SQUONKSTAIL@aol.com wrote:
"The blues and jazz developed in sub cultures away from New world values
as their roots reached deep into older cultures than even European
patterns? Deep into quality. Blues and jazz emerge from deep within
quality whereas Hollywood and Coke and ROG have a patina of quality
slapped on the surface."
True. But these Subcultures are also firmly rooted in America. They
are uniquely American and they play a huge part of our culture. The
roots of both come from the deepsouth, surfacing from the cesspools of
discrimination and slavery. Out of these low quality institutions
emerged "older" patterns. I think it is obvious that without this ugly
period in American history, we would never have been blessed with these
gifts of higher quality. This is the dynamic quality that describes
American culture that ROG and PLATT both wish to attribute solely to
"Free markets" and "Capitalism." In a way, they may be right. It is
partly the repressive characteristics of these institutions, that are
responsible for the emergence of these higher quality patterns. This
can be seen today in the artists that DMB spoke of that fall under the
Alt Country heading. Just listen to Iris Dement's "Wasteland of the
Free." In a society that values free speech, this song lacks the
subtlety and cleverness of Blues' lyrics, but the quality is there and
it is a reaction to lower quality patterns and institutions that
dominate in our society--just as blues and jazz were reactions to lower
quality institutions and patterns present in America during their
nascent period. My point is that the "patina of quality slapped on the
surface," is not American culture. Scrape away the surface and you can
still find "tasteful" aspects of American culture that are firmly rooted
and deeply entrenched in our Psyche.
Kindest,
Andy
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