So I was just having a political conversation earlier which was actually pleasant. I was talking with a very left wing guy who claimed to be a radical liberal. Technically that's a contradiction since radical is the right wing extreme but I knew what he was trying to say.
Anyway, I came to a realization. Throughout history, there have always been classes. Divides by income, skin, and birth. But unlike any other time in history, the working class, the lower class is setting trends that the rich are following! I can't think of any other time where that has happened. Punk rock came about in the 70's. Now modern day rich people are paying big bucks to get done up like punk rockers. Poor people invented jazz and the rich ate it up!
Now there is a balancing aspect to the working class setting the trend and that's the rich have to buy it for it to work nationally but there's a very limited control in that. If someone is already providing for themselves in the working class then they are more likely to do what they want rather than try and appease the rich. Well I say that. I'm that way. I hope other people are too.
Another problem with saying the rich could control these trends is in the details. MP3s are a great example. Or copying cassette tapes. Or depending on DVD sales. The reason being, if a company releases a product, say a music CD, and advertise one track that they think people will like off the CD what happens? If a lot of people think it will be good they will buy it. That doesn't mean the buyers enjoyed it. It just means the record company might have made their money back. With MP3s, or the ability to copy media and share media in general, we the consumer obtain the ability to determine if the product is good enough to spend money on, there by hurting the sales of a lot of record labels because they lost those initial ignorant buyers. I think that's the part of MP3s I love the most.
I wish there was a better way to impact Hollywood financially though. I really hate Hollywood and most of California for that matter. Its like Henry Rollins says, "they'll give you breast implants in your sleep if you're not careful."
But either way, back to the original point, the rich want to be us. I think that's why I like the song "Common People" so much. It has a great point to it.
Anyway, I came to a realization. Throughout history, there have always been classes. Divides by income, skin, and birth. But unlike any other time in history, the working class, the lower class is setting trends that the rich are following! I can't think of any other time where that has happened. Punk rock came about in the 70's. Now modern day rich people are paying big bucks to get done up like punk rockers. Poor people invented jazz and the rich ate it up!
Now there is a balancing aspect to the working class setting the trend and that's the rich have to buy it for it to work nationally but there's a very limited control in that. If someone is already providing for themselves in the working class then they are more likely to do what they want rather than try and appease the rich. Well I say that. I'm that way. I hope other people are too.
Another problem with saying the rich could control these trends is in the details. MP3s are a great example. Or copying cassette tapes. Or depending on DVD sales. The reason being, if a company releases a product, say a music CD, and advertise one track that they think people will like off the CD what happens? If a lot of people think it will be good they will buy it. That doesn't mean the buyers enjoyed it. It just means the record company might have made their money back. With MP3s, or the ability to copy media and share media in general, we the consumer obtain the ability to determine if the product is good enough to spend money on, there by hurting the sales of a lot of record labels because they lost those initial ignorant buyers. I think that's the part of MP3s I love the most.
I wish there was a better way to impact Hollywood financially though. I really hate Hollywood and most of California for that matter. Its like Henry Rollins says, "they'll give you breast implants in your sleep if you're not careful."
But either way, back to the original point, the rich want to be us. I think that's why I like the song "Common People" so much. It has a great point to it.
Hmm, is this phenomenon new, I don't know. Back in medieval times, didn't the kings hire or enslave poor people to come in and entertain them? I think they might have been inspired by the lower class back then too.
Another part of this is, stereotypically rich people do not have a lot of soul. A lot of music roots develop out of the struggles (financial and otherwise) of people. Rich people have their problems also of course, but you may be less likely to write music with angst and heartbreak if you are living high up on the hill in an ivory tower.
A lot of creativity does develop out of the wealthy class though. Primarily because they have more free time for free thinking because they do not have to worry about making a living. All three of the Bronte sisters wrote a classic novel while other kids their age were out working on the farms or begging in the streets. Does that make the Bronte's better than other people? No, maybe they just had more time on their hands.