Tell Your Truth...

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to remain silent" 

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of conscience to remain silent."

Edmund Burke

A Stalwart Beacon

http://www.lianneschneiderart.com/DigitalPainting/Enchanted-Seas/i-7959cMB/A

I've tried not to be too political in this blog - though as a very politically minded person, that has been very hard to do. I've tried to focus on art, poetry, philosophy, self-awareness and avoid antagonizing my readers or polarizing people any more than they already are. But we've entered into another political election cycle and I just cannot be silent. Too much is at stake. 

"Money talks" and as the Supreme Court has ruled, corporate money is a form of political speech that cannot be limited. So these days money talks loudly - louder than the little guys on the other side of the political spectrum who can't buy television time or governors or congressmen with their $100 contributions. But the Koch Brothers and others of their ilk can buy just about anything - their money has bought and paid for Tea Party candidates, the governors and legislatures of too many states, Congressmen and women of both parties who will vote for corporate tax breaks, XL pipelines, fracking, the auctioning off of public parks and recreation areas, cutting food stamps and an end to Medicare and Social Security among other things. 

Last week, John McCain and Lindsay Graham appeared on virtually every weekend talk show and, of course, were all over Fox News, expounding the ridiculous notion that President Obama should have stayed in Iraq and now should go back in with troops (not advisors) to finish what he failed to do. Hardly a single journalist called McCain on his statements - no one mentioned directly to him that it was George W. Bush who had negotiated the timeline for our withdrawal from Iraq and that the Iraqi government not so politely insisted that we go. No one reminded John McCain that he was among the first to vote for a war based on lies to begin with and he supported Bush's withdrawal timeline. 

And yet, the propaganda drumbeat gets louder and louder that it is the poor who are to blame for the nation's ills, the immigrant children, or a president who has been prevented at virtually every turn from accomplishing anything he set out to do. Daily Rupert Murdoch's "news" crew beats the anti-Obama drum - against medical care, over Benghazi, for fracking, blaming the president for wildfires, the civil war in Iraq - you name it. But there was an almost deafening silence when the House Intelligence Committee (chaired by a Republican and dominated by that party) reported no administrative wrong-doing in Benghazi. This same propaganda machine forgot to mention as they hyped the lawsuit John Boehner brought against the President that they were suing Obama for not doing what they fought 57 times to prevent him from doing - implementing every aspect of the Affordable Care Act. You heard right - they are suing him for NOT implementing a bill they tried 57 times to overturn. 

So how is it that these lies, distortions, obstructions and outright unconstitutional behaviors have become the "truth" that a majority of Americans hear on the airwaves every night whether they watch Fox News or not? I have a theory - and that is that the more wrong, the more deceptive, the more distorted the political harangue is, the louder it gets and the more often it is repeated. Lies are quickly perceived as truth if they are repeated often enough and by people who are recognizable as so-called experts in the field. Note how often a certain phrase will be repeated by every single commentator on certain networks - it's as if the editorial board hands out flash cards at the morning meeting with instructions to get that phrase into every broadcast as often as possible. Yesterday, the catch phrase was "cigar store robber" in reference to the young man shot to death in Ferguson, MO. While it may well be that Michael Brown had robbed a convenience store of some cigars a few minutes before his death, the officer who stopped him and ultimately shot him did not do so in relation to the robbery. Even the chief of police admits that - the officer stopped him for walking in the street. How often will you see that "truth" on Fox News? Whether Mr. Brown robbed the store or not, all you will see from this point on is a carefully orchestrated character assassination to justify a completely unjustified shooting. Last I heard, stealing cigars was not a death penalty offense. 

But that can't be the only reason that lies, distortions and propaganda have taken over our political dialogue or our newscasts. Actually, it's our own fault. We have become lazy and apathetic. Critical thinking is no longer required in school or in life. Opinions are treated as fact and seldom double-checked unless it's to refute an opposing view on Facebook. Most importantly, we think there is little we can do to offset the power of big money or to set the record straight about their agenda. And so we choose silence - and we rationalize that as avoiding the negatives or confrontations in our lives. I did it myself - purposely refrained from using my voice to support the truth as I find it, to oppose the lies and distortions, to fight against the many injustices and environmental disasters conservative big money is willing to perpetrate against us all for the sake of greed. 

