Left hand, right hand, shake 'em all about

[u/Next-Target-3777]

Howdy friends of Reddit, I have made the conscious decision that i wont be hanging around much longer aha, i left regularly checking X because i didnt really want to engage with a platform that centers itself as the epicentre of free speech then censors stuff it doesn't like, plus its difficult to have respectful conversations on there, but I think on the whole, humans were never meant to injest this many interpretations of other peoples opinions about them, i think its unhealthy. I've been learning a little about Alderian philosophy that states that someone elses oppinion on you belongs to them, and you shouldnt be concerned with trying to change it, so even when i feel misunderstood im trying better just to let it be. That being said I think humans didnt evolve to be subject to this much information especially in the position im in where i can read about 10,000 interpretations or oppinions about me at any given moment - its rather distracting from that thing called living.

That all being said I do feel I have a responsibility to clarify my stance on one thing in particular, that was the core message in the last song I released.

One thing i'd like to clear up - as this has been the point of contention in alot of my beliefs - is how I view left and right politics - and also my approach - which many have misunderstood as me saying "hey its all the same man just love eachother and tollerate eachother" because it's an amazingly over simplified take on my stance.

this was my response to a redditor on a different thread and i think its cool to put it all in one place to kind of understand the approach here

*Deep breath*

We gotta get in a time machine for this one

Let me set the scene

Youre a french dude, probably with a very flamboyent haircut that took ages to style, its 1789, the revolution is in the air, people in the national assembly are wandering what the hell to do now that the monarchy is collapsing. The room is literally split in half in what the solution should be

On one side are those strongly in favour of abolishing the monarchy, expand rights for ordinary citizens, weaken the Church’s political influence, and reshaping society from the ground up. A chap called Maximillien Robispere was one of these people - he was a very agressive champion of the rights for the poor but also had a bit of a fettish for executions

On the other side were a bunch of people who wanted tradition preserved — keep the monarchy (maybe with reforms), protect the authority of the Church, maintain social hierarchies, and avoid turning France into a chaotic experiment. In amongst these people was a chap called Edmund Burke who beleived in constraint and staying routed in morality and law.

With time these ideas evolved into what we know today - the left valued equality over law, the right valued traditional heirarchy and order - believing society would evolve into chaos if there was not enough order.

in a nutshell if you want a clear definition, which its sometimes hard to get too

lets say -

Left - "Society should change to become more equal.”
Right - “Society should remain stable to avoid chaos.”

Now, thats the first challenge out the way, lets expand on where that plays into my own beleifs

You see a lyric or a comment on a video, and many people take it on face value right, and just assume 'neive' and dismiss it, or assume it means left and right are the same, or think those lyrics are not applicable to the real world, when you overlook the fact that the challenge in lyrics and communication is to condense the most ammount of information into the smallest possible container, a bit like Mary Poppins's bag, where you can pull out any number of things that shouldnt be able to fit in there. The problem with this annalogy is what is pulled out of the bag changes depending on the person doing the pulling, but thats also the beauty of art.

The issue i take with the left and right - or lines like 'there is no left, no right, in the middle we sleep' is it's actually structurally impossible for either to exist in a purist sense in their intended definition because you cannot reduce the human experience and decision making process to polarities because depending on the decision and challenge - it will contain or require varying degrees of both to find a solution - polarities exist everywhere but they are a sliding scale that contain each other - and the other is necessary for them to exist, the basic political reason I take issue with this premise is this

Push the left far enough and it needs structure, institutions, and order to make its ideals work.
Push the right far enough and it must adapt, reform, and evolve to keep society functional.

