When did Brian Eno become so political? The last time I saw him was in the street at the first peaceful XR event which I went to - another political moment. I suppose the answer has to do with his assertion that the counterculture got swept up in techno-optimism. The bellweather of that must be the Mondo 2000 magazine. Its editor R.U Sirius is especially significant to me for penning the book "Counterculture through the Ages" [2004].
Eno was a card-carrying Techno-optimist. It affected many lesser mortals like me too. For my part, even though I placed my first vote for the Green Party in 1987, I was NEVER especially political. I've been doggedly centrist (I'm perfectly happy with Keir Starmer in truth...) and for a while, goaded, even a little bit right-leaning. But that Techno utopianism still had a huge impact on my thinking. That's why we played Detroit Techno and Chicago House music in West Africa. And ultimately why I blogged so intensely in 2003 and set up the forum in 2004.
When did everything change? It became obvious very quickly with the ascendancy of Facebook in 2005 and Twitter in 2007 - twenty years ago now - that - oops - Technology was not the answer. I was never comfortable on any of the social media platforms - they felt like like strip malls. Presumably Eno came to a similar conclusion? And perhaps that's when he started to become more political?
There is, however, an elephant in the room. And I'm not surprised Eno doesn't mention it - because it cuts against his own cultural contribution. As much as Technology betrayed "the revolution" (ha!) - the biggest betrayal of that countercultural impulse was the music scene. The cut-off with music, when it was evident that the rhetoric was empty and the potential for transformation it hinted at was illusory, was 1996. That's when all the cultural heat went out of dance music, and it became entertainment. Indeed, with Ambient music, Eno was guilty of shaving the scruffy whiskers off Minimalism, and defusing its radical potential.
Unlike Eno, as much as I respect The Green Party (I'm a member), I have little faith in politics. Sure, the signalling is fine, it's OK, but what I understood from researching "Retreat" and "The Garden" was that what really matters is one's own actions - however insignificant they might feel.