In a message dated 10/30/2003 6:01:29 PM Eastern Standard Time, upkat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: > But what about other things in our culture, in the whole of the westernized > world economy really, that are of "shallow, superficial, plastic culture"? > Why does only MUSIC seem to represent that which we totally HATE or totally > LOVE? Do you eat Doritos, watch TV, see movies, listen to commercials, > wear Levi's, eat Snickers bars, drink Pepsi/Coke/Mountain Dew, go to shows > sponsored by corporations (HiFi Buys, etc.) etc. etc. or do you avoid these > things too?? I hate to see music treated as a RELIGION by which to judge > all other things... > The easy answer is that music is supposed to mean something, express something, make us feel something. It's art, ya know. The other stuff you mentioned, except for movies and I'm pretty particular about the movies I see also, is just meaningless crap we shove in ourselves to store, burn off or excrete. I don't really watch much TV unless it's baseball season. I have precious little tolerance for regular TV programming except for the occasional episode of The Simpsons. I'll point to two books that have profoundly influenced my world view in recent years. The first is Amusing Ourselves To Death by Neil Postman. Some of you out there may be familiar with Roger Waters' album, Amused To Death. Postman's book, along with the events of the first Gulf War, provided the bulk of the inspiration for Waters' album. The book deals with media, the rise of TV culture and the trivializing effect that television has on our society as a whole. The other book is No Logo by Naomi Klein, which is about globalism, the frightening, destructive power wielded my mega-corporations, sweat shops, and the ultimate emptiness of "branded" society. Anyway, both of these books really made me think about things in ways that hadn't occurred to me before and they're both pretty fascinating reads. CH CH