Right versus Left, semi old school

[WAB]

This is a complete episode of Firing Line. William F Buckley, the conservative (ya think???) host, interviews Allen Ginsberg, one of the most prominent and most popular of American poets at that time. Ginsberg is quite decidedly left, though he championed positions which were also embraced by Libertarians and are still embraced by libertarians of today.

This is an excellent chance to see the left versus right at around early 70's, or late 60's?

The BEST thing about this is the friendly civility exercised by both parties during the long interview. The visionary poet-genius Ginsberg has agreed beforehand to refrain from using profane words, though he is not happy about it and talks at length about free speech.

Both parties are beautifully restrained, not by the rules of conduct, but by the rational operation of their own minds. They have diametrically opposing political positions, but they are joined by the fact that both are by nature benevolent, or maybe I should say harmless, because both live in the corridors of intellect and the idea of standing up and throwing hands is repugnant to them, as it should be for any reasoning, rational persons.

At about 17:15 or so, Ginsberg reads his magnificent poem, "Wales Visitation", a poem which he admits he composed while under the influence of LSD. Imagine the stiffnecked audience? Anyway, as he reads, the beauty of the work unfolds, due to Ginsberg's sheer courage and tenacity (not to mention genuine good will), and by the end, Buckley says that he liked it, and a bit later calls the poem 'beautiful ', and I don't think he is being polite. He is sincerely surprised to hear a poem not filled with profanity, blasphemy, and just wild, undisciplined license.

After the poem, there is more discussion, and Gisberg goes into the subject of corrupt cops, with documented proof, and you can see Buckley getting more and more uneasy.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vBpoZBhvBa4

 

[rousseau]

One of the issues we're seeing now is the impact of technology on media. Back when this show was taped the only way you could appeal to an audience was via courteous and thoughtful discourse. But with the rise of graphics, sound-effects et al media has now become a competition of who can be the loudest, and keep the most people entertained. As a Canadian I find American media nauseating, and it's no surprise that things seem permanently tense over the border. Who with a cable subscription wouldn't be on edge?

The internet exacerbates the problem because the 90% of people who just want to go about their business are crowded out by the 10% who are consistently political, all the time. Voices that were previously outside of the public eye are now front and center all the time.

So I think rational and sane voices still exist, but now we're in a permanent state of fringe, loud voices being highly visible. It's interesting because global violence has literally never been lower, but most people perceive the world as much more dangerous now. In reality, if you turn off your TV and look out the window, most of the time nothing is happening.