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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Capitalism and Freedom - Guest post by John Butler of the John Butler Trio


From time to time, The Shadowlands will present to you the best opinion available from celebrity guest contributors. Today, it's, John Butler of the John Butler Trio. Take it away John Butler of the John Butler Trio:


Capitalism and Freedom


by John Butler of the John Butler Trio


As John Butler, lead singer of the John Butler Trio, a lot of people take me for some kind of hippie. But while it might be true that "life's not about whose better", let me tell you, nothing gives me greater pleasure than to look into the rheumy eyes of the retards who attend my concerts knowing who has the most coin.

It is widely believed that politics and economics are separate and largely unconnected; that individual freedom is a political problem and material welfare an economic problem; and that any kind of political arrangements can be combined with any kind of economic arrangements.

However, there is an intimate connection between economics and politics, that only certain arrangements are possible and that, in particular, a society which is socialist cannot also be democratic, in the sense of guaranteeing individual freedom. Economic arrangements play a dual role in the promotion of a free society. On the one hand, freedom in economic arrangements is itself a component of freedom broadly understood, so economic freedom is an end in itself. In the second place, economic freedom is also an indispensable means toward the achievement of political freedom.

The first of these roles of economic freedom needs special emphasis because intellectuals in particular have a strong bias against regarding this aspect of freedom as important. They tend to express contempt for what they regard as material aspects of life, and to regard their own pursuit of allegedly higher values as on a different plane of significance and as deserving of special attention...

To be continued



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

oh my God John Butler, you just got yourself blacklisted from JJJ, Homebake, Drum Media, and every 'Comedy Festival' in existence.

I hope it was worth it.

stackja1945 said...

Intellectuals' higher values have a 2020 view of life.

stackja1945 said...

Suggestion, keep a note of all the rejected items at new site and hold a contest, best of the rejects.

http://timblair.net/ee/index.php/weblog/comments/day_one/#362784 kae first with
Oh, about the new blog.
I called Agile ‘Ken.
short for ‘Ken ‘tard.
It got deleted I think.
sooks

Anonymous said...

seriously though, this is an example of nails being hit on heads.
this contempt for the material aspects of life is part of the myth of the artist... and has little to do with actual creativity.

The art world has convinced itself that its purpose for existing is to teach. But the fundamental purpose of art is actually to entertain. This sounds so mundane - so material and grounded- , yet entertainment can come in many forms, from confrontation to the giving of insight.

Professional art should also have another goal: to make money. money keeps you real, and ensures that you are always searching for the connection with the audience.

This misunderstanding of what art is really about really causes a lot of creative talent to be wasted.

stackja1945 said...

DD
Have seen this
http://www.smh.com.au/news/michael-duffy/art-of-significance-is-doing-something-that-matters/2008/05/16/1210765164975.html
What has happened? I suspect government funding has had something to do with this drying up of major talent.
Early Marxist humour, Groucho of course, was given the MGM treatment and lost much.

Anonymous said...

nice place you got here. where's the drinks cabinet?

Anonymous said...

saw that, stacka, and loved it. Duffy makes lots of sense.

The problem is that artists think that being an entrepreneur is dirty and beneath them. "Selling out" is the ultimate artistic insult.

stackja1945 said...

DD another did you see?
Social inclusion swindle Christopher Pearson - May 17, 2008
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23709658-7583,00.html