--- Andrew Bahn <abahn@nycap.rr.com> wrote: >
>
> 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
>
Most cultures have a surface - born out of a
pre-intellectual history of zero-intellect (biological
motives and behaviours). The depth of that surface is
measured in fear and greed. It is intellect which will
smash those surfaces.
André
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