People can “wear many hats” and so we find that Immortal Technique is not only a rapper but has evolved into a political activist and social commentator. In this interview with RussiaToday he appears as an articulate activist instead of an angry rapper whose uncompromising passion can easily be interpreted as intimidating aggression. His musical anthology thus far is dominated by the theme of social revolution and protest against what he would describe as the corrupt dictatorial power structure(s) that keep the majority of the worlds’ population poor and oppressed (it is possibly encapsulated by this song The “Third World”).

The interview covers many topics that we have touched on here before such as; the power of capitalism, the importance of maintaining an interest and participating in politics, safeguarding democracy from dictators like Chavez, how his music’s lyrics should be interpreted, Marxism and even the misappropriation of religion.  The interview ends with him talking about his charity work in Afghanistan; where he has used proceeds from his last album to build a school and an orphanage.

We welcome your opinions on his music and views as well as some of our previous posts in the comments section(s). There’s a music video of his to a song called The Poverty of Philosophy over the jump.
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Europe today is not free from racism, xenophobia, islamophobia, anti-Gypsism, anti-Semitism, homophobia and other phobias directed against others.

Minorities are made targets of hate speech, violence and systematic discrimination, not least in the job market. Responsible politicians must take such negative tendencies more seriously. There is a need to analyse and address the very root causes of these human and political failures.

It appears that intolerance has spread during the economic crisis. During my travels, I have observed that extremist groups and parties have become more active and more threatening and have succeeded in recruiting supporters from amongst young, unemployed men.

Groups such as Roma, who are already marginalised, have been increasingly targeted and subjected to particularly violent attacks. The response from mainstream political parties and other majority representatives has often been meek and confused.

The impact of “globalisation” is seen as one explanation for these problems. Increased migration inside and between countries read more…

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, the former Iranian vice-president and leading reformist in the administration of President Mohammed Khatami (1997 to 2005) was yesterday released on bail of $700,000 (£424,000) pending his appeal. Mr Abtahi has been sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for fomenting unrest after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election in June. The most senior of hundreds of dissidents to have been locked up in the past five months “confessed” to his alleged crimes during a state televised trial that has been internationally denounced in similar fashion to Mr Abtahi’s claims about the election, as ‘a swindle’.

The protests on the streets of Tehran were of an unprecedented scale and the reaction of the Iranian Government speaks for itself as the regime has gone as far as to state that the protests were illegal whilst nationally televising rallies that support the Government. The right to protest is a fundamental part of any society, especially a democracy but Iran is not a democratic state, indeed it is one that is deeply divided. The main split, between those who support the Government and those who do not, appears to centre around different and opposite understandings of Iran’s political evolution since the 1979 revolution. One side wants a gradual evolution of democratic institutions and a more democratic reading of Islamic institutions, whilst the other desires a more a populist and authoritarian reading of Islam. Both sides claim to represent the majority of the population which is difficult to prove either way although it can be argued that the split is also one between the younger, more globally-minded individuals who wish for Iran to have more connections to the outside world and those who feel that Iran has been bullied culturally and politically by the West and trust in Mr. Ahmadinejad to deliver the revolution’s promises of economic and social justice.

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The Lisbon Treaty has finally been ratified and is expected to enter into law in December 2009 in what could be a defining moment for the greatest experiment in the history of  international co-operation and global governance. The Treaty’s proponents believe that it will rejuvenate the decision-making procedures of the EU institutions, making the functioning of the 27 member state more efficient and democratic. They state that the European Parliament, the only institution directly elected by the people, will receive more powers and that the Treaty will help harness Europe’s economic, humanitarian, political and diplomatic strengths to promote European interests and values worldwide, while respecting the particular interests of the Member States in Foreign Affairs. Whereas its opponents argue that the Treaty will centralise more power in Brussels, thus weakening democracy by moving more power away from national parliaments. Consequently, they also bemoan the loss of more than fifty national vetoes, the the lack of transparency and accountability, the inefficient outdated policies; which they claim will actually end up maintaining the status quo.

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Michael Moore is an accomplished thought provoking shock jock and his new offering is no exception from the looks of the previews.  This time he has capitalism in his sights and particularly takes issue with the free market’s lack of compassion for the less fortunate and inherent exploitative tendency. Specifically the growing gap between the haves and the have nots which is being made even more prominent by the global recession. In light of widespread economic downturn; Moore’s points are bound to capture the attention of the masses especially when he uses emotive evidence (such as the statistic that the richest 1% of Americans have more than the bottom 95% combined) to challenge capitalism morally. These points also directly tie into the ongoing firery U.S. healthcare debate and outrage about large banker bonuses that reward financial speculation (which the G20 have coincidentally just agreed on). However when inevitably challenged about an alternative, Michael Moore can only suggest democratic capitalism…

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I am the first to admit that conventional democratic political processes are often corrupt, slow and ineffective due to bureaucracy and vested elitist interests that are contrary to  the greater well being of societies. I hold cynical views about corrupt politicians and social injustice and believe that it is fine to be disappointed and even disgusted by politics. BUT I ABSOLUTELY HATE it when people say that politics is not important or does not affect them or their daily lives.  According to the work of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA)  there is a worrying trend of of increasing global voter apathy going as far back as 1945 so that “voter turnout has decreased globally over the past 10 years by almost 10 percent, both in established democracies as well as newly-democratized developing countries.

Politics cannot be easily defined but this wikipedia entry provides these key points by describing it as:  as process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious institutions. It consists of “social relations involving authority or power” and refers to the regulation of a political unit, and to the methods and tactics used to formulate and apply policy. However, there is not an academic consensus on the precise definition of “politics” and what is consider as political and what is not. Max Weber defined politics as the struggle for power. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics)
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“A black man, a purple man, a martian man can run the country….as long as he does right by the people.”

The interview below took place on the BBC’s Newsnight programme the week of President Obama’s election in November of 2008. Although this is only an abridged version of the interview, when you watch the full interview, it should be clear to all that Jeremy Paxman (the interviewer) is inferring that the topic of conversation was above Dizzee’s intellectual capabilities (even though I do like how he calls him “Mr Rascal”)! In truth I think Dizzee more than holds his own (even if he could have been better briefed – Aspecks is available for such tasks!), he clearly appreciates the positive effect the election had and understands the importance of having a President who is mixed race, who can be held up as a symbol of unity.

‘Mr Rascal’ also makes some interesting points regarding political parties and appears happy to admit his slight ignorance of their activities and importance to the political process. He also reveals his apathy towards politicians (not exactly a revelation but one that reflects a wider public sentiment), effectively stating that they are all fairly similar irrespective of party allegiance and that every now and again you might get a ‘genuine one’. However, he then points out that change occurs when everybody comes together to make a difference and that whilst a high-profile individual such as Obama can have a morale boosting effect, it is the people, the community who can affect real positive change in society.

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