Sunday, Sep 7, 2008
The story line that is too often missing is how deep-feeling and good American people are. It shows that we are not callous. The reason why hundreds of thousands of people protested the Vietnam War was because they saw the victims, the little girls burning with napalm. They can't let that happen, the American people. And the people making war learned a lesson; so now, you don't see those [victims] anymore.
Why? Do you blame that on media consolidation?
It does seem like there is total corporate control with a firm propagandist agenda. That seems pretty clear in the way debate is narrowly framed and its limited options. When experts are discussing the issues, all we hear from is a general, a former general and the defense secretary, and they are considered the competing viewpoints of the accidental bombing of Lebanon. We don't get the story of the real mothers, fathers, sisters.
And free speech?
It is critically important to the bands and something we've come under fire for countless times in the past. We've had our songs pulled off the radio and blacklisted. I think that has passed now. It's funny how Clear Channel first sent out the list of songs to censor [from its radio stations, after 9/11], and when they were confronted by journalists, they said there was no list. They actually said the list doesn't exist -- until they were presented with it. Then, they called it a "general guide."
So what can people do in the face of this control of information?
People have to find the [alternative] magazines and [news sources].
Like Pacifica Radio?
Unfortunately, [the people] I see in my line of work are young America, and they think that Pacifica is boring. Why? Because it is. It's a good source of information, but when you're competing with the sexy headline news, there has to be another way. At least with the Axis of Justice, we take our cache of trust from making music. I can't own the New York Times and put the stories I want in there. What I can do is exert influence as an artist. As a band, you develop a cache of trust and mutual respect with your audience. And what you parlay that into is up to you. Many artists use it to sell products, whether it's a show or a Jaguar. They take that trust, which is meaningful to young people, and cash it in. We try to parlay it into political action and positive change.
Turning now to Serj Tankian: In terms of free speech after 9/11, you got in some trouble because of your published opinions.
Serj Tankian: I was criticizing the U.S. government for its past involvement in the Middle East and how our foreign policy has been very unjust based on the profits for multinationals. I made a statement that was completely factual. It was really a statement of peace; I was asking for peace. I spoke about Israel and Palestine, and I said that was a huge fundamental issue having to do with all of this. Sept. 11 isn't an issue by itself. It's tied into everything else. It's not a cause; it's a reaction. So once you realize that, you can go back and say, why did this happen? Then you can read your history and see why we've been involved there [in the Middle East], why someone would do that and why the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, rather than my house or your house.
At the same time, I understand the reaction from the American public because when I was watching, the first thing I felt was insecurity. It was very scary, which is, I think, what everyone felt. It's very important to note that the same organization that I was criticizing, the U.S. government and its foreign policy, was the only organization that could save us from this mess. So people didn't want to hear criticism even though they knew in their hearts that I was right.
So you think people generally agree with your perspective?
Yeah, whether they're from the Midwest or the South, and I tour everywhere. After Sept. 11, people have been moving from cities to rural areas. It's not just fear, but an understanding that this cannot last forever. Stocks are going down. There's no confidence in corporations; there's corporate thievery and scams. It's all coming out. People are investing more in real property, and real property value is going up. Europeans know better; they get better information. They know more blatantly what the U.S. is doing regarding world policies and events. Everyone knows the complicity of our institutions in screwing things up in the world. It's not a secret.
And if that's true in the Midwest and the South, to what do you attribute President Bush's popularity?
Because we're still in a war. George Bush had a very bad rating before 9/11, didn't he? You know, the relationship between a lot of people and our government is like that of abused children. Even if your dad has beaten you, he's still your dad, especially if there's someone else coming into your house. Imagine this situation: You're an abused child with a father in the house and a social worker who is maybe not even saving you but fighting with your father, and you're 5 or 6 years old. Who are you going to hate? Your abusive father or the social worker?
Tom, do you have anything to add on the Middle East situation?
Morello: It's the perfect example of the cycle of violence, the perfect illustration of how not to resolve an issue. Every suicide bomber feels perfectly justified. Then every Israeli soldier feels fully justified destroying [lives in] Bethlehem. We've played in Israel a couple of times, and it's heartbreaking. Because of the geopolitics involved, I don't know how it can be resolved. I do think that through common interests you can achieve peace and justice, and the common interest is that people work for a living. I have no experience organizing in the Middle East, but people who work for a wage have that in common, and maybe it could transcend centuries-old grudges. I don't know.
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