My favorite mad scientist sent me this video.
It’s the recording of a 14-year-old Beatles fan named Jerry Levitan who snuck into John Lennon’s hotel room in 1969 with a reel-to-reel tape recorder and persuaded Lennon to do an interview.
The recording has been set to animation by director Josh Raskin and was nominated for “Best Animated Short” in the 2008 Academy Awards.
Some of my favorite lines:
- “Protest but protest non-violently because violence begets violence.”
- “Do everything for peace. Kiss for peace or smile for peace or go to school for peace or don’t go to school for peace. Whatever you do, just do it for peace.”
- “It’s up to the people… We can change it. If we really want to change it, we can change it.”
- “It’s no good standing on the street corner shouting ‘we want peace’ and then beating up your mates. You’ve got to try and work your own head out and get non-violent.”
You may not think this video is relevant to the environmental discussion, but I think it’s central.
Enjoy!