A wise man once said that "Music, next to silence, comes closest to expressing the inexpressible." How true these words are! Every solo conveys a meaning, every word used in the lyrics are important, every beat made by the drummer conveys some sort of emotion. The value of music in today's society is, I think, something that is constantly understated, and for good reason: today's music still sucks. (That alone explanes why music sales have plummeted).
The stagnant rock scene and the emptiness of hiphop and rap are destroying music. There's no progression. Things are moving backwards. Things have been moving backwards since 1980. (Actually, they've been moving backward since MTV first debuted Motley Crue, but that's a different story). The last time a band acted like a 4-piece unit instead of a platform for a god-awful singer most people don't care to hear anyways was the late '70's. Of course, that is debatable, because there have always been good bands in the underground. However, the underground does not effect music because it is underground - hence its name. What effects music and consequently culture is the mainstream music. And when people like 50 Cent hit the number one spot on Billboard, I get worried about the current state of our world.
I think it's important to understand that music is not something that predicates what will happen in society. Music is a reflection of society and cannot predict our society's future. So when somebody has a number one single and it's all about "slappin' them hoes", maybe we need to adjust our priorites accordingly. Because the point of life isn't about "gettin' laid every day all the time, every night all the time I'm gettin' laid". Not a wonder the world is so sex-crazed and utterly stupid.
We have no forward progression. When we have a culture that's moving backwards, we end up having a government that's moving backwards. If you don't think the current American government is moving backwards, look at the Homeland Security Act - which gives the American government the right to essentially spy on its people. Or look at the current Presidential candidates - many of which believe that a President does not need to consult Congress before going to war.
If that doesn't sound like a tyranny, I don't know what does. In order to achieve a dictatorship, there are two necessary powers that the ruler needs to achieve. They are as follows: 1. The power to declare war. - We are definitely moving towards this. Currently, the American government can declare war and does declare war (quite regularly, if you haven't noticed - dictators declare war regularly to keep their people in check as well). If Hillary Clinton wins, I doubt she'll consult Congress before attacking another country. In that sense, she'll have achieved one third of what is necessary to become a dictator. 2. The power to create and enforce new taxes. - Interestingly enough, the American Constitution has been invalid since income tax was declared as an emergency tax during wartime. Of course, as you all know I'm sure, income tax was never removed and thus has become a fixated part of the American culture, even in peace times. This voided your Constitution and essentially gave the government (i.e. the President) the power to create and enforce whatever new tax he or she will. Justification, thanks to the power of a euphenism, is no longer necessary.
If that doesn't frighten you, maybe this will. In an article written by Larry Chin for The Intelligence Daily, Larry had this to say: "The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive,
signed on May 9, 2007 declares that in the event of a 'catastrophic
event', George W. Bush can become what is best described as 'a
dictator': 'The President shall lead the activities of the Federal Government for ensuring constitutional government.' " You can read the whole article at http://www.inteldaily.com/?c=172&a=2073.
What's my point? Why do I go to all of this trouble to tell you about two qualities a dictator must achieve? If I really wanted to get into this, I could go into how a dictator achieves these powers, but the fact of the matter is that does not pertain to this blog.
What does pertain to this blog is that the American political state is hurting. The United States is bleeding. The people are crying all over the world. We need to help them. I am by no means an activist - my sole purpose is to make people think. I don't care to be an activist either. I want to make you think and reach out to one person who will feel led to do something. I want to get something started and let somebody else finish the revolution. I exist as an idea generator.
Here's an idea: fix the current music scene. You probably consider me to be a bloated fool at the moment. "Here he is talking about how many problems there are in the world and he wants to fix music?" That's exactly right. The world needs to be united under an idea. And if music generates those ideas (and it does, because it expresses the inexpressible), then I think music is the most powerful tool at our disposable. Let's harness it! If we can reflect society with our music, reflect the parts of society that need to be fixed. We need to avoid this now-common theme of killing somebody because they slept with our girlfriend (I'm looking at you, Maroon 5) or making a ton of money off of drug dealing (hey Fiddy, that's you!), and we need to especially avoid pointless killings in our songs (hey Eminem - how many times have you killed your whole family now?)
We need to write morally strong music with a thematic element of hope for the hopeless and the conquering of evil. As cheesy as it sounds, I think it's our one remaining hope for peace on earth and goodwill towards man. You can criticize this all you want, but you can't deny that as long as music moves backwards, so does society. If society moves backwards, that leads us to dictatorships and anarchy. We essentially return to the Dark Ages. Is this a problem? Yes it is. We need to avoid it.
Look at today's society. The middle class is slowly fading away. We are seeing two classes start to dominate culture now: the utterly obscenely rich and utterly obscenely poor. Look at the world around you; not your own neighborhood. In today's world, the utterly obscenely rich is everybody in North America and Western Europe. Compare your wages to those of an African family, who could take even one percent of what the average American citizen makes a year and live on it for thirty years. There are two classes. Previously, there were three classes: lower, middle, upper. The middle class, the one most predominantly responsible for instituting democracy across the Western nations, is fading away. We are slowly returning to the way of the Dark Ages.
Let's fix this. Use music. Do what you can. Don't say you can't do anything, because you can always reach out to just one person. If you've changed one person's life for the better, you've done what God put you on this blessed earth for. God be with us as we finish the first decade of the new millenium. I pray we last another.
This is so right! I predict in a few years that we will be a dictartorship. I also think are government will collapse over constant wars. If someone like Hitler were still around, they would be a rap or pop/rock star.
ya... i think your right... because you are what you listen to in a sence.. i remember one of my friends brothers was just a normal dorky kid.. nothing abnormal or bad about him just a dork right?.. well then he started to listen to deathmedal and stuff and now hes a gothic freak... thats not him.. its just a phase.. hes a country boy at heart i know he is cause thats how he was raised.. but the music he listens to changed him....
oh.. and btw.. never underestimate the stupidity of the American people.. just look.. they voted bill clinton in 2x!
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