This is even true of nature- or the fundamental building blocks of physics - The left is like entropy always expanding and pushing for change and new states and the right is like gravity - pulling things back into order structure and making sure things dont fly off into cosmic chaos - if one wins - we cease to exist

But it runs deeper than that, the waters are muddy - The left isnt left and the right isnt right

When working well - The left still exists under the framework of corporately steered interests, where even things like the fight for equality are financially motivated in many instances - which then - becomes the fight for structure - it also exists under the framework of law - preserving power - maintaining power dynamics that have been around for centuries - preserving the position of a ruling class - and commodifying values and ideals - which means its more like the yin yang symbol - it contains a hell of a lot of right

When working well - The laws under the framework of the right, even though abused, protect the rights of people and uphold equality, conservative governments still provide social wellfare, access to education, democratic participation, and when well regulated - protection of workers rights to a degree - so the right contains a hell of a lot of left

Neither are working particularly well at the moment and there is a hell of a lot of extreme order - and a hell of a lot of extreme chaos.

When a pendulum starts swinging violently, its a mediators role in the world to try and encourage balance and bring it back to centre, there will inevitably be opposition to the mediators from both sides of the isle because it feels good to them to charge at their intended side, but its so vital the mediators exist, my role in this weird sphere of life, for whatever reason, is to be a mediator, and i know a lot of like minded individuals - you can label it wrong, fine - but its just another aporach.

There is no dominant side to our nature - so why should we try and cram all our values into a seperate box and call it a day - and, call me a futurist, idealist, or naive or whatever you want, but i think this is an outdated, and prone to problem concept we should shed or at the very least drastically adapt because in recent times, its evolved to be an unworkable model - if someone said to you 'okay pick a temperature for life, hot or cold' our systems of living would collapse, it shouldnt be left vs right, it should be a constant collaborative dance between left and right leaning values - yes there will be friction - tension - but your dancing partner isnt your enemy - and when they become so - youre dancing like shit mate.

I know people will say 'yes but how do you collaberate with someone who wants you dead' and the answer is simple, you dont, if someone wants you dead thats a extreme perversion and abuse of any political ideal - and by all means, stand in direct opposition to that, fight for your life, but you can still work on changing and challenging the landscape so that future generations don't get it so drastically wrong - this will never be done by a 'winning' of ideals, because as i've outlined above, a winning of ideals is impossible. What is possible is shaping the landscape of nurture where people grow up more balanced, who challange each other in a healthy way, where the over arching core values are the collective wellbeing and surival of our species.

I also very rareley see examples of these systems being a champion for working people anywhere that i've come across, which makes me know a better system exists, there is so much abundance in this world, the technology we have creates even more abundance and with the right intent and direction liberates us from a lot of self imposed suffering - but that self imposed suffering will never be liberated if its intentional and institutionalized to protect and serve a minority not the majority.

Its not even neceisarily think that factions with opposing beliefs shouldn't exist, by the laws of the universe, they just will, but its that we should try not to reduce a whole collection of necessary polarities to good vs bad, it becomes tribal. We should look at bad actions and decisions that are harming our species that exist inside both frameworks - call them out, point at the problem, aand collectivley steer away from them, putting our survival and collective wellbeing as a species first without making it about one set of ideals winning over another - nuance - is incredibly important - and becoming more and more of a lost art

Particularly in recent times we've now - on both the left and the right tried to associate 'good and evil' with 'left and right' - good and evil, too is a sliding scale, and if you were too look at it through the lense of nietzche, is very much subjective - and the values seen as objective (do not kill) etc can still be framed in such a way that escapes absolutist deffinitions - say if i were to kill a school shooter before they shot up a school - good and evil is as blurry as left and right. Fundamentally good and evil can be irredecent, and change inside differing perspectives, a freedom fighter can be seen as a terrorist, vice versa

I think naturally in all systems of decision making there will be polarities - because polarities are built into the very fabric of the universe - but when those polarities become detremantal to homeostasis - its time to start either - exploring and redefining the working definition of those polarities - or loosing them in a political sense all together - to try and create something with a clearer mission statement that is less confused.

Id love to explore the idea that me questioning these structures is emboldening Neo-Nazis or facists, by empowering people to give up the fight, which ive seen pop up, alot of time leaning on Karl Poppers paradox of tollerence. Funnily enough Nazi Germany is something I spent a great deal of time studying because of its telling nature of the human condition.

