Alex Grey completes 'Obama' painting

There are aspects of art or psychedelics that are similar to aspects of politics, but I don't think they are the same at all. I've never been particularly interested in politics because it's a discipline involved almost completely with the practical. If humans were more spiritually, morally, and intellectually evolved, we wouldn't need the government at all, which is why I'm a libertarian (not that I think we're ready for an anarchist state right now, but hopefully within a few hundred years, the government will be nothing more than a small organizing body). I tend to think that politics is a lot more fake than art. I mean sure, there are plenty of artists who are in it for the fame or the money, but it seems to me like a lot more politicians are in it for the wrong reasons.

I mean, why would a brilliant, loving person ever want to be a politician these days? First of all, in our democratic system, mediocrity reigns supreme. Truly brilliant and creative people are almost never voted into office because most people are scared of them... they want someone who is like a slightly smarter and more attractive version of themselves. Speaking of attractive, if you aren't willing to look a certain way, bleach your teeth, and proclaim that you are a Christian (preferably a protestant - not that there's anything wrong with being Christian), you have no shot at doing anything. And then, if you are elected, you get to hang out with a bunch of corrupt douchebags who are trying to pass big spending BS that helps their constituency. You get to listen to people whine all day about how the government should/shouldn't provide what they do/don't have, and if you don't play ball with big business, unions, and, most importantly, your fellow douchy politicians, you're done. Oh, and if you get in anyone's way, you could be killed. If Jesus Christ ran for President, assuming people did not know his real identity, he would have no chance to be elected. And why is that? We don't even have to get into the fact that he was far too pure, understanding, and high to be elected by the masses. We don't even have to go past the fact that he has a fuckin' beard. If you have a beard, you're done, end of story.

Of course, the same could be said for many professions... most professions involve some sort of ass-kissing, selling out, whatever. But not like politics... it's a whole different level.

So let's see, I can make my mark on the world as a writer, a journalist, a musician, a scientist, a philosopher, a painter, a teacher, a chef or... a politician. One of those sticks out as really shitty.

Kind of a tangential post, but American politics is just fucked right now. Democracy doesn't work in such a huge place. I have lived in the deep South and in NYC, and let me tell you, the cultural gap is frickin' huge. At least it is in people's ego-centered minds. Also, when the country was founded, the elite ran the country. People would say they still do, but I'm not talkingn about elite as in rich, I'm talking about elite as in brilliant, thought-provoking, bold people. The most brilliant people in America were involved in the government... Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, Hamilton, Madison... James Madison read 200 books about government JUST to prepared for the Constitutional Convention. I mean holy shit. Obama probably hasn't read that many books within the last 5 years, Bush within the last 15 considering he's been in office. It's just not the same anymore. Celebrity culture, complacency, big government, it's all bullshit.

 

I totally agree, and I think the fact that "hippies" etc who have rather poorly thought out politics are associated with drugs, especially one's like LSD, has done some pretty bad damage to people's views of drugs.

It also surprises me that people can be riled up by a politician, as if he's some how white and everyone else is black. It's not nearly that simple nor will anyone be some great savior of our country.

 

I wish raspberries could be transmitted digitally.
You know, the sound you make when you stick your tongue out and blow.

PBBBBTTTTHHH!

 

I just realised that a bearded leader is what this world needs. In fact, many bearded leaders.

Another realisation ive had is that there are two poles to the anarchy///NWO extremes (new world order - the concept of one government ruling the entire world and everything that happens)

total peace can only be acheived if there is a strict and accepted structure of status and power among people, leading all the way to one person at the top.

as soon as you have two people at the top, you have a conflict, ...unless those two people were the same person... because they will never agree on everything.

as soon as the strict status/control/domination chain weakens, and people disobey the people trying to control them, and this causes conflict as well as threat

as it is, we have many people at the top of the status/control/dominion level of human societies and a decent level of conflict, but it exists mostly on the borders of power domains. eg in wars, between the domains of countries, or faiths.

if you have anarchy, the power domain exists around each person and they all will conflict to a degree. certain people will be stronger, more intimidating, more ruthless, more controlling. they will gather people under his power domain and in theory he would become the government of a group of people, and he might try to extend his borders because he has so much to gain by having 500 people under his power domain as compared to 100, when there are hundreds of thousands around him all potentially going to try and disagree with him.

any anarchy will necessarily return to governments and eventually onward...


but if everyone was slaved to one power, equally, and were thus able to be raised under the same moral codes, onnly then would you have peace, ie, lack of conflict.

no one wants that a brave new world though...

I think humans have to accept their state of being which requires clear authority structures, but for the world to have many leaders and for each leader to have just enough power to keep things orderly,but not enough power for it to be utilisable by their greed.

 

Its definitely a good painting but you just CAN'T expect to put up a painting of a newly elected politician who happens to have made perhaps the biggest promise of all ie "change" in an extremely difficult time , without attracting the political views of everyone who comes across this thread. Simply because their interpretation of the painting depends on their views. Not everyone's gonna see the same painting..
so allow me to be a dick and throw in my 2 cents. just because the guy happens to be black doesn't make it progress.. its that fucking simple. In fact its the opposite of progress because we still look at him and see a "black" man as opposed to seeing a human being.