Ideas above their station

[blufive]

From an Interview with Lord Tebbit in Thursday's Independent:

Question:

Do you support [Singer-songwriter] Billy Bragg's proposals for the reform of the House of Lords [...]?

Lord Tebbit

I should think they're worth the same respect as my proposals on the reform of the pop music industry would be

The implication being: no respect at all. The further implication being that only politicans have the right to express an opinion on political subjects.

This is an attitude I see quite often in politicians, and it really annoys me.

Billy Bragg and I (if you'll forgive my pretensions for a moment) are citizens of this country. We pay taxes. We have the right to vote in elections. Together with the rest of the population, we hire politicians to run the country for us. We therefore have the right to discuss with those politicians how we think the country should be run.

Any politician who takes the attitude that we are "little people" whose opinions are irrelevant (and Lord Tebbit is far from unique in this) has a seriously warped view of how democracy is supposed to work. They're implying that voters aren't allowed to hold opinions, but merely choose between those offered by their political "masters".

The next time you hear a politico sounding off about how a [musician/actor/filmmaker/whatever] should stick to [music/acting/films/etc.] and leave politics to the professionals, remember that the politician is the one with ideas above their station.

Comments

[kingandy]

Of course, the perceived attitude hinges on the inference that Lord Tebbit's hypothetical proposals on the reform of the pop music industry would be worthless. Which is equally bad, carrying as it does the implication that only musicians have the right to express an opinion on musical subjects. Personally I'd wait to hear Lord Tebbit's opinions on the current pop scene before dismissing them, as he may well have some valid ideas.

On the other hand it seems rather unlikely, since he still equates Billy Bragg with "pop-music". So he's a little out of date...

Isn't Giles Brandreth a politician now?

[the-magician.livejournal.com]

Or maybe he was being serious?

Perhaps Lord Tebbit has spent years suffering under record labels and the RIAA and has investigated the arcane and selfish procedures and practices, and perhaps he wants to see a wholescale restructuring (or perhaps abolishing) of such outmoded institutions and return the power to the people (recording artists and audiences).

Probably not, but his remarks could equally be read that way!

[makyo.livejournal.com]

Fair comment, I think. I'm not sure I agree with all of Billy Bragg's suggested reforms, but I respect his right and his competence to make those proposals.

[devilgate.livejournal.com]

we hire politicians to run the country for us.

Ah, if only they saw it that way...

I've long been of the opinion that mangers, bean-counters, lawyers, etc should be employed by programmers, too, rather than the other way round. Actually, in the music industry this is true, in the sense that a musician employs their manager, etc. Not that that necessarily stops them gettting ripped off, of course.