Rage Against the Machine reunited Sunday. I am not a fan. Something you probably did not know: these self-professed Communists live, or lived (with the exception of Zack de la Rocha) in Hollywood mansions. I’ve got nothing against people enjoying their wealth, save for those who espouse a collectivist agenda.
I definitely have a beef with artists who support authoritarian regimes (see my review of “The Lives of Others”; I guess RATM would’ve been rooting for the Stasi).
Anyway, during the 2000 Democratic National Convention, the band staged a protest concert outside the Staples Center, attracting a fair share of Orange County “anarchists” wearing Che T-shirts and hammer and sickle pins (remember all those free concerts in Leningrad?) They were an easy crowd to incite — and for that I don’t hold RATM accountable. The police definitely overreacted, spraying the crowd with tear gas, rubber bullets and pepper spray. (Although I have to admit, it was fun running away from the cops amongst a crowd of sweaty pseudo-revolutionaries.)
De la Rocha said of the incident, “I don’t care what fucking television station said the violence was caused by the people at the concert, those motherfuckers unloaded on this crowd. And I think it’s ridiculous considering, you know, none of us had rubber bullets, none of us had M16s, none of us had billy clubs, none of us had face shields.”
He failed to mention the motorcade of SUVs that transported the band away from the riot. I watched them leave after they finished their set. Perhaps De la Rocha came back to join the fun, but I doubt it. In my account of the incident (written for an MTV subsidiary), that little detail was excised, less the corporate weasels offend one of the bands that was helping them all get rich.
RATM, it should be noted, was signed to Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Records. So really, they were just a cog in the machine they raged against.
And now they’re back, no doubt ready to capitalize on our blundering Commander-in-Chief. Don’t believe their hype.
I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you’re not redbaiting. So what evidence do you have that Tom Morello is a communist? He claims to be a socialist.
I had read him proclaiming otherwise, but it’s possible I’m wrong. Still, he’s FAR left. His lifestyle contradicts that. I have no problem with people who are consistent with their views.
The notion that it’s hypocritical for liberals to accumulate wealth is ridiculous. I can’t speak for Morello, but I suspect that he would happily pay more in taxes, in return for better education and universal healthcare. There are wealthy Swedes, Sweden just has meaningful high school diplomas and an infant mortality rate higher than Cuba’s.The notion that it’s hypocritical for liberal artists to sign to major labels is equally ridiculous. I suspect that most liberal artists would gladly return to the seventies when it was possible to get wide exposure for one’s music without signing to a label owned by a multinational corporation, but that world is in the past and if one want’s one’s music heard by a large audience, major labels are a necessary compromise.
There’s a difference between liberal and socialist/Communist. Are you telling me that inciting a crowd than leaving in a motorcade of SUVs (not good for the environment) is not a tad hypocritical?
Few choices in day-to-day life are a simple as Whole Foods’ paper or plastic.Once again, not to speak for RATM, but my guess is that if given the choice of being driven away in electric cars or SUV’s they would have chosen electric cars, but I suspect that RATM, like most people aren’t presented with that choice, and insisiting on that choice in every economic transaction is a luxury that is typically only available to people who chose purity over actually accomplishing things.Being a Luddite or a hypocrite is a false choice. You can still advocate high emissions standards, but still take a ride in a cab that doesn’t meet them.
The bigger point, one perhaps I didn’t make well, is that I have a strong distaste for artists who tacitly endorse regimes like Castro’s where artistic freedom is suppressed. It’s the height of stupidity. Besides, their music is way overrated, a bunch of juvenile anarchist anthems: “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me.” What are they, 12 years old?
Good point, although I think that as with any effective political message, people appreciate them on different levels. Clearly, most adolescents get the “RA” part with little or no understanding of the “TM” part. That doesn’t necessarily invalidate the message.
So where is it written that these guys support authoritarian regimes?
Castro in Cuba, for one.