[Mr 5 0]

Originally Posted by bmxmon

Yeah, I shouldnt have said that I feel that most americans are stupid. Most arent stupid, just that they want to blame their problems on the easiest thing; the government.

As I said, many Americans are apathetic about anything that happens outside of their own little sphere and have little real concept of geopolitics, economics or anything that doesn't interest or affect them personally. That's why politicians can get away with so much and why the media still misleads people and yet can pretend to be 'objective'.

I dont like to automatically blame liberals, thats why i use "they" hahaha.

No problem, but I like to put 'blame' where I believe it should be. Liberalism has caused this country and our society a lot of unecessary grief over the past half-century. I happen to resent the fact that, even with all their electoral losses recently, liberals still hold so much influence in government and the media. Fortunately, the internet gives all points of view a chance to be heard, debated and considered, not just the 'liberal' point of view, as was the case in the past.

More or less what I see as the general mindset of america, or at least what is portrayed by the media. The reason for using music as an indicator is because its such a large part of peoples lives, and like it or not many people are influenced by it. I just dont like that the message of a few is going out to so many.

Pop music certainly is a large part of most people's lives, be it rock, rap, country, gospel or what-have-you. I'm not quite sure how many people are truly influenced by the lyrics in a popular song but I will allow that the music does have influence, especially with the 12-24 year-old demographic.

I agree that the 'wrong' message is sent by most pop music singers and groups today - especially gangsta rap - but while they may influence some gullible minds, most of us grow up and realize that some multi-millionaire singer/songwriter pretending to be a 'regular' guy in scruffy clothes while onstage who then leaves the stadium protected by bodyguards, climbs into his chauffeur-driven limo, is driven to the airport where he boards his chartered jet and arrives at his 5-million-dollar Beverly Hills mansion where he is waited on hand and foot, doesn't really know squat about politics. He is even less qualified to tell other people what to think. Having a hit CD doesn't bestow special wisdom on anyone, liberal or conservative.

For those who take song lyrics to heart and believe that they are gaining some kind of wisdom from them, well, what can you do? Not much, really. Just trust that common sense and maturity will allow those folks - most of them, anyway, to eventually grow up and learn to seek information from sources other than a song, newspaper or TV newscast, and then make independent judgements on serious issues instead of following some metaphorical herd that tells you what they believe you should think rather than you deciding for yourself.

I have very 'conservative' political views, formed from my experiences and study over some time, but that doesn't mean that conservative politics are a panacea for all of the worlds problems or that I am always right (even if I may think that I am). I always urge folks to look at the facts, history, etc and make an informed opinion on the big issues of the day. Naturally, I will usually promote the conservative point of view but in the final analysis, each individual must make up his or her own mind on how to approach the significant concerns that confront the thinking person each day.

I like pop music as much as anyone (well, some of it) but I didn't get my opinions from anything I may have heard in a song. I doubt many people really do, truth be told. However, those who do take their political cues or form their worldviews from songs and/or videos deserve what they get: ignorance.