Music that represents its turning

[pbrower2a]

(09-13-2022, 04:00 PM)Eric the Green Wrote: I feel so privileged to have come of age in a 2T rather than a 3T. The musical difference says it all

Not bad for the 3T tho  The cops are hugely afraid of these dudes, they might have a gun, so they kill 'em. 4T too!

In the 2T for a Boom audience, popular musicians often put some didactic content into their creations. That ended in the late 1970's with disco, which is pure, unadulterated hedonism in music perfect for copulation and nothing else. (Does anyone have any positive thing to say about disco?)

Had I been born six years later -- well, there was Barack Obama, who is about as good a political leader as one can be if one is a Reactive. But at least he got to see the world and got a worthy perspective from that. He learned to respect more traditions than his potentially-confusing collage of a Midwestern white American mother and an African father. He got to see what did not work and what did, and he caught on before he was fully adult. He was smart enough and motivated enough to do the best possible with his intellectual prowess, which was to be an attorney. He was either going to be a rackets-busting DA or a no-nonsense "do the crime and do the time" judge, or be a uniquely-competent politician in elective office. He did not fully connect to the mainstream of slave-descended African-Americans until he married his wife.

Sure, he is squeaky-clean, but that is practical. 

What would I be as X? Probably the sort of person who thinks that the only book that can do one any good (aside from "How to Make the Sale", "How to Manage Your Finances", or "How to Avoid Legal and Marital Trouble") is a bank book. I would likely find that the best way to meet banal dreams is to sell used cars in a tote-the-note car lot. I would probably never discover classical music because I would recognize that the only cultural virtue is marketability.  Classical music might have intellectual appeal, but few people make a living by reaching for the stars. If I were a creative person in media I might see the merits of reality TV or schlock-jock radio.   

Sure, I would be wise enough to avoid legal problems that might drain my personal assets through legal costs and might be scared enough of  AIDS and divorce costs to avoid cheating. No drugs or drunk driving, and no philandering, though. 

If in a survival job I would be one of those able to hide his feelings while crying underneath, much like Charlie Chaplin's "Tramp" character. If you can't laugh, you will cry or you will want to kill someone. Crying about one's situation in a crude plutocracy is one way to get fired. Suffer as necessary, but always put on that big, bright "Happy to Serve You" smile even if you hate the schmucks and bastards making life miserable. If I had children I would tell them all about the dreary reality of capitalism while feigning consent. What else is possible? He who owns the gold makes the rules for the Common Man, and the only alternative is Stalinism, Maoism, or the Khmer Rouge. I'd likely be pragmatic about feminism and race... well, some things cost nothing.  

I doubt that I could convince any Millennial kids of the desirability of my compromises for anything other than survival. They would recognize neoliberal economics for what it is. Given a chance, they would turn to something less characteristic of the law of the jungle. Knowing that electronic entertainments are a trap I would rather that they get involved in music -- violin or video games? They get the violin. Piano, viola, or cello is OK. Musicians get connected to something nobler than mindless entertainment. Even those in high-school band (which is not at all individual except to meet responsibilities).  I'd tolerate the grinding drudgery of playing scales and etudes, but at some point one hears something delightful. That's worth it. OK, Albert Einstein didn't make a career as a violinist (reputedly he was quite good at it), but he chose a different direction.