The Blessing Of Failure

I feel a bit discouraged by American culture. today. I have been trying to do some activism work in the Michigan area concerning a case of anti-gay bigotry I ran into at a television station there. To this end I've been contacting people in the area asking for support and finding that even gay people are afraid to stand up against discrimination.

It makes me wonder what happened to the revolutionary spirit from the 60s that young people once had. A lot of people claim to be liberal minded, but when it comes down to putting themselves on the line and taking action, they are not willing to act. And when you don't fight institutionalized discrimination, it wins by default.

It seems at the end of the day people are conformist. People seem frightened to go against the system in even the smallest way. I can't understand why they are so timid. Is it the money? It seems people have a hard time imagining that some things are more important then money. They fear risking their materialistic lifestyles by making waves.

Ever since the Reagan years America has been focused on money as the highest goal. The fruits of this value system are clearly seen in our culture.

These days the front line in the battles against prejudice and bigotry are the small towns and cities across America where backward thinking still thrives. For this reason I have tried to focus my work with The Imperial Orgy on such places. In New York City we are preaching to the converted. There's no point in it.

But in Middle America we act as a lightning rod to bring discrimination to the surface, where it can then be confronted. This has been our mission for years.

Because we are often tangled up in such controversies people sometimes accuse us of using controversy as a way to make money. But after 15 years we have never made a cent of money. And it is likely we never will. In fact we spend our day job money to support the causes and art we believe in. We have the blessing of failure to free us. Since we have given up on the idea that we can be commercially viable, it frees us to think only of artistic and political concerns. It's a unique position that few artists attain these days.