Peter Gabriel: Games without Frontiers

Genesis: Fountain of Salmacis

So, this came up on the shuffle, and...I just can't resist.  And, apparently there is a live teevee performance on YouTube, purportedly from Belgian TV.  But, of course, the audio sucks...so we'll put that below the fold.  Oh G-d, do I love this shit.

Live Performance:

Mike Lumish: One State. Two State. Red State. Blue State.

Didn't intend to link again so soon to the artist formerly known as Karmafish, but...I just can't resist with this piece.

Not sure how seriously I can take the idea of community service (as proof of 'loyalty' no less) as a solution to the demographic problem for a one-state solution to I-P (begs so many questions), but at least Mike Lumish has a proposal for a solution, rather than simply denying the problem exists, as seems to be the default for most Likudniks.  And with Bibi's recent pre-electoral comments, maybe it's time we starting having the debate in the West, rather than clinging to the fantasy that a two-state solution is still possible in this generation (Myself, I still think it might have been back in the nineties...but water under the bridge).  And while I hesitate to say too much about the whole I-P situation, my own 'evolving' attitudes being somewhat at odds with the tide in the West, I will say that there is much in Lumish's piece with which I agree.

In fact, the last two sentences quoted below reflect almost exactly what for years now would have been my advice to Israel.  In fairness, I guess I should also state what my advice would have been to the Palestinians, which is to publicly declare that as a two-state solution was clearly no longer viable that they would henceforth abandon claims to a separate statehood, and demand full and total rights as de-facto Israelis, including suffrage.  Which is another kind of one-state solution, but not on Israel's terms.

I disagree, however, that a single-state must necessarily mean the demise of Israel as either Jewish or democratic.

The reason for this is because there is no requirement that a democracy must incorporate hostile foreign elements into it, in order to remain a democracy.  What I propose, under the circumstances of initiating a single state, is that those non-Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria who wish to gain the franchise would need to demonstrate good will toward their Jewish neighbors through the completion of two years community service of some kind.

Those who receive a good report would be given the full franchise.

As for those Arabs who remain resident non-citizens, their children should be given every opportunity to join as full citizens of the state.  Since education would no longer be in the hands of hostile terrorist organizations, Israel could educate Arab youth to the benefits of joining with the country and clearly demonstrate those benefits as young people see their older siblings getting good university educations and well-paying jobs.

By limiting the franchise to only those Arabs who actually want to live peacefully within the Jewish state, Israel would remain both majority Jewish and democratic.  In fact, it would remain more democratic than the United States because the US, for far less good reason, does not allow Puerto Ricans to vote in national elections, despite the fact that Puerto Rico is incorporated into the United States. 
...
I certainly appreciate the dilemma, but since a negotiated conclusion of hostilities is, in fact, impossible - because this is not the Palestinian-Arab national objective - that leaves only the option of unilateral action.
Israel should, thus, declare its final borders, remove the IDF to behind those borders, and toss the keys over its shoulder.  Good-bye and Good luck

And, as I finish this piece, Biko of all things comes up in the shuffle.  Shit you not.  That you, God ?

Wave upon wave of demented avengers march cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream (Animals, 1977)

If I had to pick one album by Pink Floyd as my favourite, Animals would probably be it. It's certainly in the top three with Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall.  This is Pink Floyd ten years

on from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, a Pink Floyd that had stumbled a little with uneven albums such as Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother, only to find themselves ever more popular and famous with the release of The Dark Side of the Moon, and having subsequently to live in its shadow.  This is also Floyd in the age of Punk, a band probably eager to prove their relevance with a new more electronic sound and lyrics that reflected the political and social realities of the time.  This is the Pink Floyd that would crash out two years later with The Wall, a double disc epic that ended the Roger Waters era of Pink Floyd on a high much as The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway did for the Peter Gabriel era of Genesis.

Whilst much of Floyd's more ah-hippieish work hasn't dated all that well, the darker, more reflective, and the more politically incisive songs have stood the test of time quite well.  Thinking Welcome to the Machine here, Time, Money, and the like.  And this album has those same sort of attributes condensed into a perfect whole, one that really should be listened to in a single hearing.  It slows and builds up again with the (most played by radio) track Pigs (Three Different Ones), only to reach a crescendo in the manic and lyrically cutting Sheep:

Harmlessly passing your time in the grassland away
Only dimly aware of a certain unease in the air

You better watch out

There may be dogs about

I've looked over Jordan, and I have seen

Things are not what they seem

What do you get for pretending the danger's not real ?

Meek and obedient you follow the leader

Down well trodden corridors into the valley of steel

What a surprise !

A look of terminal shock in your eyes

Now things are really what they seem

No, this is no bad dream

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want

He makes me down to lie

Through pastures green He leadeth me the silent waters by

With bright knives He releaseth my soul

He maketh me to hang on hooks in high places

He converteth me to lamb cutlets

For lo, He hath great power, and great hunger

When cometh the day we lowly ones

Through quiet reflection, and great dedication

Master the art of karate

Lo, we shall rise up

And then we'll make the bugger's eyes water

Bleating and babbling we fell on his neck with a scream

Wave upon wave of demented avengers

March cheerfully out of obscurity into the dream

Have you heard the news ?

The dogs are dead !

You better stay home and do as you're told

Get out of the road if you want to grow old

-- Roger Waters

The metaphor in the album of people as Pigs, Dogs, or Sheep, loosely inspired by Animal Farm is a simple one, but one that resonates to this day, as a minority of us amass ever more obscene levels of wealth and power, the Dogs of the world fight viciously for what wealth and privilege they can, and the majorities live meekly in denial and willful ignorance of their increasingly vulnerable serf-like place in society.  What do you get for pretending the danger's not real indeed ?