By Frank Moore, 1987
(AS READ ON KPFA RADIO 1987)
THIS ISN’T AMERICA NO MORE. NO HAND OF FREEDOM NO MORE. THE BILL OF RIGHTS HAS BEEN REPEALED. AND THERE ARE NO SCREAMING HEADLINES TO INFORM YOU OF THIS FACT. NO GAVEL-TO-GAVEL COVERAGE OF THIS COUP.
RADIO IS A CAVE OF IMAGINATION, OF DIRECT COMMUNICATION. WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, I LAY ON MY BED AND SANG ALONG WITH THE RADIO. IN THE CAVE THAT RADIO CREATED IN MY SKULL, I WAS THE ROCKSTAR, SINGING ABOUT LOVE, SEX, REVOLUTION, IDEALS. THEN THE CAVE TURNED INTO A MULTICOLORED WINDOW OF UNCENSORED IDEAS AND WORDS, BITING SATIRES, ALLEN GINSBERG’S POEMS… MY MIND FLEW OUT OF THE WINDOW OF THE CAVE.
RECENTLY I WAS ON THE RADIO. I FELT LIKE I WAS IN THE CAVE AGAIN. BUT THIS TIME, I WAS IN THE CAVE OF THE MINDS OF MAYBE A COUPLE OF THOUSAND…JUST LIKE I AM IN YOUR MIND RIGHT NOW AS YOU ARE LYING THERE IN YOUR BED, OR DRIVING ON THE FREEWAY, OR PAINTING THAT MASTERPIECE, OR FIGHTING OFF BOREDOM AND LONELINESS ON THE NIGHTSHIFT. I COULD TALK TO, SING TO, PLAY WITH EACH LISTENER DIRECTLY IN THE CAVE OF THE MIND. I LIKED THAT INTIMACY. I LIKED WHEN A LISTENER CALLED IN, MAKING THE INTIMACY A CONCRETE TWO-WAY REALITY.
BUT NOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THERE IS NO MORE AMERICA, NO MORE BILL OF RIGHTS…NO MORE RIGHTS TO FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OF RELIGION, OR OF PRESS. RIGHTS ARE THE KIND OF THING WHICH WE ALL TOTALLY HAVE OR NOBODY DOES. AS WE SPEAK, BIG BROTHER IS LISTENING IN. HE HAS BOOBY TRAPPED THE CAVE. ONE WORD THAT HE CAN CONSTRUE AS SEXUAL, OBSCENE, OFFENSIVE, IN BAD TASTE, OR OUTSIDE BOUNDS WHICH HE HAS NOT TOLD ABOUT YET, THEN THE CAVE WILL EXPLODE IN THE FORM OF KPFA AT FIRST…BUT THE EXPLOSION WILL REACH ALL THE FORMS OF THE CAVE BEFORE IT IS ALL OVER.
THE MOTIVE IS POLITICAL. BIG BROTHER SAYS IT IS TO PROTECT THE MINDS AND MORALS OF CHILDREN. HE LIES. IT IS TO PROMOTE THE UNREALITY OF FRAGMENTATION. BIG BROTHER DOES NOT LIKE GAYS. HE DOES NOT LIKE KPFA. BUT HE REALLY DOES NOT LIKE US GETTING TOGETHER AND REALIZING WE HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR FROM ONE ANOTHER…SO WE CAN WORK AND PLAY TOGETHER. KPFA IS OR WAS A PLACE WHERE THAT CAN HAPPEN. THAT IS WHY KPFA IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO GO. BIG BROTHER KNOWS BY CONTROLLING WHAT IS SAID, AND HOW IT IS SAID, HE CAN MAINTAIN HIS POWER. HE IS CREATING AN UNREALITY OF OUR SPEECH. IN THE REAL WORLD, FOUR-LETTER WORDS ABOUND, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE GET EMOTIONAL, WHEN WE FEEL DEEPLY AND STRONGLY. SUCH STRONG, DEEP EMOTIONS ARE SUBVERSIVE. SEXUALITY IS ONE OF THE STRONGEST HUMAN EMOTIONS. THIS IS THE REAL REASON FOR THIS CENSORSHIP.
BUT IT WAS NOT JUST BIG BROTHER AND THE RIGHT WINGERS WHO CREATED THE DOOR TO THIS THOUGHT CONTROL. WE DID OUR SHARE…BY TRYING TO BAN RACIST, SEXIST, HOMOPHOBIC, PORNOGRAPHIC, VIOLENT, OR WHATEVER OTHER KIND OF COMMUNICATED THOUGHT WE FIND OFFENSIVE. CENSORSHIP FOR WHATEVER PURPOSE IS WRONG. IT COMES FROM A BELIEF THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT CAPABLE OF FINDING THE TRUTH OR WHAT IS RIGHT ON THEIR OWN IN THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS. THIS IS THE BELIEF THAT THE INDIVIDUAL IS BASICALLY WEAK, FRAGILE, AND DUMB. A LISTENER IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH OR SMART ENOUGH TO TURN OFF WHAT OFFENDS HIM. CHILDREN ARE SO FRAGILE THAT A FOUR-LETTER WORD, A NUDE PERSON, A CONTROVERSIAL IDEA SEEN OR HEARD THROUGH THE MEDIA WILL SCAR THEM FOR LIFE. PARENTS AND TEACHERS CANNOT GIVE CHILDREN MORALS, ETHICS, AND BELIEFS AND IDEALS STRONG ENOUGH, TRUE ENOUGH TO SURVIVE AND GROW IN A FREE SOCIETY. PARENTS ARE NOT CAPABLE OF GIVING THEIR CHILDREN EFFECTIVE MORAL GUIDANCE IN A FREE SOCIETY. THESE ARE THE BASIC BELIEFS FROM WHICH CENSORSHIP SPRINGS.
WHAT ALSO IS CONTAINED IN CENSORSHIP IS A BASIC BELIEF THAT TRUTH AND WHAT IS RIGHT DO NOT WIN EVENTUALLY IN THE FREE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS. WE CANNOT PRESENT ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVES TO WHAT WE THINK IS WRONG…ATTRACTIVE ALTERNATIVES THAT PEOPLE WILL GRAB HOLD ONTO. INSTEAD, WE DESTROY THE FREE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS BECAUSE WE DO NOT TRUST OURSELVES, OUR IDEALS, OR OTHER PEOPLE.
AND BIG BROTHER LAUGHS AS RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS ARE BEING TAKEN AWAY.
TONIGHT WE CAN SING TOGETHER NONVERBALLY IN A STATE OF RAPTURE NOT CONNECTED TO ANYTHING SEXUAL OR OBSCENE. CALL IN AND SING WITH ME.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT BUILDING A CAVE OF OUR OWN…A CAVE THAT BIG BROTHER CANNOT CONTROL…BECAUSE THIS CAVE IS MAGICALLY LOW TECH AND SMALL. THIS IS WHAT MY ART IS ABOUT. I AM LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO PLAY WITH IN THIS CAVE. CALL IN.
WE CAN HAVE FUN.
CALL IN.