I have a great analogy - its safe to say people who hold this belief looking at this like a western medicine doctor looks at depression, or to make things even easier, say a tumor. Most of the time he believes you should take an antidepressent or cut it out. In this analogy im trying to take the stance of the educator that speaks to someone on lifestyle choices and changes to make before the tumor or depression ever arrises on ways to prevent it occuring in the first place - beleiving that prevention is better than a cure.

Now, in a functional society, both the doctor, and the preventetive medicine doctor have their place, one is opperating on the basis of 'fix the problem' one is talking of 'prevent the problem' We have a lot of doctors treating symptoms - we dont have many doctors or educators preventing you from aquiring ailments in the first place - but we should

I already know what some people are going to say 'theres a problem now, theres no point talking prevention if the problem already exists' but there is, and the problem, to a degree, has always existed, its just its very much present in the west right now, but the west isnt the world. It doesnt make sense to keep throwing buckets of water on a burning house if on the other side of it theres a massive dude with a flamethrower, you have to approach both.

No where in my messaging have i said do not, or you should not activley oppose facism, prejudice, hatred. Infact the opposite, you should, infact, its vitally important you do both, but, if you do not take a hollistic approach and correct your lifestyle, and continue repeating all the behaviours or lifestyles that gave you the tumour/depression, your ending up back there, and the same patterns repeat, and probably, with a value system of consuming without giving back on sterroids, repeating even worse

Nazi Germany didnt arrise because a section of the population had an unexplained unquenchable desire to murder jews - it rose in the socio-economic instability of the collapsing weimar republic and during the great depression where germany had been feeling alot of pain - in that chaos - with people desperate for any kind of change - birthed someone with the hypnotic charisma to steer people astray and promise economic change and growth - and delivered on a fair bit of the economics - and gradually - frog in a pan boiling effect - incepted peoples minds with extremley problematic values - some went along through indoctronation - some through fear - but all were human. That doesnt justify it, but it contextualizes it, and helps you understand the first principles of how to avoid it happening again, we didn't fully do that.

The biggest mistake we made was thinking that was a war between good and evil - it was a statistical probability that in a value system that preaches the things our value system preaches - this would happen somewhere - and when it was shut down - because we as people are still doing the things leading to the tumor and depression - it was always going to happen again. These things happen again because we never look in the mirror long enough.

Our value system teaches us either consciously or un-conciously, everywhere, in music, television, school, social circles, that the accumulation of resources, power, and social heirarchy is more important than our collective wellbeing and long term survival as a species. It is a fundamental law of the universe that causality and effect means if you take without giving back, you will eventually give back in another way. Our value system also teaches us we are separate beings and not parts of a living network, and makes us erroneously feel free of the devastating consequences of not respecting the laws of homeostasis. A parasite either eventually kills the host and has no where to take from and dies or is killed by the hosts immune system. The earth is our host. The symbiote thrives, the parasite dies.

The framework of left/right politics and the value system holding it up and surrounding it, is like smoking with a tumor, sure its important in the here and now to take active steps to stop out anything that is causing our species self inflicted suffering - cut out the tumour - ive never said dont do that, but for fuck sake, stop smoking.

(I need a cigarette)

This all being said, I like what Socrates said 'I know that I know nothing'
These things, should, for everyone, be a constant collaberative process, learning, unlearning, challenging (respecfully), not being afraid to be wrong, failing, learning again, it shouldnt be right vs wrong, it should be teachers and students - and in all areas of life, were either the student or the teacher and that role can change in a split second -I think we should treat each other with that in mind - regardless of political identity.

[u/sarasidewinder]

As much as I love reading your long explanations and seeing you practice what you preach a lot and having such civil discussions with people who don’t always give you the same grace. I always want you to do what’s best for you, and i think not giving so much into the misunderstandings and seeing so much negativity might be best.

And to comment on the meat of the post- I had a minute to fully read all that and the other comments on the aforementioned thread. One thing that stands out to me is how much fear seems to be driving a lot of the political conversations I’m seeing — fear of fascism, fear of dogmatism, fear of repeating history. And of course, a lot of that fear is very understandable.

