|
 In
these times of "me, me, me!" culture perhaps the age old
problem of incorporating the political with the personal
isn't high in our agendas of concern. Do we still have
agendas of concern or are they like Children In Need
tacked on to entertainment schedules; voyeuristic
rather than pragmatic desires? Only an ex-lawyer like
Clive Anderson would fail to see the irony of using his
celebrity to endorse a charity credit card! Have your
generosity debited each month! And surely this mad need
to increase the total on Children In Need each
year points out how the distribution of wealth is getting
worse? Do you give more by increasing the amount or isn't
that just a way of segmenting the various comedians /
celebrities and furnishing them with a false climax to
their evening? And if by institutionalising this programme,
making it like Xmas doesn't that suggest there will always
be children in need and shouldn't we look at political
ways to correct this anomaly? To quote the Zen saying,
"practice
charity without thinking of the word."
Or
to quote Marx in his The Communist Manifesto,
 "charity
is performed by a small section of the bourgeoisie desirous
of redressing social grievances in order to continue the
existence of the bourgeoisie."
Che
Guevara would have approved. (finally! Ed)
Fun
Lovin' Criminals / Rage Against The Machine… Uh yeah,
guys…
How
much money / how close to fame can I get? If it's celebrity
/ a record deal you're after think about how many T-shirts
you need to sell to top Che. With the current craze for
all things Cuba (see Buena Vista Social Club -
and I mean go see it) perhaps some of the principles Che
Guevara helped apply in the Cuban Revolution can be used
to give us global capitalists a sense of something other
than material concerns. (How much stuff have I got? How
pretty / good looking is my wife / husband?) The most
profound revelation of Buena Vista Social Club was
not the music, but the look at Cuba it offered us. The
spirit of the people, most of whom lived in relative "poverty",
shone out from the screen and the open door policy they
practised, with people sitting outside their houses and
chatting to anyone walking by, puts the so-called communities
we inhabit to shame. I live in the East End and for all
its famous bonhomie, it's still - shut the door as quick
as you can and wait to get another lift rather than share
it with your neighbour - time. As the Cuban graffiti declared
with proud defiance,
THE
REVOLUTION IS ETERNAL
And
to quote Che Guevara himself,
"This
revolution is bound to fail if it doesn't succeed in reaching
deep inside them, stirring them right down to the bone
and giving them back their stature as human beings. Otherwise,
what's the use?"
How
many of us yearn for a refresher course which isn't trapped
in the houses of God but actually spreads from us, out
- enervating us all. In Hanuf Kureichi's latest collection
of short stories he describes many of his friends seemingly
"having it all" and yet appearing so "joyless."
Why
is that?
Where
are the revolutionaries now? The free thinkers? How many
talk shop but do nothing? How many of New Labour's promises
were kept? Is our Health System as National as Cuba's?
Why do we now have to pay for dentistry, chiropody? What
time did you leave work last night? Where are the Unions,
why has this - no-one leaves until the boss leaves - plague
become so prevalent? Are we all such cowards? Why has
unemployment benefit not risen with inflation? The price
of food certainly has…
How
do we see Che Guevara now?
Terrorist
or freedom fighter? Mug or international visionary? Socialist
or egotist? Genial general or grumpy ghost? Why write
like this? Why not? Why not go to Cuba? The package holidays
are cheap and the Riviera's sublime; the hotels have an
ancient grandeur and and
Go
see for yourself…
How
many beggars do you see, how many homeless, how much was
that meal / beer? You mean I've still got change in my
pocket? I haven't got to go to the cash machine again!!
I
see Cuba on the horizon, my Buena Vista. Kissed her. I
want it all to be like Cuba. My heightened, idealised
outpost of all that this isn't London. With its faults
and all. Which are not the faults that are crushing us
but the fact that it's no-one's fault (or all of our fault.)
Nothing matters. And that's the worst of it. Ah Cuba!
Che Guevara. The revolution is eternal. Buena Vista, my
friends, Buena Vista. I never had a sister. Kissed her.
There's
only so much of this you can keep up. Good for the soul.
I grow old, I grow old, I smoke my cigarettes rolled.
Vignettes for a commercial age. She's an artist because
she sells. Is successful, is famous. How many times have
I heard this absurdity uttered? The black kids who play
football below my window have more art in them. We've
fallen behind. Get in line. They're handing out freedom
at the post office. It's rubber stamping. Obviosity. The
triumph of the moron. Tyranny of the obvious. It's gone
platinum. Double platinum. It's gone through the roof.
So has my TV set. Trust in your instinct.
Getting
back to Che (Thank God! - Ed) maybe Cuba wouldn't be in
the economic state it's in if Castro had followed Che's
industrialisation plan. Fearing competition from the man,
Che packed his bags and went to help out in Bolivia. Live
the life. He was out there, laying down some military
expertise for the insurrection. US trained Bolivian Rangers
easily discovered the rebel group's hideout and Che was
shot.
Che
practised what he preached. He wouldn't allow his wife
to use the car they'd been given by Castro as it was only
meant for Government purposes. Che worked all week and
on Sunday went and helped out "worker groups" in the communal
fields. Back breaking work but he kept in touch with those
who'd given him power. Bit different from John Major standing
on his soapbox? Tony Blair walking with his shirt sleeves
rolled up in Prîstina. Why's that Tony? Had a tough
meeting?
To
liberate yourself you must act or "If I don't like my
life I can change it." Have you done anything today to
change yours? It was but forty years ago when
Castro
took over Havana 1959
And
but thirty when
Ernesto
'Che' Guevara died 1967
www.monde-diplomatique.fr/en/1997/10/?c=che
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