Elections and Music: Paul Ryan's Rage (Against The Machine) Problem

Representative Paul Ryan, the young, conservative firebrand, is all over the news in the United States. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican candidate for the 2012 U.S. Presidential election, seemed to see in himself a personality deficit that was estranging him from voters. He chose Rep. Ryan to energize his flagging campaign -- and the socially and fiscally conservative Republican base.

The campaign has wasted no time in playing up Rep. Ryan's personality surplus. The campaign has been feeding to the story-hungry media the little details about Rep. Ryan designed to scream "young, hip, and mildly attractive (but in a safe way, unlike that scalawag Obama)": former Catholic altar boy; former prom king; works out really hard; go-getter; hometown hero; and big fan of the hard rock band Rage Against The Machine. He's just like you, Generations X and Y and Z -- he likes dangerous hard rock (and small government)!

Careful observers, however, may note slight differences between Rep. Ryan's political views and the political views expressed by Rage Against The Machine (RATM). In general, RATM is as far left as Rep. Ryan is far right. For example:

Noting this contrast, RATM guitarist Tom Morello, never a shy violet about politics, went so far as to write a hilariously scathing opinion piece for Rolling Stone, entitled "Paul Ryan Is the Embodiment of the Machine Our Music Rages Against."

American politicians have often abused pop culture touchstones in their electoral battles. Indeed, the Republican party has a rich history (pun intended), which CNN has captured, of seeking to co-opt pop/rock culture from musicians who are not terribly happy about being co-opted. The shining example is Ronald Reagan's campaign choosing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" as the theme song for President Reagan's 1984 reelection walk-in-the-park. Mr. Springsteen was one of the biggest rock stars in the country, so it seemed wise to associate his clout with President Reagan's image. The Reagan campaign, however, neglected to review the song's lyrics, which describe in haunting, resonant detail how the United States government had failed its Vietnam War veterans (and other citizens). The campaign also forgot to ask Mr. Springsteen, who later publicly requested that the campaign stop using his song. Perhaps they should have simply returned to the old American practice of writing original campaign songs instead.

Political campaigns tread on thin ice when they seek to import "real person" pop culture credibility. Even if RATM may be Rep. Ryan's favorite band, he would been better off simply remaining quiet. (If he had to pick someone, he should have instead chosen new, hip conservative band Madison Rising.)

Nostalgia for the Bad Old Days: The National Party and Beyond

Ivo Vegter wrote a compelling opinion piece for today's Daily Maverick that deflates "The Myth of the Competent Apartheid Government." In the midst of the post-freedom struggles of the African National Congress (ANC) with crony capitalism and corruption, some (mostly white) South Africans have started looking back with nostalgia to the bad old National Party (NP) days as not quite so bad. Mr. Vegter points out that the NP was even worse (and more than just a bit racist):

The ANC of today is no more corrupt than the old NP. It is not less competent, no matter how different it might appear to whites who only noticed their own preferential treatment under apartheid, but now live as equals with their fellow South Africans. It is not more inefficient, either. The only difference is that the ANC’s problem is 10 times larger: it promised to provide a better life for all, not just some.

The NP economic dream only felt dreamy for the 10% who benefited. Protectionism and other unwise state meddling in the market created a giant patronage machine for the whites -- and hurt economic growth. The economy, Mr. Vegter asserts, suffered greatly compared to what a free (and educated and efficiently run) South Africa could have yielded. Heavy-handed economic planning resulted in a loss -- and a loss is precisely what post-apartheid South Africa is headed for under the ANC, warns Mr. Vegter. (His brief solutions ring a bit hollow and libertarian, but you might be hollow and libertarian yourself after thinking too much about the NP and ANC governments.)

In South Africa, whites are not the only ones nostalgic for the apartheid era. A recent study by Leslie Bank and Clifford Mabhena, "Bring Back Kaiser Matanzima: Communal Land, Traditional Leaders, and the Politics of Nostalgia" (2011), examined the nostalgia exhibited by many rural blacks in the Transkei for the rule of Kaiser Matanzima. Bank and Mabhena cite Kaiser Matanzima as "the ultimate apartheid sell-out and despot," but recognize the powerful sense of security created by his patronage system; the greater ability of men to find work as migrant laborers; and other socio-cultural factors. The people of the Transkei get more (budget constraint-wise) under the ANC when you look at schools, roads, clinics, and government grants. Nevertheless, many still think that life was better under Kaiser Matanzima because the ANC is linked with an erosion of community life and agriculture. Bank and Mabhena conclude that "the politics of nostalgia is essentially a response to social exclusion and the difficulties people face in connecting with the state and to each other."

Nostalgia for the bad old days is hardly unique to South Africa. It seems to pop up wherever there are big serious governmental changes that result in big serious economic and/or social upheaval. Look at Serbia after Milosevic, Russia under Yeltsin, or interwar Germany. The list will only grow as the Arab Spring turns to economic winter: Egypt after Mubarak; Libya after Gaddafi; and Tunisia after Ben Ali. Once the mooring of authoritarianism (or patronage) rots away, the state no longer provides certainty. The people (or privileged groups) lose their sense of security. When faced with the present pain of tough economic times or bad new governments, the people seem to forget about the pain of yesteryear.

If people forget why the bad old days were so bad, however, they risk ending up with a future that is even worse: look at what happened to post-1933 Germany and Russia under Putin. (Serbia is doing relatively okay so far.) South Africa should take care to avoid distorting the past, or all of the socio-political baggage will stand in the way of the right path forward.