The death industries of a deadly culture.

Turning to the arts in crazy times has always been a particular weakness of mine perhaps partially as escapism but also for alternatives.. Harold Pinter is my hero. I have never read any of his work or (to my knowledge)seen any of his plays or movies. Nevertheless, his Nobel prize acceptance speech absolutely kills me. Its pathos, eloquence, historical awareness, bitterness and optimism remind me how one can face up to the terrifying reality of a political situation and keep hold of one's integrity and thirst for life. Quotes below are from his speech, scroll if allergic to extended quoting.

'I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self love. It's a winner. Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, 'the American people', as in the sentence, 'I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.'

'It's a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words 'the American people' provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don't need to think. Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties but it's very comfortable. This does not apply of course to the 40 million people living below the poverty line and the 2 million men and women imprisoned in the vast gulag of prisons, which extends across the US.'

'It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn't happening. It didn't matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It's a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.'

I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.

'Blood is dirty. It dirties your shirt and tie when you're making a sincere speech on television'. Writers need sometimes to remember both the blood and the speeches on television. How else can we write? Why else would one bother? This year i was introduced to the "so-what" factor by one of my lecturers. It is a nice way to force yourself to consider the political intent, import and efficacy of anything you might be writing or doing. Thank you Harold. (Now i better read some of his works).