On Friday, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello authored a long screed in which he railed against Rep. Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s running mate.
Ryan had apparently named Rage Against the Machine as one of his favorite bands. Morello, who is well known for his leftist views, saw this as an opportunity to lash out at the economic policies pushed by Ryan.
While I disagree with Ryan on several issues — he voted for TARP, Medicare Part D, the auto bailout, the PATRIOT Act, and the NDAA — Morello’s self-righteous admonition of the House Budget Committee chairman is rather odd.
In his piece at Rolling Stone, Morello wrote, “Ryan claims that he likes Rage’s sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don’t care for Paul Ryan’s sound or his lyrics.” He continued, “[Ryan] can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.”
These views are not uncommon among musicians. I spent my late teens and early twenties playing in punk rock bands. I’m still a fan of the genre, listening to bands like NOFX, Propaghandi, and Refused, all of which frequently espouse anti-capitalist rhetoric in their lyrics. However, I’ve always found it somewhat humorous that these anti-establishment bands complain about the “slavery” of capitalism while at the same time promoting a more collectivist society, one in which individualism and self-interest become taboo.
Read More at The Daily Caller