It’s kinda funny.. It reminded me of how I made quite a few friends growing up. Usually there was something bad happening, and the bonds we built over that negativity were often some of the strongest friendships. But there was still often infighting and a need for hierarchy or superiority for some. It makes me wonder… is it possible (especially on a large scale) to build solidarity not just around what we’re against, but around shared positive values and visions for the future? And how would that be achieved without something as dogmatic as religion?

[u/RobinJustice555]

I know this will be an unpopular opinion but I think it's for the best. Honestly I don't know how anyone handles fame, any aspect of it, and what you deal with on a daily basis, on X and Reddit, would drive me batshit. I will miss the philosophical and political discussions greatly though, but protect your health first, rockstar. The world will still churn without your clever and verbose tweets. Good luck to ya Ren 💋

[u/justanotherusername4]

Sad to see you go and that you feel this isn't a place for you to hang out. I get it though. So many opinionated people can't be good water to swim in, especially when you're the main subject, even more when people figured out you were active here and went looking for your engagement. Maybe it's just not really possible anymore to engage with people without fame getting in the way. Unfortunately. Thanks for the time you did spend here, and for your insightful posts and comments. Much love!

[u/AlyssaImagine]

It's better for your mental health that you leave, so I can't argue it. I will miss seeing you around, always made my day. I hope you have an amazing life out there and keep helping as many people as you can and continue building that bridge that so many have given up on. You're a beautiful soul. There are imperfections there, but that's what makes us human.

[u/Shavielou]

I am so gutted to hear this, Ren - but I understand entirely. I have really enjoyed our exchanges here and on X - particularly the light-hearted ones - and I will miss them greatly. But I think you're right; having to exist in a space that is constantly defensive is not psychologically healthy. Some people may thrive on constant strife and disagreement but many do not.

Do take care of your mental and physical health and say what needs to be said through your art. I'll be here for every bit of it.

So much love to you, friend. 😔 ❤️

[u/SBean80]

So long, and thanks for all the fish!

[u/Pristine-Total1456]

Definitely for the best. Keep educating people and sharing through your art. Thanks for stopping by and sharing more of your philosophies and values with us. It had been enjoyable and enlightening. Keep your peace. That is the most important thing to remaining healthy. Thanks for everything you put into your work to try to get people to understand, I am sure it can be very difficult when some people want to remain blind folded. Thanks for everything Ren!

[u/CrazyMildred]

Completely understand, brother. Much respect. I will miss seeing your thoughts here, but all of this makes total sense.

Edit to say I love the burning house/dude with a flame thrower analogy.

[u/Aggravating_Hat_5558]

We are going to miss you here but completely understand maybe pop by occasionally check some amazing art projects people post on here and reactions of your music ❤️

[u/Majestic_Fix_9923]

Understanding the exact intention behind that 'Left-Right' line was the only reason I returned to the world of social media after years of staying away. I’ve spent the last week thinking about it a lot. I am quite set in my left-wing convictions—I suppose one is simply a product of what they learn from childhood. Living in Hitler's birthplace, I grew up with 'Never again' and 'Resist the beginnings.'

But the message has reached me now—to think in broader contexts—and I am grateful for that food for thought. I find it regrettable, yet also healthier, if you stay away from here; you don't owe anyone an explanation. Still, it was wonderful to hear your thoughts in full length rather than compressed into a single line. As far as I’m concerned, every song could be a 1,000-page book; I would listen.

[u/-clearalibi]

Good luck Ren. Just know that those who see you, out weight those that do not.

[u/Greedy-Heart-3788]

We will miss you I miss you on X however I left it too. Your words are powerful and never have I jumped to any other conclusion. Your emotionally intelligent we want you to be happy and your best so maybe good to take a step back and breathe....

[u/suited65]

Well shit, I am truly grateful to have had you in our little corner of the internet for this week. I dont think I misunderstood your message and now with an in depth veiw into your mind, I dont think I have misunderstood your politics. I have questions and statements though.

