It's not often that I am able to thank this blog, except for the laughs it gives me from time to time, but on this occasion may I express my gratitude for featuring Mr. Zappa, a man about whom I knew nothing until your post made me check his Wiki entry. I had heard of him vaguely and assumed, lazily, that he was just another thick, long-haired, talentless strummer responsible for producing the ghastly racket that constitutes modern 'music-not'. So I was very surprised to read this:
"Describing his political views, Frank Zappa categorized himself as a "practical conservative", or "independent". He favored limited government and low taxes; he also stated that he approved of national defense, social security, and other federal programs, but only if recipients of such programs are willing and able to pay for them.[201] He favored capitalism, entrepreneurship, and independent business, stating that musicians could make more from owning their own businesses than from collecting royalties.[202] He opposed communism, stating, "A system that doesn't allow ownership [...] has—to put it mildly—a fatal design flaw."[201"
So not all bad then - but what's he doing on this site?
This is the second time you have tried to make Zappa sound like a conservative Republican. He wasn't. In fact, he had little respect for them, saying: “Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil and greed and ignorance smothered in balloons and ribbons.” Zappa is on this site because he was a freak (which you straights call a hippie), as I am -- and because he was a great musician.Try listening to his music sometime. By the way, he was an atheist and opposed any type of censorship. He was never the right-winger you want him to be.
On the contrary, from that brief quote he sounds like a libertarian, free-market conservative which, despite your efforts to stuff everybody in the same bin, definitely does not make him a member of the cartel a.k.a. the Republican party.
You share the fault of many political activists in believing that the spectrum of politics runs in a line from Right to Left. It doesn't, it runs in a circle which frequently places extreme Leftists side by side with extreme Rightists.
As to Mr. Zappa's musical abilities, I'll take a pass because it would, I suspect, constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment' to make me listen to it. Still, I guess he made a few 'gazillions' out of it so I'm surprised at your praise given your dislike of millionaires!
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It's not often that I am able to thank this blog, except for the laughs it gives me from time to time, but on this occasion may I express my gratitude for featuring Mr. Zappa, a man about whom I knew nothing until your post made me check his Wiki entry. I had heard of him vaguely and assumed, lazily, that he was just another thick, long-haired, talentless strummer responsible for producing the ghastly racket that constitutes modern 'music-not'. So I was very surprised to read this:
ReplyDelete"Describing his political views, Frank Zappa categorized himself as a "practical conservative", or "independent". He favored limited government and low taxes; he also stated that he approved of national defense, social security, and other federal programs, but only if recipients of such programs are willing and able to pay for them.[201] He favored capitalism, entrepreneurship, and independent business, stating that musicians could make more from owning their own businesses than from collecting royalties.[202] He opposed communism, stating, "A system that doesn't allow ownership [...] has—to put it mildly—a fatal design flaw."[201"
So not all bad then - but what's he doing on this site?
This is the second time you have tried to make Zappa sound like a conservative Republican. He wasn't. In fact, he had little respect for them, saying: “Republicans stand for raw, unbridled evil and greed and ignorance smothered in balloons and ribbons.”
ReplyDeleteZappa is on this site because he was a freak (which you straights call a hippie), as I am -- and because he was a great musician.Try listening to his music sometime. By the way, he was an atheist and opposed any type of censorship. He was never the right-winger you want him to be.
On the contrary, from that brief quote he sounds like a libertarian, free-market conservative which, despite your efforts to stuff everybody in the same bin, definitely does not make him a member of the cartel a.k.a. the Republican party.
ReplyDeleteYou share the fault of many political activists in believing that the spectrum of politics runs in a line from Right to Left. It doesn't, it runs in a circle which frequently places extreme Leftists side by side with extreme Rightists.
As to Mr. Zappa's musical abilities, I'll take a pass because it would, I suspect, constitute 'cruel and unusual punishment' to make me listen to it. Still, I guess he made a few 'gazillions' out of it so I'm surprised at your praise given your dislike of millionaires!