http://informedspeculation.com/2005/09/26/bob-dylan-and-the-danger-of-complacency/ Refunds Cheerfully Given To All Who Disagree Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:53:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 http://informedspeculation.com/2005/09/26/bob-dylan-and-the-danger-of-complacency/comment-page-1/#comment-5985 peter Tue, 27 Sep 2005 18:04:34 +0000 http://decision08.net/2005/09/26/bob-dylan-and-the-danger-of-complacency/#comment-5985 I think the ability to follow your muse and go where it leads is one of the key elements of artistic genius. Miles Davis and Clint Eastwood are two others who come to mind: they ignored critics and public opinion to create the art they wanted to make. However, I’m not sure how applicable this is to politics. A statesman is someone who has certain bedrock principles, but who is willing to reexamine them in the light of new events. I am trying to think of politicians who had mid-career epiphanies which made them stronger. (Bobby Kennedy and Ramsey Clark are the only two who come to mind – although in Clark’s case, his change was from normal to off-the-wall weird). Unlike artists, politicians have to live by a more brutal standard: the first one now will later be last. I think the ability to follow your muse and go where it leads is one of the key elements of artistic genius. Miles Davis and Clint Eastwood are two others who come to mind: they ignored critics and public opinion to create the art they wanted to make. However, I’m not sure how applicable this is to politics. A statesman is someone who has certain bedrock principles, but who is willing to reexamine them in the light of new events. I am trying to think of politicians who had mid-career epiphanies which made them stronger. (Bobby Kennedy and Ramsey Clark are the only two who come to mind – although in Clark’s case, his change was from normal to off-the-wall weird). Unlike artists, politicians have to live by a more brutal standard: the first one now will later be last.

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