Robert Bettmann – Page 62 – Robert Bettmann

I’d like my pain up front, please

I wrote a post a little while ago about the current economic crisis. In that post I wrote:

Its amazing to me that they are saying maybe this latest stimulus wont be enough. Enough for what? Enough for whom? We live in a world that is constantly achieving new balance points….. There is very simple economic data that tells us this. The market evolves, and when the internal combustion engine develops, the people who make carriages are screwed…..Clear ideas are guideposts that can help us know how it all works. But even if we do know how it works, there is still the matter of how it is actually gonna work.”

The video below is an interview with Thomas Friedman on MSNBC. I think the only thing that Thomas can’t point out is that just as the President has to keep Republican’s voting with him, he has to keep Democrats voting with him. I do believe that there will come a time when some of the spending in the current budget will be rolled back. But if Obama didn’t do that now, Democrats would object that he was being run by the Republicans.

The economy that George Bush allowed to slide away is what Obama inherited. Oddly enough, in order to take the long-term steps to fix things, there have to be some steps ‘in the wrong direction’. Friedman is terribly smart… I enjoy listening to him keep our eyes on the ball.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Pride: By Any Means Necessary?

There has been a viral video going around of a comic talking about how “Everthing is So Great but Nobodys Happy.” In the video, comedian Louis CK shares some appealing common wisdom.

Looking through his channel on You tube, I came across the following video in which he backhandedly addresses racism, arguing that being White is way better. Here is the video:

Regardless of his intent, it’s impossible for me not to associate his comedy with “White Pride.”

I’m a Jew, which makes me white to everyone but White people. I don’t associate White Pride with my heritage, but with the people who spray painted swastikas on synagogues in my home-town. A quick search of the phrase White Pride” online got me to the White Pride Archives: News for People Who Love Their Heritage. Without even looking at the site, I have a strong sense that what’s inside is racist. I associate the term White Pride with bigotry.

I have a very different association with the term Gay Pride. I associate Gay Pride with very positive assertions of equality.

We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it!

Perhaps the positivity of pride – be it Black Pride, White Pride, Male Pride, Women Pride, Jewish Pride or Gay Pride – is directly related to the weakness of its possessor? If a group with a lot of power has a lot of “Pride”, its bad, but if a group with little power has “Pride” its good?

Amanda Hess, writing in last week’s City Paper, reported on a criminal attack in which two transgender men were beaten by a group of Lesbian women. The attack was apparently motivated by a sense of betrayal; one of the transitioning men was a former Lesbian who was now too good for that identity. It is impossible to defend the attack, but given the difficulties of Lesbian life it’s pretty simple to see how Gay Pride morphed into these criminal actions.

I’ve been thinking about slippery moral slopes recently, because I’m creating some Dance on the subject. Where are the crossing points for certain ideas – like pride. I listened to the rap song “Break the Grip of Shame” by Paris yesterday. Embedded in the song is a speech by Malcolm X which proudly declaims:

“We declare our race on this earth to be a being. To be a human being. To be respected as a human being. To be given the rights of a human being. Indivisible and binding. And we intend to bring it into existence by Any Means Necessary.”

Pride is a moral stance; an assertion of worth. The communal sense of self that Pride provides perhaps only remains positive when not divorced from other aspects of a moral life.

60 x 60 —- What is Dance?

60x60_press I’ll be performing for one minute in New York on April 7th. That’s right: for one minute. I’ll be taking part in Sixty by Sixty, a celebration of new music and dance coordinated by Jeramy Zimmerman (Artistic Director of Cat Scratch Theater, formerly of DC) and Robert Voisey (Founder of Vox Novus.)

60 x 60 events contain 60 new works of music from 60 different composers. Each composition is 60 seconds (or less) in duration sequenced together to create a one hour performance. Highlighting the work of a great many composers, 60×60 testifies to the vibrancy of contemporary composition by presenting the diverse array of styles, aesthetics and techniques being used today. The 60 x 60 dance events pair 60 new one minute dances, with 60 new one minute compositions.

Rosalyn Sulcas writing for the New York Times on November 17th, 2008 wrote,

“The idea of 60 new dance pieces performed to 60 new works of music, each lasting no more than 60 seconds is quite mad. But it’s this kind of madness that makes the cultural world go round.”

I’m pleased to be partnering with 60 x 60 in a project for Bourgeon, the magazine I edit. In 2006 I got 34 artists (mostly local artists) to answer the question: ‘What is Dance?” The answers ranged from three words, to three page pieces of fiction (thank you George.) Bourgeon will be publishing the 60 x 60 participants answers to that same question.

Reading through the diversity of responses from 2006 I was intrigued to see certain trends emerge, and am looking forward to seeing whether this new set of answers is similar, or different. A big thank you to Robert Voisey for making this happen.

If you’re curious to see the past set of answers to ‘What is Dance?’, this link will take you to that feed.