The Problem Is...
As much as I tried to tune out of the fuckening this weekend it goes without saying that Trump’s acquittal as well as the entire shit show called “impeachment” was on my radar. The outcome did not surprise me in the slightest, and a few days prior I had written, semi-unrelated, a piece for the paying supporters of this newsletter about accountability, related more to journalism but clearly in reference to power or rather the abuse of power. The decision to not hold Trump accountable wasn’t and isn’t surprising, especially if you view the entire episode of his presidency not as an aberration but as the logical conclusion of the capitalistic journey of the West that figuratively started with Reagan & Thatcher. Realistically, indicting Trump would have meant having to indict the entire government in the US, because they are all complicit and power does not hold itself accountable. To be clear, this level of corruption and abuse of public trust is not unique to the US, there isn’t a country in the so called First World that is not deeply corrupt, great Britain currently really trying their hardest to out-do the US, but this goes for every country in Europe as well as, or specifically, the EU as a political entity. Once again, power does not hold itself accountable but protects itself, and in the infamous words of Carlin: “It’s a big club and you are not in it.” - but what now? Is this just a reality we are willing to accept, pay for whilst we continuously and passively accepting fewer freedoms, accepting stress of living as a reality and accepting the ever increasing alienation from not just ourselves but our friends, our work and our world? I do wonder what the breaking point is, if there is one? Luckily for us, there are ways and means out of this abusive cycle of bullshit, considering this isn’t new, there are centuries of books, pamphlets, ideas readily available and people around the world that can not only convey these but translate them into the 21st Century. I do my best to be one of these peoples and places so whilst all of this can seem depressing, to be sure, it is, there is always hope and that’s the rock from which we will hold the bastards accountable and build our own future.
Another Banger!! I really should leave it at that but rather than yapping on about the great, great music in here just a few shout outs to my crushes that keep sending and showing me new tunes that definitely made it into this one. By all means, send me your tunes, especially this week as I will be all over the place and not necessarily around to listen to as much music as I would like to!
Before I get into your dose of hot shots, I wanted to share a few thoughts about the below. It is not surprising that the pigs are getting smarter in fighting accountability but fuck me sideways, this certainly got my attention because of the very actual problems filming cops and spreading the word about their abuses of power. No real groundbreaking insights yet to counter this move other than muting sound and providing written captions, using signal or telegram but let’s get together and figure this one out. Also, the second take below this headline comes from NIN’s AD and puts this into a larger, important context.
Hot Shots for your coffee flavoured coffee, screenshoot and share these if that wasn’t clear.
These people have names and addresses. Just Saying.