Right-wing Beatles
- Thread starter David T
- Start date
How much politics were they talking anyway, before their solo careers? The Sgt. Peppers album was vaguely anti-establishment, but nothing on it directly contradicted conservative politics. Then the White Album had some pacifistic songs(Rocky Racoon, Bungalow Bill, Happiness = Warm Gun), and I guess some of their fans were reading that to be about Vietnam.
Going by the hairstyles and issues referenced(Cuba, nothing about Vietnam, LBJ apparently dismayed by right-wing politics), I'd say that cartoon was made some time either late in Johnson's first "term", or early in his second. I think at that point, the Beatles could probably have adopted any mainstream conservative opinion(except maybe pro-Jim Crow, but including militarism), and gotten away with it. It's gonna get a bit tricky later on, if they come out in favour of the Vietnam War, after the youth culture has turned against it with a vengeance.
Going by the hairstyles and issues referenced(Cuba, nothing about Vietnam, LBJ apparently dismayed by right-wing politics), I'd say that cartoon was made some time either late in Johnson's first "term", or early in his second. I think at that point, the Beatles could probably have adopted any mainstream conservative opinion(except maybe pro-Jim Crow, but including militarism), and gotten away with it. It's gonna get a bit tricky later on, if they come out in favour of the Vietnam War, after the youth culture has turned against it with a vengeance.
marathag
Banned
Heh, would like to see a John and Paul as strident Objectivists, with Rand as their 'Guru' vs the Maharishi Yogi and his 'Transcendentalist Meditation' after Sgt. Pepper
So Abby Road looks very different., though John's relationship with Yoko over Cynthia may still go roughly the same path
So Abby Road looks very different., though John's relationship with Yoko over Cynthia may still go roughly the same path
In the context of anti-Communist foreign policy, caution was the "liberal" position--e.g., think it over before you invade Cuba...
Rush was heavily influenced by Ayn Rand, but that didn't translate into right wing political positioning. Their take was more about individual personal aspiration, like the Nietzschen superman. Rush's fanbase of suburban stoners wouldn't have gotten it anyway.
Anthem. Lyrics at top of comments
marathag
Banned
My introduction to Rush was in '75 or so, when they opened for KISS on tour
While there is some overlap with Objectivism and the Right, it's not as large as with Liberalism, and for extra fun, Rand absolutely hated Libertarians.
So my Idea wasn't Beatles going Right, other than both stances are against Statism and Collectivism.
Just personal freedom going in a far different way than what the Maharishi pointed George and John in a huge way
The second section, maybe, with its references to a "fix" etc. But the main part was inspired by an article in a gun magazine that George Martin had brought into the studio.
The song The Trees is explicitly anti-union, and promotes the old "socialists just want everyone to be equal in poverty" canard.
But you're right, most of their devotees would not have understood what they were saying anyway.
Well, she said she hated libertarians, I think because the epistomological basis for their philosophy was too "subjective" or something. But, in practice, there would be very little difference between the policies of a pure libertarian government and those of a pure Objectivist government.
Rand might have been more pro-military than some libertarians are. There are also some libertarians who would disagree with her on abortion(she was what we would now call pro-choice), but that was a schism among libertarians even without her.
marathag
Banned
but is the slight differences that get the most intense disagreements.
Religion is the best known for this, but is hardly exclusive
I remember in university, the Ayn Rand Club and the Libertarian Club HATED each other. In the way I have only seen different flavours of Communists hate each other.
Maybe the Dead Kennedys "California Uber Alles" takes a different meaning if Jerry Brown becomes a fan of the Beatles ITTL?
As a former Rush fan I object. The circumstance that I was a suburban stoner has nothing.... never mind. I forgot what I was going to say. Have you seen my bag of Doritos?
It would have been a small price to pay to butterfly away Yoko.
