As our world gets smaller, via new technologies (i.e. the internet, video technologies, cell phone capabilities, etc.) we begin to get a clearer view of how the "things" in our world are distributed.? In America we created a middle class (which is a historically significant social step) and began thinking all things were fairly evenly distributed.? Then Bono started blabbing about some country called "Africa" (later research revealed "Africa" to actually be a continent, consisting of many, very diverse countries) and we had a harder time feeling secure in how things in our world were distributed among the people of our world.?
This isn't something new.? In fact, this was apparently an issue as long ago as Old Testament times.? It was such an issue that in the bible God told the people of Israel that every 50 years they were going to "redistribute" all the things they had acquired over that time period.? They were going to give back the lands they had bought from those who couldn't afford to keep their land any more and they were going to wipe clean any debts.? As it turns out, the people of Israel didn't make it 50 years and never ended up redistributing.? This never has been an easy task.
But what if instead of talking about land and wealth and power, we talked about pillows? And instead of war we talked about pillow fights.? And the perpetrator was actually just a cute girl in a hoodie? Then we'd have Brian Savelson's video for Band of Horses' video "Is There a Ghost." ?
As our world gets smaller redistribution will become a larger topic of conversation, but that won't make it any less difficult.? Savelson speaks cryptically in this video (cryptically enough that many people have called the video "lame" or "boring") but that might be the only way we can begin to deal with such larger and, frankly, personal issues as redistribution.
Band of Horses - Is There A Ghost
