There has been dissent in the ranks of UK musicians as of late regarding the upcoming General Elections, with discussion revolving around the current wave of artists’ refusal to produce politically-charged music in the shadow of the looming General Elections. As such, NME magazine produced a feature in which it asked a batch of musicians to give their thoughts on “protest music”, and whether it is all but dead in this current generation.
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Whereas Muse’s Matt Bellamy, a man known for his perpetuation of off-the-wall governmental conspiracy theories, made a typically bizarre suggestion that constituents should provide an “app vote” on each of their governing bodies’ decisions whilst in parliament, The Horrors’ frontman Faris Badwan upped him considerably in the bat-shit absurd stakes by making one of the most ill-informed comments in regards to the General Election and the voting process that I’ve ever heard.
When asked about whether or not he would be voting, the 28-year-old Badwan replied:
“Politics doesn’t mean anything to me. The stuff that gets discussed on Newsnight isn’t relevant to me, and it’s pretty much not relevant to anyone. I don’t think you get anything from voting. I find it funny that someone would vote for another person, whether it’s on Celebrity Big Brother or as a politician, on the basis that they could imagine going for a drink with them. I just think voting is for people who don’t have their own imagination. It’s for a different generation. You’re not accomplishing anything. The problem is, my opinion on it isn’t fully formed – the only thing I do think is that, realistically, voting doesn’t make a great deal of difference.”
What.
No, really. What.
There are far too many idiotic sentences in this paragraph alone to efficiently dissect all of them, but let’s give it a shot anyway, shall we?
“The stuff that gets discussed on Newsnight isn’t relevant to me, and it’s pretty much not relevant to anyone.”
At the risk of coming off as one of those dullards who insists that everyone must be politically engaged, for Mr. Badwin to insist that Newsnight, the country’s most-viewed political program and which contains a revolving door of people who are seeking to, and who have the power to, actively change this country and its policies (along with the inevitable, unnecessary celebrity guests, but let’s forget about those for a second) is somehow not relevant to both himself and EVERYONE else in the country is fundamentally stupid, and fundamentally stupid is the most hardcore kind of stupid there is.
“I find it funny that someone would vote for another person, whether it’s on Celebrity Big Brother or as a politician, on the basis that they could imagine going for a drink with them.”
So a legitimate reason for not voting is because other people don’t vote for the reasons you would like them to? So you therefore give those people more power by not casting a vote that you would deem sensible? MAKES SENSE.
“Voting is for people who don’t have their own imagination.”
This sentence is indecipherable, and is perhaps the most alarmingly idiotic combination of ten words I have seen in my life. You could sit there and read it over and over again for the rest of today and still not come up with a reasonable defense of it.
“It’s for a different generation. You’re not accomplishing anything.”
Other than deciding who will lead the country, of course.
“The problem is, my opinion on it isn’t fully formed – the only thing I do think is that, realistically, voting doesn’t make a great deal of difference.”
Russell Brand has received a lot of stick for his decision to not vote, but while I would strongly debate Brand’s reasoning behind this, at least his passion and intelligence regarding the subject burns brightly through him. He wants the system to change, but he hasn’t really got a good grasp on how to do that. However, Badwan represents the slacktivist side of the non-voters, who choose not to vote not based upon their disillusionment or an urge to see real change within the election process itself, but because they believe that by not casting their vote they are somehow kickin’ it to the “system,” despite their lack of votes inevitably leading to that elusive system continuing on the back of their apathy.
It’s certainly not a crime to not vote. If you feel that no political parties policies align with your beliefs, then it well within your right to choose to not make the decision to pledge your allegiance to people who you don’t agree with. However, if you find yourself empathizing with Faris’ opinions on the voting system, there is really only one solution: read more.
Faris took to Facebook to defend himself against the criticisms lobbed in his direction, writing on The Horrors‘ official page (in all-caps):
“WHEN THE MUSIC JOURNALIST ASKED ME TO DISCUSS POLITICS, I BEGAN MY REPLY, “I DON’T THINK MUSICIANS SHOULD TALK ABOUT POLITICS” AND I ENDED IT WITH, “I DON’T THINK ANYONE SHOULD LISTEN TO ANYTHING I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT POLITICS.” I STAND BY THAT STATEMENT AND AM AMAZED THAT SOME PEOPLE STILL LISTENED TO WHAT I HAD TO SAY ABOUT POLITICS. NEXT UP, MY VIEWS ON IMMIGRATION.”
It would perhaps have been best, then, if he didn’t immediately proceed to talk about politics.
Photos: Getty Images
