Fraters Libertas

Plato's Retreat

Former St. Paul Pioneer Press music writer, now alternative press exile, Jim Walsh reviews the Vote For Change tour which rolled through town last week. Excerpt:

...Springsteen was the picture of a free man; a formerly self-censored major-label artist unleashed. At one point he held a "Bush Must Go" sign and theatrically berated an actor playing a Boogie Boy-styled "Republican," hilariously encouraging the crowd to chant, "Halliburton, Halliburton, Halliburton." His and the other artists' between-song comments never approached preaching, though, even when Springsteen peppered his gospel-rap with, "I want to be drenched in the waters of democracy!"

Not preaching you say? I guess statements like "Bush Must Go" and partisan "gospel-rapping" don't come off as preaching. As long as you're already among the converted.

... the most penetrating statement of the night came from a Springsteen interview that played on the arena video screen. "It's pretty simple to me," he said. "If you send young people to fight and die in a war that is proven there is no good cause for, you lose your job. It's not rocket science. You lose your job."

No, that analysis is definitely not rocket science. Whether it's accurate or not is another question. But at the very least we know we can ignore any future pronouncements Springsteen may have on strategic missile defense. Because that is, you know, rocket science.

I'm never sure if Springsteen's tortured grammar and simplistic reasoning are affectations, nurtured and sustained for blue collar marketing appeal, or if he does actually lean toward profound ignorance. Either way Victor Davis Hanson's analysis applies:

The artists, musicians, and entertainers have also railed against the war. In the therapeutic mindset, the refinement and talent of a Sean Penn, Michael Moore, Al Franken, Bruce Springsteen, or John Fogerty earn respect when they weigh in on matters of state policy. But in the tragic view, they can be little more than puppets of inspiration. Their natural gifts are not necessarily enriched by real education or learning. Indeed, they are just as likely to be high-school or college dropouts and near illiterates, albeit with good memories, voices, and looks.

"Near illiterates" - you've got to love VDH. His knowledge of the classics also brings us this warning from antiquity:

The present antics of these influential millionaire entertainers should remind us why Plato banished them - worried that we might confuse the inspired creative frenzies of the artisans with some sort of empirical knowledge. But you can no more sing, or write, or act al Qaeda away than the equally sensitive novelists and intellectuals of the 1930s or 1940s could rehabilitate Stalin.

If you'd like to read more about the banishment of artists (and who wouldn't?) please refer to Book X of Plato's Republic. Those with Cliffs Notes level attention spans can review these critical summaries. Excerpt:

Plato's second objection is that the artist knowingly manipulates the passions of his audience. In a purely rational State, there is no room for the stirring up of "evil constitutions," nor the retelling of misfortunes or misadventures in the past. What lies behind Plato's dislike of maudlin dramas or even great tragedy is his conviction that the audience will identify with and in turn imitate whatever it sees.

Or so Bruce Springsteen and Jim Walsh would hope. Vote for Change! indeed.

If you're still on the fence about art's vital role in informing the body politic, check out the new exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It includes artistic statements like this:

A panel of "pants-on-fire" drawings depicts Bush with flames leaping from his trousers, a mushroom cloud sprouting from his head and the word "Lies" emerging from his mouth in a speech bubble. In the middle of a poster showing vultures hovering over rat-infested ruins sits a television on which the president appears saying cheerfully, "My name is George Bush, and I approve this mess."

To that I can only respond with Plato's words:

Then the imitator, I said, is a long way off the truth, and can do all things because he lightly touches on a small part of them, and that part an image. For example: A painter will paint a cobbler, carpenter, or any other artist, though he knows nothing of their arts; and, if he is a good artist, he may deceive children or simple persons (or Bruce Springsteen - ed.), when he shows them his picture of a carpenter from a distance, and they will fancy that they are looking at a real carpenter.