From the video description:
The following is one interesting interpretation that I found amongst many: This song is about the failures of socialism, social justice, collectivism etc. The maples are the "oppressed", or rather those in society who are struggling economically or in some other way. Not only that, but they also feel as though the successful people in society, the oaks, are the reason they are struggling and can't make it to the "light". So the maples spend all their time making excuses and blaming others for their failure to reach the light instead of putting that same time and effort into working hard to make it on their own. The oaks ignore the pleas of the maples because they are not responsible for the life of the maples. Every living creature, from a tree to a human, has to be responsible for his or her own life. It is how we all learn and grow, and without it we begin to just limp along like zombies. What is really cruel is to just completely provide for/take care of people because then they never learn to take care of themselves. They become dependent on others, and if you are dependent on someone else for your livelihood then they have control of your life. Teaching people to play the victim instead of encouraging them to reach their goals is not compassion. They never get to know their true capabilities or how special they really are. The oaks are just trying to live their lives. They know it is up to them to reach the light or not, and they have taken advantage of it. They can't help the fact that others fail to see this opportunity. Also, the line about how the oaks wonder why the maples can't be happy in their shade refers to how successful people make everything better for everyone, not just themselves. They grow the economy and create jobs and they wonder why people can't just be grateful for that and instead have to bash them. The oaks "just shake their heads" when the maples cry oppression because they know that they are in no way oppressing the maples. Especially in a free country such as the United States, there is nothing keeping anyone from being successful, except for their own preconceived notions that they are somehow oppressed, inferior, incapable. There are no laws (in the U.S) that prevent any person from achieving anything with their lives, they just have to make the right choices and put in the effort. So, eventually in a society like this the "oppressed" (the maples) form a union and continue to whine and complain and fight for "equal rights". Even though (in the U.S) everyone has equal rights. Like I said, there are no laws here that prevent a certain race or gender from achieving a good life. It is all in your head. Eventually the maples get their way and have legislation passed to try to "solve" the problem of the oak oppression. The trees are all kept equal by cutting down the tall oaks to the level of the maples. It happens the same with humans when legislation is passed to try to "solve" the problem of oppression and inequality. Instead of encouraging the ones struggling to work harder to achieve the success that others have, the successful are stripped of their achievements until they are down to the level of the struggling. Then everyone is equally struggling. Notice that the entire time no one attempts to put forth a solution. A "Nobel Law" is passed to quiet the maples, a situation that is bad for all trees with implements partly made from trees used to fell trees. The trees suffer and enemies of trees thrive. The Oaks are the "haves" and the Maples are the "have nots". The Maples complain about the unfairness of life and so a law is passed (not by the Oaks) where the whole lot of them are "made equal" by chopping away everything that everyone has. It's a caution against Communism; you can't make everyone equally prosperous, you can only make them all equally poor. When legislation is used to maintain fairness, everyone suffers.
Takes twice as long to read that as it does to listen to the song. Or you can read the lyrics in about 15 seconds, and see that this is a typical "harrison bergeron" story, meaning that the socialist concept of equal outcomes is destructive.
ReplyDeleteThere is truth to this. But there isn't much of a new territory to settle. Large corps encourage the government to set laws up to favor them. Also, funding flows much easier to the insiders with our fake currency.
ReplyDeleteThe US actually doesn't have it too bad yet. Get to know what life is like in Russia. There is vast potential there. Yet the Oligarchs and government make it nearly impossible for the little guy to make a decent business. It's either going to lead to another revolution, or an imploding population.
About a week ago I woke up with my mind playing "a farewell to kings" but it took me a couple of days to figure out what the song was since I hadn't heard it in years.
ReplyDeleteI always thought it was a song about the relationship between Canada (the Maples) and the USA (the Oaks) but what do I know?
ReplyDeleteGreat. Now there's a shortage of paragraph breaks.
ReplyDeleteI first heard this song c. 1984-85 when I was 14 or 15. Outwardly, I remember siding with the maples against the “greedy” oaks. Inwardly, there was a doubt as to why the oaks had to be trimmed to meet the shorter maples.
ReplyDelete35 years of maturity under the bridge, I now see the socialist msg Peart was railing against, and I see it in my face, front and center! Having my family tear gassed on the capitol (I’ll never capitalize it again) steps on 1/6 during a “mostly peaceful protest”, all I can say is “God Bless and God save this nation!” If HE does not save it, we are in the end times, I’m afraid.