Ginsberg’s “America” is his conversation with our country. He talks about what America should be doing, what it is not, and how he feels about all of it. This is an important poem to look at today because of the turbelence of the American social and politcal climate. Despite many of the issues adressed in this poem being nonissues today, Ginsberg’s ideas about them can be applied to the issues of today.
From Matt Denaro & Thomas Kim
Caroline Zuba
September 20, 2016 — 8:28 pm
I found this video particularly interesting because Ginsberg addresses issues in his time that not only resonate with his time, but also attract the audience in a comical way. Nowadays, many of our political commentators are angry and use rhetoric meant to incite specific political reactions (not necessarily a bad thing, of course). Ginsberg, however, uses comedy as a political messenger, and that’s all the more powerful.
His line “America, I used to be a communist when I was a kid, and I’m not sorry,” was particularly striking. Often debated amongst Leftist scholars is the reason why older individuals turn away from the primarily liberal (or, in other cases, left) beliefs they held in their childhood. Some argue that this is because younger individuals can look more objectively at the state of a nation, whereas elders have too much at stake in the current economy to imagine an upheaval of it. Ginsberg, in a way I do not believe he is aware of, touches on this wonderfully. Definitely a great video to share!