MPR’s Beth Friend interviews American poet Eileen Myles, who discusses her presidential candidacy.

Vaclav Havel, Allen Ginsberg, and Women's Action Coalition (WAC) are mentioned.

Transcript:

(00:00:00) I started off with a couple of very simple ideas, which I still feel are appropriate one was well freedom of speech that I in fact write my own speeches, you know, I've no handlers when I say something. I'm actually saying what I'm thinking, you know, this is direct connection between mind and speech and so what you see is what you get, you know, I mean I this is total disclosure was my first platform that in fact, I'll tell you all about myself unlike candidates who won't tell you a thing and then The next idea I had was representation that you no taxation without representation is tyranny. And that most people in America aren't represented by either of the candidates certainly that we've come up with or any of the ones we were off at early on to I mean, obviously the profile is white upper-middle-class heterosexual what else I mean, I'm from a working-class background. Let's see. I'm an artist. I mean if I add up all the things that I am there are more people in America like me than like George Bush Yet, you know, he's ruling us what other kinds of

(00:01:03) goals do you have in terms of a platform and a

(00:01:05) campaign? Well, see I've gone on I mean I

(00:01:08) have you developed into other areas in terms of the economy social welfare

(00:01:12) policy and I've sort of stumbled into them all because I always thought that that simply running was enough and I still think that's true but nonetheless people kept coming up to me and asking for an economic platform and asking for things and I got one. Yeah, I have of course. It's right in here. Can you tell me? About it. Sure. Sure. I have an economic

(00:01:31) advisor. You know, that's a very candidate thing to say. Yes. It's right in here right in our hat that

(00:01:36) booklet. My platform is actually I'm Bill closes 50 22 Pages

(00:01:40) - 20. Sorry.

(00:01:44) I was going to say it's 50. It was 50 before they set the type. Well, you know, it's really the obvious. It's if you look at if you look at graphs of where we were when Jimmy Carter was president and we wound up with George Bush. It looks like an immense bowtie. It's sort of like it's What's up, in a high corner with domestic and it comes plunging, you know, like the domestic is up here and then the defense is down here what's happened and the 20 years since it's reversed and all we have to do is simply reverse it again. I mean, it's so obvious when would do with the economy in this country. And also the way we tax people is wrong we tax people on income which attacks on assets. So the people who own America pay for it and if you actually few texts assets And I think you would call it a capital assets tax. If you did that at 1% you could pay off the national debt in a year and three quarters.

(00:02:36) Tell me were you inspired it all by václav Havel presidency in Czechoslovakia that this as a wrote that he could be a role model there. He was an artist a playwright, assuming the highest office in his

(00:02:47) land. Oh absolutely absolutely and then sympathetic to with the Pains of it and maybe I mean, do you call it a failure or just demise? Hmm

(00:02:57) because I think it's hard for people to take poet seriously. Most Americans don't its roof. Ooh, it's fluff its silliness. It's on the edge. It certainly doesn't qualify anybody to for any quote unquote serious work. We're not adults or

(00:03:09) children and that's sort of the idea about artist unless you make a lot of money and poetry being an art that doesn't make a lot of money. I mean when Allen ginsberg's collect collected poems came out. I remember news we did a piece called mainstreaming Allen Ginsberg and the implication being that Allen Ginsberg was narrow and the mainstream was broad when again, it's quite the

(00:03:28) reverse. Now you'll just reach a certain in a certain number of places between now and election day. So the number of people in the country who know about your campaign will be extremely limited ultimately when we get to the date, right, right. So what for you would be a way of measuring your relative success or accomplishment when the election results are in?

(00:03:49) Oh see that's see the and that's irrelevant. And this well, the end is not the end. I mean, that's all I got was never running to when I was running to run, you know, I mean and so it's sort of like a night in Seattle where I'm at. Enter and I realized God, this is real. This is real or than anything in a way people's need to have a voice.

(00:04:05) So when the elections over and maybe you haven't won then what about your political career?

(00:04:10) Well, I guess I've had that I've had that thought for a while and I like this summer. I mean after right after Lala and with Ross Perot, there was a moment where I felt very confused. I mean, I just sort of kind of hate the term like sort of couldn't couldn't keep it up in a certain way. I really felt like I don't know why I'm doing this and what this means and and yet I did notice that That whenever I went to any kind of group political action, I didn't have those questions. You know, I mean there would be a it was a group called lesbians at ni NE T because wnat the Public Access TV station in New York was doing a salute to gaze in June, you know, and it was like, yeah, we get our month and it was actually very little gay programming and they were having a big press event where all sorts of people showed up to celebrate this this bunch of program. But in fact, it was a lack of programming so a bunch of lesbian filmmakers. It up to protest and they were all invited and there were some very famous people among them and you know, and I joined them and that action they actually were inviting my girlfriend. She couldn't make it so I went in her place, but I've been to act up actions and I've been to you know, as a group called whack and New Yorker women's Action Coalition the new group that came out of a lot of the women things this year that

(00:05:20) this so you'll continue being political in a very active in public way.

(00:05:23) Well, that's a real vote. I think when people gather together to do something I in fact, I think it's a much truer. I mean I I actually have just felt completely cynical about electoral politics throughout all

(00:05:35) this. Yeah, but clearly this is energizing you in an amazing

(00:05:37) way. Oh, yeah

(00:05:39) participating in this direct and very, you know self and self directed way.

(00:05:45) It's how somebody like me could find a way to be an activist and I'll feel entitled after this said do that in whatever way still seems right and and there are causes to I mean, I've thought of a few single causes when this is over that I want Say I want to become a more active member of this group whack and and have my own agenda and that situation there people I've met that I want to help is a prisoner and you Jersey that I would like to form a defense committee for so there's a lot of things I'd like to do and I mean mostly I've broken the walls down for myself between my art and politics, you know, I'm an entitled woman today, you know, I mean I can do things in this country.