Miles Jackson wrote:
> To be fair, this wasn't on a Beatles album; it was on Plastic Ono
> Band. Woj has a point here. Even purportedly "political" Beatles
> songs are quite naive--e.g., "Revolution":
>
> You tell me it's the institution
> well you know you better free your mind instead
>
> (As if higher consciousness will automagically solve
> social problems!) John was a brilliant songwriter,
> but political strategy was never his forte.
K. Marx, in the letter Kelley just quoted, wrote:
> Our programme must be: the reform of consciousness not through dogmas
> but by analyzing mystical consciousness obscure to itself, whether it
> appear in religious or political form. It will then become plain that
> the world has long since dreamed of something of which it needs only
> to become conscious for it to possess it in reality. It will then
> become plain that our task is not to draw a sharp mental line between
> past and future, but to complete the thought of the past. Lastly, it
> will becomes plain that mankind will not be doing any new work, but
> will consciously bring about the completion of its old work.
> <http://marxists.anu.edu.au/archive/marx/works/1843/letters/43_09.htm>
Ted