The Left Bank Cafe: Pete Seeger

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Sunday Round-Up - February 2, 2014

Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/p/pete_seeger.html#VmFfacgEv5oWbgDW.99

Being generous of spirit is a wonderful way to live. - Pete Seeger

This is the weekly selection of news and opinion from outside American mainstream media. Today we remember Pete Seeger, look at the Year of the Horse, and, in brief, the Syrian peace talks, the surprise cover of the Rolling Stone, and John Kerry's quest for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

Folk singer and activist Pete Seeger passed away on January 27 at the age 94. Infamously blacklisted after his appearance before the McCarthy-era "House Un-American Activities Committee", he was a tireless advocate for workers, civil rights, the environment and peace. Pete Seeger influenced generations of songwriters. "Once called 'America's tuning fork,' Pete Seeger believed deeply in the power of song," President Barack Obama said in a statement on Tuesday. "Over the years, Pete used his voice—and his hammer—to strike blows for worker's rights and civil rights; world peace and environmental conservation. And he always invited us to sing along." [Mother Jones, Jan 28] Mother Jones has a phenomenal musical tribute to Pete Seeger which you can reach by clicking this link. For more on his appearance before HUAC and the "black list", see Corey Robin's excellent post of January 29. Pete Seeger was a genuine force for good and he will be missed.

The Year of the Horse has begun. Lunar (aka Chinese) New Year celebrations started January 31 with as many as 2 billion people joining in across the globe - particularly in the Far East. The celebrations continue for 15 days. In China alone 3.62 billion journeys are expected to be taken in the 40 day period surrounding the New Year. "The staggering figure of passengers is set to make Chunyun, which literally means Spring Festival, transportation the largest seasonal human migration on the globe." [Xinhua news agency] According to Chinese Zodiac lore, "People born in the year of the horse are said to be a bit like horses: animated, active and energetic – they love being in a crowd. They are quick to learn independence – foals can walk minutes after birth – and they have a straightforward and positive attitude towards life. They are known for their communication skills and are exceedingly witty." [The Guardian, January 31]

(Lunar New Year images appeared in the International Business Times and are by Reuters)

In Brief

The first round of peace talks to end Syria’s civil war have concluded with little tangible progress to speak of, delegates said Friday, as rights groups reported nearly 1,900 deaths in Syria as the summit was being held in Switzerland. A second round has been scheduled to start February 10. [Al Jazeera, January 31]

Pope Francis made it to "the cover of the Rolling Stone". A feature-length article on "a man whose obvious humility, empathy and, above all, devotion to the economically disenfranchised has come to feel perfectly suited to our times" appears in the February 13 issue. [Rolling Stone website, January 28]

US Secretary of State John Kerry and an elite team of US diplomats return to Israel as goals shift for the US's once-ambitious peace plan. [The Guardian, January 30]

Do you know the difference between education and experience? Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when you don't.

- Pete Seeger

Monday, May 27, 2013

Remembering the Fallen

Today, the last Monday in May, is Memorial Day here in the United States. It's a day set aside to remember those Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice. As we remember them, we should also pause to remember the devastating toll that war has taken on all the peoples of the world - military and civilian alike.

The numbers are staggering. In what is described as an "incomplete" list of the approximately 3000 wars in recorded human history, a Wikipedia article puts the minimum figure for deaths due to war at more than 340 million. The totals for each war in the list "usually include both the deaths of military personnel which are the direct results of battle or other military wartime actions, as well as the wartime/ war-related deaths of civilians, which are the results of war induced epidemics, diseases, famines, atrocities etc."

Besides the deaths from war, tens of millions of civilians have become refugees - either fleeing to another country or "internally displaced". Currently, according to the World Refugee Day website, there are 43.7 million of them. Were they a country, refugees would rank about 30th in population amongst the nations of the world.
UPDATE: A report released in June 2014 by the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, shows that the number of refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced people worldwide has, for the first time in the post-World War II era, exceeded 50 million people. [The Guardian, June 20]

Greed, hatred, nationalism, perceived wrongs, balance of power, economic systems, religious beliefs, quest for power, bloodlust - mankind has found many reasons to go to war. They are all wrong. They all basically stem from the perception of "the Other", someone you can dehumanize because he is different from you.

Will it ever change? One would hope so. John Kennedy once said "War will exist until that distant day when the conscientious objector enjoys the same reputation and prestige that the warrior does today." Fifty years after Kennedy's death, that day remains distant.

Still we got to start somewhere. So I'll close with a few quotes and a few songs that look to that brighter distant day when men will no longer take up arms against their brothers and sisters. Here's a link to blues guitarist Lead Belly singing "Ain't Gonna Study War No More". (Apropos of nothing in particular: George Harrison has been quoted as saying "No Lead Belly, no Beatles.")

Albert Camus: "There are causes worth dying for but none worth killing for."

Here's a link to Original Caste's "One Tin Soldier".

"Peace on Earth" was all it said.

Joan Baez: "If people have to put labels on me, I'd prefer the first label to be human being, the second label to be pacifist, and the third to be folk singer." Here's a link to Joan Baez singing Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind". (In spite of the actual title Dylan gave his song, Joan Baez pronounces the "g" at the end of Blowin'.) The linked video also has some great shots of the young Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. Dylan just turned 72 this past Friday and does that ever make me feel old! Happy Birthday, Bobby.

How many deaths will it take 'til he knows

that too many people have died?

Mahatma Gandhi: "What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy?"