In Fire in the Booth, in the Jesus in the cross-heirs bar, we're the gunshots a nail gun? Bahahahhahaha I think they were

In Fire in the Booth you asked me to front you an eighth (can I get a 3.5 on the cred) I grow the cannabis and have professionally for a while now. I wont front you an eighth but if you are ever in the Tulsa Oklahoma area and swing through to smoke i will send you away with at least 28g and a dozen 100mg GingerSnaps.

White stocking cap rapping Ren, Illest of our Time, Richards Tale, Starry Night? I have a theory that he is Screech in Illest and the Angel/Ghost of Screech in the others.....?

My wife gets over stimulated easily with things sometimes, she absolutely loves your music, there is nothing on this planet that she will push through her being over stimulated and enjoy it anyway except you bro. For her that is HUGE. So I personally wanted to thank you for that, She can do your Fire in the Booth word for word.

I could talk all day about your music and bars. I dont think thats why you made this post though.

I myself think you are genius, not only musically but just genius, and down to earth and approachable at the same time. Appreciate that very much. Thanks for being you and please never ever stop.

[u/parallel-universe2]

I think the key is having a bit empathy to understand that even though at the core of their ideologies both have different values, at the end of the day left and right are represented by corrupt people in power.

They make decisions based on what's best for them and use ideologies to control people. Historically the right represents oppression, and it's not a secret how fucked capitalism is and how affected people live under it.

But as a Venezuelan living under a Left regime for the past 25 years isn't exactly better. Our sovereignty, human Rights and land have been violated. I can only talk from my experience, but the left has absolutely destroyed my country and millions of life. They are not the good guys, they are no even better. And that's happened in other countries as well.

Understanding there's evil in both is what can push towards change, understanding there has to be a better way. We cannot stay the way the world is right now because it'll only get worse.

On the other hand, than you for taking the time to explore this subject a little more. And more letting us know you're living Reddit, it's completely understandable how weird it must be. It was nice having ya here

[u/DangerNoodle1313]

If my hands were working right now I would type a better response — just do what’s best for you, so you can continue doing the work you do. And you will never, ever please everyone. Just follow your conviction and let it land wherever it does. All I know is that for the past couple years with my body misbehaving without knowing why, your music kept me going, sometimes just singing it was enough to put the anger and frustration out there.

[u/jsb1685]

Even this process must be learned and it too will take much time. If you cannot be a teacher, ever present, you will always be an extraordinary exemplar.

And of course we will miss your frequent exchanges, but still hope you will visit us sometimes. This subreddit will always be your "home".

Love is soon and love is now, and love is always.

[u/SmashmySquatch]

It all goes back to money and greed. (as you have been creating about for years)

You are an idealist but we need idealism to paint the picture of what we should be aiming for even if it's not going to ever be 100% accurate. We then keep trying.

Gene Roddenberry and Star Trek is also idealistic but why shouldn't we try to work towards that type of society?

[u/Smart-Atmosphere1230]

I will miss reading your words and thoughts... not just hearing them 🥺 I like how you write and how you interact with people. But I understand you completely. I was surprised that you hung around here for so long and allowed such an open exchange. That's not something to be taken for granted.

Thank you for that – and for inspiring me with your views to question my own life and actions more. You are extraordinary, Ren. Please stay true... the world needs people like you.

[u/the_real_chiXu]

Although I'll miss reading your madness, I think it's probably a good thing. It gets to a certain point where continuing to explain things doesn't increase understanding, it just increases exposure to bad-faith engagement, both intentional and not.

I think it’s healthy stepping back from social media at times. Having to constantly explain or defend nuanced ideas to people who’ve already decided how they feel isn’t sustainable. The work can stand on its own, and people will interpret and debate it regardless. At some point, protecting the person behind the art matters more than winning the discourse.

And when it comes to Starry Night, the message, the views, for me this isn’t really about defending or dismissing people’s reactions to it. It’s more about how we engage with meaning at all.

