Them vs. Us

It's the narrative stupid!

The "New York Times" did a story on those helped by Obamacare. The prime person was taking advantage, she was getting long-delayed dental care, but she was against national health care, because of the death panels. Over 40% of Americans believe they exist, even though they don't.

How did this happen?

The anti-Obamacare adherents controlled the narrative.

You don't play for today, you play for tomorrow. Otherwise, you never win.

Like the Republicans. They thought the judiciary was becoming too liberal. So they formed the Federalist Society on campuses, and years later right-leaning judges were a force in the system. The same way these same people realized fighting abortion on a national level was nearly futile, so they decided to change their focus to the state level... Just try getting an abortion in Texas now. Hard to do. Statistics bear this out, abortions are down.

So the American narrative, instituted in the days of Ronald Reagan, is the government is inept and wastes your money, that you work so hard for, so you shouldn't give it to them.

But the truth is America is a business. And businesses waste money. Just ask a VC, the victories cover the losses. Or ask yourself, ever buy something you didn't use in the office? Of course you did. But the government can't do this. And the government can't hire people. That's one of the reasons our economy has had a hard time recovering, under George Bush more people were working for the government. People need jobs, work needs to be done. But the real problem with the country is the deficit, and inflation is just around the corner. Huh? That was the narrative for the first half of Obama's presidency, even though it turned out to be completely false.

And Obama's main failing is experience. Being President is a job, but we run it like a popularity contest. But those running realize it's a money contest. And he or she who wins is beholden to fat cats, even though there are more of us.

Income inequality is a scourge upon our nation. Not only does it undermine upward mobility, it drags down the economy. Because the economy burgeons when people have money to buy things. That's right, the economy is driven by consumer spending. And the fat cats don't buy a hundred cars or twenty five homes, never mind a score of plungers and other household items and electronics. But the narrative is the rich are job creators, and the poor pay no taxes. But the truth is everybody pays taxes, certainly sales taxes, usually payroll taxes, if they have a job. But the poor have been demonized, as if having no cash is a character flaw.

How long is this going to persist?

There are two different countries now. The affluent and the poor. And not all the affluent are billionaires. But the affluent can afford to enrich their children's education, they can point them to good schools. And when these kids graduate they take jobs in banking and tech that ensure they won't be poor, they're running away from the underclass, never mind the disappearing middle class.

And false narratives persist in the music business. A recent one being Spotify doesn't pay enough, that it should give more of its revenues to artists. But if the Swedish streaming service already pays 69% of its revenues to rights holders... Apple pays 70%. How are you supposed to have a profitable business with no margin? But Taylor Swift said the service sucks and pulled her music and now players are up in arms. Not realizing the enemy is obscurity and YouTube pays so much less.

Life is a game. And the rules are stacked against you. Did you read the "New York Times" story about private art museums? How did these wealthy people get big tax breaks? They paid their Congresspeople. Who listen to them because they donate. You may vote but you're only significant when the numbers are counted, then you're forgotten.

And then there are the pejoratives, like "socialism." Read this piece in yesterday's "Los Angeles Times" saying how much better life is in Scandinavia, especially Norway: "The American Way over the Nordic Model? Are we crazy?" http://lat.ms/1sn24Dw But they have high taxes and socialism kills incentive! But the truth is the American Dream lives larger overseas, where they have national health care and a safety net and...

So you're working two jobs and buying lottery tickets and trying out for the "Voice" believing if you just work harder, you can be like them. You can never be like them. They let a few people through so you'll continue to believe in the game, but the odds of upward mobility are infinitesimal. If you think you can get ahead on two minimum wage jobs you don't eat and need no shelter, and then you still won't succeed. But you believe you will.

Because of the narrative.

America is the greatest country in the world!

Pledge fealty to the troops!

All this nationalistic hogwash that has you believing you're gonna be a winner, that things are good.

Meanwhile, you're watching sports, you've got to root for something, especially if you can't root for yourself.

And then you complain that music is bad. Of course it is, who's going to become a musician? No one educated with a brain. And then envious of the techies, all those who do break through will do anything for a buck, they've got no backbone. But you can't criticize their behavior, because of the narrative, that Napster crippled the music business and everybody is broke.

Kind of like the Long Tail narrative, if you create it there's an audience for it. Probably not, other than your mother and your girlfriend. While you keep hearing the internet has democratized art, the truth is it's created a world of blockbusters. With so little time and access to everything we only want the best, we only have time to check out the famous. It's like everybody in Paducah is competing for affection with movie stars. That's right, if you play in a band, the Stones are in the club next door, that's what the internet is like.

And change is everywhere. Bands used to have places to play live. By time you heard them, they'd played a zillion gigs and were good, now you're just getting overwhelmed by wannabes, telling you to check out their substandard wares online.

He who controls the narrative controls the country. Money is important, but not as much as power. And oftentimes they go hand in hand, but the cycle is broken in art. That's right, one song created in your basement can change the world, ask not only Barry McGuire, but Lorde. But you desire to work with the hitmakers du jour, you want to hang with the rich and famous, you want to get out, flying private and drinking Cristal instead of being able to pay your bills in an apartment in the city. You have a dream, but as John Lennon said, the dream is over.

Meanwhile, media, except for the occasional story in the newspaper, keeps reinforcing a narrative that keeps you powerless. That's right, the media killed Occupy Wall Street, and now the new Congress wants to eviscerate Dodd Frank. The media quashed civil rebellion against police brutality. That's right, now the narrative is the men and women in blue have a tough job and we're just not behind them enough. And I'm not saying it's black and white, but I will say if you think racism is dead, you're probably on the Supreme Court, which got rid of voting laws. The same Supreme Court that is now right-leaning because of the Federalist Society.

We need leaders.

In the sixties they came from the youth. Who were in college without momentous debt, brought up in middle class homes believing, truthfully, that opportunity was plentiful. And money and attention was garnered by artists, with universal appeal. Not the outsiders, but those on the charts, with an audience. Today everybody's so busy trying to pay their bills and make it they don't have time to protest.

But they should.

But there are no leaders, no one telling them the truth in a narrative they can understand. That taxes are good, they put music in school. Instead, the narrative is public schools suck and home-schooling is best and we should have vouchers to get out of bad schools. How about a voucher to get out of a bad neighborhood, to move to Manhattan into one of those apartments the fat cats occupy for only two weeks a year? How about a voucher for a private island vacation in the Caribbean? How about a voucher for an audience with a Senator who will write legislation allowing you to avoid paying taxes, or have your income taxed at capital gains rates, like the hedge funders?

It all sounds overwhelming, it all sounds undoable. You're too busy trying to get ahead yourself to help everybody else.

Which is exactly how they want it. Divide and conquer. If you're fighting your brother, you don't have time to fight them.

But you've got to love your brother. You've got to unite. You've got to see we're stronger together than apart. That the American way is in peril. That America is us. Not only the rich in the news, but the hardworking people who go to work each day and put most of their income into commodities, food and drink and products, that keep America humming. Or at least used to.

In the information society too many know nothing. They're aware of gossip, but not basic economic precepts. Just like music is in disarray, with only a small segment of the public aware of the hits, most people know nothing about how the world works.

And we can either blame them or enlighten them.

Or we can let the usual suspects herd us like cattle into doing what's best for them.

What about what's best for us?

"Writing Off the Warhol Next Door, Art Collectors Gain Tax Benefits From Private Museums": http://nyti.ms/14mB2Ro


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