show, and soon, they will rule the world. Bush will see to that. No, Bush isn't in charge; he's the front end loader for the rich. He is only in for one term, so he must accomplish everything within his 4 years. He's not out to win any popularity contest. He doesn't have to. As he said when asked if the people's disapproval of the war made any difference to him, he said, "Democracy is a beautiful thing. People can express themselves, but I don't have to listen to them. I can respectfully disagree." And we, the American people, can wring our hands and shake our heads and end up agreeing to our new police state, because we now have the ideal enemy, the terrorist, who could be anyone Bush declares is a terrorist. Because we are so intimidated, we agree that these "terrorists" must not only be imprisioned, but deprived of their citizenship and tortured as well. And to be on the safe side, we must turn America into a compound. Orwell and Huxley would be impressed. And how do you like the sinister fundamentalist religious overtones? Axis of evil. Murder Saddam in the name of righteousness. Is that what Christians do? "Let's hunt down these terrorists, one by one." Like the professor in Florida who defended the Palestinians right to life, and now finds himself removed, detained, and questioned. "our enemies hate freedom and democracy" So saith Bush. Or how about the man who made an unfortunate comment in a bar, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that "Bush ought to be assassinated" He's how doing time. Camus said, "For over a hundred years a society of merchants made an exclusive and unilateral use of liberty, looking upon it as a right rather than as a duty, and did not fear to use an ideal liberty, as often as it could, to justify a very real oppression. As a result, is there anything surprising in the fact that such a society asked art to be, not an instrument of liberation, but an inconsequential exercise and a mere entertainment?" So, we are now in the chute. Don't you smell that blood? There's no gun pointed to your head, so before we go into that nuclear night, lets grab up that pen and paint brush, and come out swinging. Lets start creating dangerously, since that is the only option we have left is we have a conscience at all. Let the paint fall where it may. The days of the irresponsible artist are over. Camus said, "If the artistic cooks of our time upset more baskets of eggs that they intended, the omelet of civilization may never again come out right, and art may never resuscitate. Barbarism is never temporary." The natural consequences of barbarism are a lapse of morals, genocide cheered on by patriots waving flags, an indulgent press, insignificant art, and eventually, eventually hatred takes the place of religion. Welcome to the 21st century and the New World Order. Before we descend into a nuclear nightmare, or some type of controlled corporate abyss, while we still remember who we are, let us, who have been given a talent, start creating dangerously. Work urgently, but keep a steady course. Remember, nothing of any value was ever created out of hate, but out of love. If there is any part of the culture worth saving, you better get busy and set it down. Keep in mind what Noam Chompsky said, "It is the duty of the intellectual to expose what is false and reveal what is true." I read, with great interest, about the poets whom Mrs. Bush so rudely dismissed from entering the White House. Then, they moved the reading to a Hall and in the midst of the worst snowstorm in 4 decades, they had their reading anyway. Over 2000 people attended. With tears in my eyes, I read that Artur Miller and Kurt Vonnegut were there. The tenacity of these two old soldiers for freedom, and all the people in attendance is an affirmation that life is precious and worth living fully. So, come on out from under that bed, get your head out of the sand, and lets start doing out part. As Roosevelt once said when confronting real enemies and not just vagaries, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Create dangerously. Janis Schmidt jlschmidt@gwtc.net www.lakotaperspectives.com phone 605-867-2413