Friday, January 16, 2004
William Burroughs in a speech, 1980:
"We have a new type of rule now. Not one man rule or rule of aristocracy or plutocracy, but a small group elevated to positions of absolute power by random pressures and subject to political and economic factors that leave little room for decision. They are representatives of abstract forces who have reached power through surrender of self. The "Iron Will" dictator is a thing of the past - there will be no more Stalins, no more Hitlers. The rulers of this most insecurable world are rulers by accident. Inept, frightened pilots of a vast machine they cannot understand- calling in experts to tell them which buttons to push."
Here it is in Burroughs' own voice, set to animation.
I'm going to try and pick up a spoken word CD of his this weekend, it's been quite some time since I experienced any Burroughs.
"We have a new type of rule now. Not one man rule or rule of aristocracy or plutocracy, but a small group elevated to positions of absolute power by random pressures and subject to political and economic factors that leave little room for decision. They are representatives of abstract forces who have reached power through surrender of self. The "Iron Will" dictator is a thing of the past - there will be no more Stalins, no more Hitlers. The rulers of this most insecurable world are rulers by accident. Inept, frightened pilots of a vast machine they cannot understand- calling in experts to tell them which buttons to push."
Here it is in Burroughs' own voice, set to animation.
I'm going to try and pick up a spoken word CD of his this weekend, it's been quite some time since I experienced any Burroughs.
# posted by Mike Crash @ 7:57 PM 
