posted ago by smokeypanda PRO ago by smokeypanda PRO +10 / -2

Zappa was intelligent and capable of independent insights, so don't take this as representative of his overall worldview. He's not on the level of Penn Jillette butt-buddying it up with Gavin Newsom, or Jimmy Fallon kicking the ladder behind him after doing the man-show.

Despite reaching the 100 filtered subreddit limit on r/all, this profoundly irrelevant clip found it's way onto my feed again. Yes, the 80's Christian-right earned every ounce of disrespect tossed its way, but any learned anti-establishment figure had access to knowledge pertaining to the virility and destructiveness of cultural-Marxism. The religious busy-bodies lost the cultural war over the past 3 decades, and the airhead demand for oppressors to LARP against inversely followed.

This is by far his worst take, principally rejecting freedom of association and ignorant of the pragmatic trade-offs of permitting the state to make these decisions. Without this, this post wouldn't be worth submitting.

More lame views, taken from Wikipedia:

he also stated that he approved of national defense, social security, and other federal programs, but only if recipients of such programs are willing and able to pay for them

The actual context in the book is balanced and nuanced. Still, the government is a priori incapable of running social security, or any program that does not qualify as general welfare, at a bargain price. Macro-economics is too complicated to where costs can be accurately and concisely presented to the electorate, even if special interests don't deliberately muck the presentation.

He always encouraged his fans to register to vote on album covers, and throughout 1988, he had registration booths at his concerts

High cringe.