Listen to this brilliant young teacher explain what he teaches about the value of truth in his classroom. Please be patient while this loads - I promise that it's worth the wait. 

Clint Smith - poet/teacher

04:22 minutes · Filmed Jul 2014 · Posted Aug 2014 · TED@NYC

I cannot remain silent any longer. I've noticed in the past 9 months that more and more people are becoming animal rights advocates, posting daily about the horrors perpetrated against animals and speaking out daily on their behalf. I applaud that - but...I would like to see even one quarter of that passion directed toward the political injustices both around the world and here at home that we close our eyes and ears to because it's too controversial, confrontational or adversarial...or because we just don't think we can be heard over the loud cacophony, the drumbeat of propaganda that rationalizes or justifies those actions in the name of greed and a political ideology that supports it. We can be heard - but only if every good person is willing to speak up, speak out, act in concert with others. Only if the objective is truth - not more propaganda. Only if we are willing to do the work to find the truth and not simply accept what some loudmouth tells us is true. I don't have all the answers - and my truth may not be yours in some cases. But ultimately there is such a thing as TRUTH and we can find it if we want it badly enough.  

If we truly love this nation, then we should know its history (warts and all), we should know the meaning of the words we throw around so casually as indictments of the other side, we should understand the intent and the context in which our founding documents were written. We should know who paid for the law review articles redefining the first and second amendments to reflect a particular political agenda. There are more of "us" than there are of "them" - and together we can create a cacophony of our own.  I cannot stand silently by and watch the triumph of evil because I was too cowardly or too willing to appease in order not to rock the boat or offend anyone.

Motivation and marketing

People don't like to admit it, but it does motivate you to make work if you're selling it.

There is a drive in that. (Zoe Benbow)

Chanson d'Amour

http://www.lianneschneiderart.com/DigitalPainting/Florals-and-Macros/i-LHQ6vXX/2/L/chansondamourdesatcl-L.jpg

Continuing the discussion from the other day about different kinds of art sites and the potential for burn out from having to keep up our presence and participation in various online art venues, I thought I’d tackle the other half of the equation – the reason we do all this! As I mentioned, our first priority may not be sales, but I think it’s a bit ludicrous to say, “I’m only in it for the art” when we’re working our rear-ends off trying to market ourselves every which way to Sunday. There probably isn’t one of us who wouldn’t celebrate a sale even if just as an affirmation that what we create appeals to someone besides ourselves.

And we’ve probably all bitten off more than we can chew when it comes to self-promotion. We read blog after blog about how to market ourselves online, how to be more visible to potential buyers. Maybe we even buy packages that promise to show us how to get 10,000 Facebook fans in just weeks. Then…the next blog you read says, “Don’t count on Facebook to sell your art.” More successful friends recommend Google+ or Pinterest and so you do that too.

As artist Dan Turner says, “Too often, artists start down the online art marketing path and quickly find themselves bogged down in “how-to” details. They reach burn-out before they ever get a fundamental marketing plan in place. Trying to connect the dots in a half-baked, half-finished marketing plan is disheartening and counter-productive.” Dan’s written a simple, easy to follow art-marketing primer called, “7 Keys to Selling Art Online.” Best of all – it’s a free e-book download. Remember though, just because Dan makes it look simple with his clear, step-by-step advice, doesn’t mean it isn’t going to take work…lots of work…but at least the end result might be those sales we keep pretending aren’t important. That doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about why I create in the first place or how I measure my success as an artist…it just means that it would be less than honest of me to suggest I wouldn’t like to sell a few pieces now and then too!

You can get Dan’s free art marketing guide here: http://danturnerfineart.com/dan-turners-7-keys-selling-art-online-free-ebook-artists/  But don’t stop there…he’s got lots of worthwhile advice in his blog too!

Perhaps it's true that as Abigail Brown says, "We cannot judge our art because it does or does not sell." In the ideal world, that's the way it should be. But the real world is more likely to be like this: