unthinking dogmatism in the arts

[egb_hibs]

i don't generally have much time for james mcmillan who i view as being a stereotypical weegie whinger.

however this is a quite interesting article about the stultifying conformism and frightening lack of free thinking, or indeed thinking full stop, that holds sway in the much of the arts world, viewed from the inside.

the self reinforcing left wing arts establishment is failing in one of the arts key responsibilities, by being supplicant and compliant towards the left wing ruling establishment, rather than challenging them.

i also think this is why the arts are less and less relevant - like the general trends in the labour movement that mcmillan describes, they reflect a contempt for ordinary people, and instead have become the self serving preserve of the liberal establishment.

it's remains a tragedy the way the working class left have been betrayed by these idiots.

"In my travels I see myself frequently described in foreign media as a ‘left-wing and Scottish nationalist’ composer. The latter label is ludicrous, and I just put it down to a foreigner’s ignorance and justifiable disinterest in the parish-pump tedium of devolved Scotland. It doesn’t bother me too much. The first, however, disturbs me much more.

I used to be on the Left — I joined the Young Communist League in 1974, when I was just 14. Part of the motivation behind this was no doubt to annoy my devoutly Catholic relatives, who were all Labour supporters, but anxious, to the point of distraction, about insiduous Marxist manoeuvrings in the unions and in the workplace. My grandfather was part of a Catholic rearguard action in the NUM in the 1930s and 40s to safeguard the union from a far-left takeover. He, and most of the politically active working class in places like Ayrshire throughout the 20th century, were old-style socialists. They tended, also, to be moral and cultural conservatives. There was a tradition among Irish descendants, but also in other communities throughout the country, of Roman and high-Anglo-Catholic orthodoxy that was also politically radical, favouring social justice through economic distribution. The Labour movement was their vehicle to build the just society that was promised in the gospels; the welfare state and greater access to education were seen as fruits of moral Christian activism in society.

After battling against the acolytes of Joe Stalin in the mid-20th century, my grandfather and his friends witnessed a new usurpation of their beloved Labour movement coming from the convulsions of the 1960s. A new generation appeared, whose interest seemed less in economic inequality and more in confronting the traditional values of people like my grandfather, whose beliefs had underpinned the very idea of social order. Marx was giving way to Nietzsche and Freud; Bolshevism was moving over for nihilism. The Left, which had been shaped as much by the muscular Christianity of the 19th century as by anything else, was now being colonised by something very foreign indeed. The cherished values of generations, the foundation of correct, well-ordered structures and relationships were under attack from a formidable foe. The traditional family and education, sexual mores, artistic aspirations, religious belief — all were now seen as coercive strategies of the powerful, designed to enforce conformity and slavish obedience."


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[stubru59]

[quote=egb_hibs;774740]i don't generally have much time for james mcmillan who i view as being a stereotypical weegie whinger.

however this is a quite interesting article about the stultifying conformism and frightening lack of free thinking, or indeed thinking full stop, that holds sway in the much of the arts world, viewed from the inside.

the self reinforcing left wing arts establishment is failing in one of the arts key responsibilities, by being supplicant and compliant towards the left wing ruling establishment, rather than challenging them.

Whilst the left/liberal may dominate the arts - and that of course depends on how you define the arts - it is a game run largely by and for the middle-class.
If you don't play the game, you can't make up the rules.