Democracy sucks – just ask Rihanna.

These past weeks I have had been reintroduced to something that the optimist in me tries not to think about – violence. This time though, the conversations were not reminiscent of my youthful protests fuelled by opposition to the abuses of women but rather something at a more fundamental level. Is our political rhetoric and intellectual discourse hampering the protection of women?

There is the Rihanna and Chris Brown incident. It seemed everyone has weighed in, some saying “hey, it happens” and others being a little more protective of the 21 year old woman who got smashed in the face. Chris Brown is apparently repentant for what happened and is “anger management” and sent some gifts. Rihanna may not even press charges. So, her boyfriend physically beats her so that she is bleeding, bruised and can’t even open her eye. But hey, it happens and people make mistakes. And to everyone watching, this is how it works in real life. Just check what happened to Terence Howard.

Then there was a rape incident and in an attempt to rally my friends into action, I was surprised to be faced with some resistance. How can I speak about an incident I know nothing about? What about the rape accused – they may be innocent. These are all fair objections in an ideally liberal democratic society.

But then an ideally liberal democratic society cannot imagine what it must be like to be physically assaulted. What if our liberal democratic society was pushed, punched, in absolute fear, horrified at a disgusting sweaty thing that is completely physically, emotionally and mentally defiling society.

I am unsatisfied with the intellectual approach; I am unsatisfied with justice and I am definitely unsatisfied with the law. This revelation has made me wonder about whether I would be willing to give up the civil rights’ of some for the absolute affirmation of another’s. I think I know the answer but I don’t like it.

The Obama Diet

The Obama machine is one of the smoothest things I have ever seen. Today, he signs the stimulus package. In it is an aggressive “green economy” section, something that seems somewhat un-Republican and un-Bush and certainly uncertain.

So how does Obama do it? He goes to Colorado, where the green energy economy is starting to work in the sense that there is actual growth in the newly developed strategy. The Obama people choose a building that is fuelled by solar panels, a demonstration that green energy is not fuelled magic. There is repeated reference to Namaste, a green energy company that started in the Colorado “green economy”. Then the CEO of Namaste speaks, about how he is just an ordinary guy, with a small business “like anywhere in America” and the impact of the economic downturn had them worried about jobs, good honest jobs. But says the magician CEO, because of the new stimulus package, they will be able to create new jobs. So obviously the future is green energy, obviously ordinary American can do it, obviously it will save your job and obviously magic is real.

There is of course other things in the bill like health care, education and an intriguing “prevention of diseases through programme”. The bill seems to want to put America on a diet. No more freedom fries, burgers, fried chicken and deep fried mars bars that Bush ordered (or reckless energy consumption, not signing the Kyoto Protocol, leaving Wall Street to make billions of fake dollars). Instead America is on a steamed fish and vegetables and a strict exercise regime. If Obama’s stimulus package works, Americans will be smarter, greener, more connected…

Does this mean we have to stop making fun of stupid and fat Americans? Time will tell…

Post-modernism is dead

I went to Camden last week to a pub called the Hawley Arms. It is apparently a pub frequented by celebrities but instead I found asymetrical hair cuts, sideways mullets and more varieties of bows than I care to count. In this pub, with hundreds of individual, unique little snow flakes, there was an overall theme of conformity all dressed in checked shirts, skinny jeans, bows and anything vintage. The irony is so great that I think it misses most people.

In the need and search to be edgy or somehow meaningful and relevant, they were all in this pub, searching for the last remnants of authenticity dressed in subconsciously agreed upon clothing and haircuts.  The Camden people, as I will call them from now on, are instead hung up on the last glorious attempt at authenticity – Mr Warhol. I have had enough of the post-modern children who are balls of confused emotions, detached from society, not feeling like they fit in or feel as though they are constantly being persecuted for “being different”. I understand that the ground can feel shaky sometimes and that we dont know which way is up sometimes. But that does not give Camden people the right to give up and self indulge in angst and woe in overly grandeous rhetoric and beer.

I am not saying that individualism is not a good thing or conforming is a good thing but our definitions of who we are needs to be dependant on a lot more than simply feeling shitty or marginalised. Surely though, we need to let our opinions on issues like global warming, our empathy for other people, our emotions from music and how we act on these things be building blocks of who we are?

The world is shitty and lamenting about a utopic dream of how it should be is going not going to make it any less shitty. Living in a state of flux and angst is not going to make it any less shitty. Put on your big people’s pants and get on with it. Enough with the “I just wish I could feel”. Enough with the “I am not sure, so I wont do anything”.  Feeling is not doing.