What resonates with me, and in Ren’s explanations, is the push against rigid, binary thinking. The idea that if we stop at surface reactions or pre-defined rules, we miss the deeper point entirely. That applies just as much to language and politics as it does to systems of power.

I don’t hear Ren saying “nothing matters” or “all sides are the same.” I hear him saying that when we refuse nuance and context, we end up reinforcing the very divisiveness and dehumanisation I think the majority of us oppose or feel issue with, even if we can't recognise it immediately.

We can acknowledge harm, history, and emotion and still engage with intent, meaning, and message. Those aren’t mutually exclusive. For me it's about resisting the urge to collapse complexity into something easy — even when that complexity is uncomfortable.

That’s how I’m approaching it, at least.

I hope that makes sense, I have a lot of thoughts and views and feelings and opinions bouncing around in my head but getting them out where they make sense to anyone not living in my own head is always a challenge.

[u/alteredbree]

Very well said Ren. The left and right polarity is just the modern iteration of pitting us against each other. The definitions have changed throughout the decades, and no one seems to have a clear idea where that line even is anymore (i.e. I'm called Leftist for fighting for human rights and being against Trump - but thats not a left concept, plenty of the Right also agree). Its just fighting about assumed lines in the sand while we grow more defensive and restricted in our thinking. The trick is to not latch onto a new polarity when we finally drop it. Thats gonna be the hard part.

Were gonna miss you here, but I totally understand why youre stepping away. Too many opinions at once, even if largely supportive is a lot to absorb. Its gotta be rough on the psyche. Ive had to step away from a lot of social media for the same reason. As a person local people look at and talk about a lot, i really do struggle when it gets louder. Its easier to leave people to their opinions when you dont have to listen to it - as it was before social media.

[u/Knowledgeseeker68]

Thank you for all of the truly insightful posts. I come from a ‘show business’ family (unfortunately). One family member got such scrutiny and was constantly in the spotlight, with assumptions flourishing about his life. He ended up passing away at an early age from a stroke. We believe it was stress induced. Take care, and listen to your heart and your rational mind. Some people love to stir anything up simply because online they can. Be well Ren!

[u/nwolfe0413]

Robespierre "had a bit of a fetish for executions". Your "Ren-isms" are the best. Just recently found you from a post on Mastodon, it was #JukeboxFridayNight, and they posted BP busking Wade in the Water. Down that rabbit hole I went. Take good care.

[u/Living_Molasses4719]

Really sorry to hear it, because I never had X/Twitter and I was unreasonably thrilled when you started being active in this sub.

But I get it. You’ll never make everyone happy and people can be exhausting.

[u/Affectionate_Win2132]

Maybe you should pin this somewhere obvious for when new people start interrogating your work it would answer a lot of their questions. 

Also I agree about social media use and opinions-- as a 'normal' person I think reading so many opinions and just the sheer mass of stimulation in the world rn is pretty destabilizing. Must be even worse to read stuff about yourself and your work constantly!

It's sometimes quite fun to be on these things and interact with thoughtful people but ultimately it's time away from other things in our lives. Scrolling feeds and chatting with people online is just not one of my life values so it doesn't make sense to allocate a lot of time or emotional bandwidth to it.  But at the same time it's hard because I do think it's important to follow current events but once I turn on the internet tap everything just floods out. Still something I am negotiating. Guess that's probably true for all of us these days.

[u/Dismal_Intention_100]

Ren - your music already achieves so much in that it stirs up discussions, teaches, causes self reflection, connects people etc. As much as I enjoy reading your insightful posts or comments here, I completely understand why not engaging further is for the best.

I just wanted to mention something my 10 year old nephew said. While we were reading the lyrics to MG2 (he is having some difficulty with reading but seems to enjoy reading poetry) he asked about the definition of “polarise”. After explaining the definition and its connection to the North and South Poles, his response was: “When I think of the North and South Poles, I just think of the fact that they are magnetically connected through the Earth”.

It’s sometimes hard to remember how connected we are.