TheUsedToolguy

That's an odd statement. In buddhist culture, they have a way of looking at things, and something called chakras. The first chakra is about survival. The second chakra is a little more advanced, it's about sexual desires, and fulfilling wants. It continues to branch out.
Also, they say that a person in his lowest self cares only about himself
A person in the next stage cares about his self, and his family
You can branch out further, and care about yourself, your family, and your community
Then you can branch out further and care about all of those things and your state/ or country
Then, they say, a person in his highest self is someone who cares about all the things mentioned above and also, the entire world
So, if you follow this doctrine, RATM are in their highest self, and while worrying about politics might bore you, it doesn't equate someone who cares about it with being dumb hippies just trying to sound cool.

Moon Pix

My number one problem with Rage's politics is summed in this quote from Tom Morello:

"America touts itself as the land of the free, but the number one freedom that you and I have is the freedom to enter into a subservient role in the workplace. Once you exercise this freedom you've lost all control over what you do, what is produced, and how it is produced. And in the end, the product doesn't belong to you. The only way you can avoid bosses and jobs is if you don't care about making a living. Which leads to the second freedom: the freedom to starve."

Oh poor Tom, so you feel oppressed because you've actually got to get a job and work for a living like every other person who's ever f*cking lived? Id hate to hear how you'd feel if you were a child living in a Township in South Africa who's homeless now because both of your parents were murdered by a militia.

Its just a bunch of neo-hippies moaning about nothing.

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TheUsedToolguy

The message I get from that statement or a song like Bullet in the Head, or Wake Up, is just that. WAKE UP!! Our capitalist economy was clearly set up to greatly benefit a select few in this country. Then our government took further steps to ensure a herd of docile, submissive ignoramuses to fill the jobs in our factories. They did this by controlling what is taught in school. Ever since the industrial revolution, they have put a lot of weight on repetition in schools. What's sick, is that, in the earliest grades, certain kids are made to feel left out, and are made fun of for their inability or inadequacy at reading. So, right off the bat, they feel inferior. Oh, but don't worry, there is a place for you in society - it's called factories, and the jobs that no one wants. After successfully crushing their self-esteem, we then do a great job to encourage poor and mediocre students that, while they're not special, there is a place in society for them. We teach Punctuality(get to work on time) Repetitiveness (learn the same f*cking thing over and over again, hence do the same f*cking thing over and over again @ your job) and conformity (don't think for yourself: listen to your teacher/employer-they are right). This explains why exceptional students are often left behind, or just flat out bored as f*ck in school. With more and more people in society, this strategy is no longer working. More people made to feel inferior, living in more cramped quarters, with less personal space, is beginning to take its toll on our society. Rage's message from the statement you posted could easily be construed as 'learn to think for yourself,' and clearly this is the most important statement a band could make. I personally find a person like Zach de la Rocha to have massive heart, and saying that people who whine about personal problems to be the genuine ones, while Zach played right outside the Democratic convention, and shut down Wall Street, because his band, at the risk of being arrested, played a show right in the middle of it, to show what he thought about our economy(benefitting the rich, oppressing the poor), and you saying Zach just does these things to be seen as cool. That's cool, you guys can think what you want, but people who know Rage will know better.

Urban Hat€monger ?

Thats all very well & good but I would probably be able to take it more seriously if they wern't signed to Sony.

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riseagainstrocks

10/10 post. I agree whole-heartedly. This is not to say that I don't mind some of their music, but their politics are like so much else in this county, empty rhetoric.

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The Unfan

I actually really just hated the way they sounded. The way the blended hip hop into rock was very poorly done and the result was ear splitting. I honestly think Limp Bizkit's riffing is more interesting than half the **** Tom came up with, which is sad considering how much I hate Limp Bizkit. RATM's lyrics, while dumb, simply aren't what makes them a bad band. The fact that they failed at coming up with anything remotely close to resembling music is what makes them a bad band.

TheBig3

I don't know what you want me to say about this one, you think Limp Bizkit is better than RATM (or anyone for that matter), alright well we are in the unpopular opinion thread, I'd just wonder how that will look when someone quotes it back at you when you tell them they have no taste.

And to both of you, I'd ask who is allowed to complain then, the uneducated, under payed masses? Should they devote their non-existent time between three jobs to make social commentary on the world?

Come on now, lets be serious. First of all, Morello there is echoing the very Basics of Marxism when he talks about labor force, and while we can all have our opionions on how effective that form of government might be, its still a well formed thought about the trappings of capitalism.

I'd also like to add that every great revolutionary and thinker came from a class above the bottom, rallying them from above with the script of an educated, well lived person who took the time to acknowledge the sufferings of others. If you think because Morello has money, that he shouldn't complain as much or that he shouldn't be aware of the sufferings of others, I'd say you're heads up your ass to be quite honest.

Politics for some reason is the most polarizing topic I've ever seen. And for an unexplained reason, those uninterested are actively uninterested and try to belittle, downplay or change the subject every time it comes up. I suspect that with music its no different.

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The Unfan

Its fine. Its not like I acknowledged Limp Bizkit as having done anything credible. Being better than RATM isn't credible, it just means that somehow you made it past being the worst thing in all of music. Congratulations to everyone in mediocre bands, you're all better than RATM!

boo boo

Congratulations Unfan, you are functionally retarded.

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DontRunMeOver

Well, I can think of one reason. They were both kinda ****ed in the head. That kind of thing probably blinds people to a lot of what is going on in the external world.

Seriously, if the underlying question you're throwing at us here is...

...why would I want to hear from people with opinions who write about social issues in a way which might spark thought and debate when I could hear somebody suicidal sing about how sorry they feel for themselves?...

... then I'd really like to know exactly what you think makes constitutes a worthy song topic. Is it only meaningful if it's about how some life-incompetent struggles oh so hard to live because sometimes they feel, like, really sad?

The only issue I have with Rage is that Tom Morello, in statements like the one somebody quoted a few posts ago, seems to be trying to ingratiate himself with those who are seriously oppressed by suggesting that the same oppression has happened to him.

'You and I'. The way that reads makes it seem he places himself in the same category as the seriously oppressed. But if you don't assume that Rage are pretending to be the victims, and that they are just relaying the message, then it's fine.

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