Roger Waters: An activist for moral darkness

According to Waters’ friends, all is well in the socialist kingdom, you see?

But seeing as Waters is singularly wrong on each of those claims, we must assume that his friends in Caracas are actually the despots Nicolas Maduro and Delcy Rodriguez. But sad as it might be, Maduro is a pretender president and a murdering lunatic, Waters choice of friends isn’t surprising. Because while the singer presents himself as a moral visionary, Waters’ global activism proves he’s actually one of humanity’s greatest useful idiots for immorality.

Don’t take my word for it, take his.

While Waters despises America, more on that on a moment, let’s start with his support for the most morally hypocritical of modern activist movements: the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions effort to strangle Israel’s economy and civil society. Because like most BDS fans, Waters’ BDS path inevitably ends up in a realm of rage and absurdity. When, in November 2017, the singer Nick Cave organized an Israeli concert to protest BDS, Waters offered an interesting rejoinder. “We hurl our glasses into the fire of your arrogant unconcern,” Waters told Cave, “and smash our bracelets on the rock of your implacable indifference.” One presumes Cave was unmoved by this heroic soliloquy.

But there’s a darker edge to Waters’ anti-Israel activism. If you watch the video below, you’ll see the moment in March 2018 where Waters informs us that Israel’s secret master plan is the total ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

But what of Waters’ broader philosophy?

In June 2017, Waters told AZCentral.com that his worldview is “very rooted in the idea that we have a responsibility as human beings to care for one another and to give each other refuge in times of trouble.” But, Waters adds, we cannot continue our “ludicrous policy that is espoused in this thing they call the War on Terror.”

It’s morality, with an exception for terrorists, but it’s not funny. The Islamic State proves the incongruity of Waters’ argument, because without the war on terror, ISIS would continue trammeling millions of people under totalitarianism and exporting terrorist violence around the world.

Still, the more one reads of Waters’ rants, the more one finds a sustaining theme of anti-Americanism. In his discussion with AZCentral.com, for example, Waters also lamented that, “You in this country have been fed a diet of American exceptionalism. Trump was a boil waiting to burst on the surface, but it’s deeply rooted, the whole ‘U.S.A! U.S.A!’ bulls–t that has made you so unpopular all over the world. (laughs). It’s soooo unattractive.”

It may be soooo unattractive to some and no nation is perfect, but American exceptionalism is an enduring, provable moral truth. But for Waters, it’s not just American policy that’s a problem. It’s us, the people, and our American identity. In May 2017, the singer explained that “Trump is a perfect exemplar of the greed that is inherent in the idea of the American Dream, which is the idea that the individual is more important than the community.”

It’s a telling quote. Like many European socialists, Waters derides the notion that community must be a democratic choice of individuals rather than a construct above them. Remember that when socialists talk about community, what they really mean is the collective. It’s true that our American community faces real challenges, but the fact that so many immigrants adore this nation suggests that our community may not so bad.

Politics is important. Branson’s effort to save starving children is inherently moral and deserves support. In contrast, Waters is an agent of shallow wit and moral darkness who claims to serve human interest. He must be called out for his deceptions and true nature.

Still don’t think this matters? Then watch Waters’ Venezuelan puppet show below, then watch the BBC report below it.