Baltimore

The PIGS, that's what we called them back when I was growing up.

And I still don't trust the police, they've never been there when I needed them and have most certainly hassled me when I have not.

Welcome to the sixties, minus the draft. Wherein the younger generation mistrusts their elders and...

Wait a minute, that's not what's happening at all.

The educated whites are chummy with their parents. They're all about succeeding and paying no taxes and making sure the government protects their assets.

The underclass?

Being pushed further down.

America's a bad Hieronymus Bosch painting. All of us struggling, but not realizing we're in hell.

Read the statistics, it's the poor who donate to charity, who help their brother. Everybody else is just out for themselves.

Hate to harp on Tidal, but it's evidence of the backlash. The rich and famous believe they're admirable, that they deserve their wealth and status. Kind of like the Republicans dissing the 47%. Not realizing that without customers, you've got no business. Unless, of course, your customer is the government... Too many bad boy corporations suck on the government tit and complain about regulation at the same time.

But it seems that some of us are mad as hell and ain't gonna take it any more.

But, once again, it's not the richies, the upwardly mobile, not the artists.

Because the artists are in bed with the rich. You don't want to take a stand, you might lose your endorsement with the corporation. The radio station might stop playing your record. Why are we all paying fealty to a structure we hate? Bitching and then hoping we can get some milk from the corporate teat.

That's right, government and corporations run this country. In bed with each other. And they do their best to keep us scared. You'd better give up your privacy or they're gonna drop a nuke in Montana and steal your baby in Arkansas. Everybody's so scared of loss that they don't complain. As their future is pulled out from under them.

But when you've got nothing, you've got nothing to lose.

Which is why protest is being led by those without assets.

The Supreme Court tells us racism is history, we need no voter protections.

The corporations tell us if we just deregulated, the nation would soar, throwing safety out the window. And you'd better not ask for a higher wage or health insurance, because then... The stockholders would not make a profit and the execs would not make double digit millions and when you got your opportunity there'd be nothing left.

YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET YOUR OPPORTUNITY!

They came for the instruments in the schools. Music must go. Education is about science and math, the humanities are a joke, and don't ever ask me to pay taxes to contribute to the common good, if it doesn't benefit me, I'm out.

They came for your personal information. Edward Snowden stood up for you, the way artists once did. But today a techie's got more brains and more soul than anybody making music. Music is about bitching about what you don't have. What you do have is a platform and a voice. And funny, when you get down in the pit and stand up for what's right people rally around you, they clamor for more. But today's stars believe their audience is the media, not their fans.

But I don't expect you to do anything. Not the artist class. Not those who keep bitching about Spotify payments. Because you just don't get it. You're part of the problem, not the solution.

When we were all middle class, we could fight for what's right.

Now that we're divided, we can't unite on a single thing.

And I won't bore you with Kansas welfare restrictions. It all doesn't mean a thing.

What does mean a thing is the Arab Spring. Whose flames were fanned by modern media, i.e. the internet. The truth is we can all see the story, and not only from one side. And we're all sitting here wondering what happened to our country. How did the police become a paramilitary organization, able to perform with no regard to basic human rights, rallying around each other in defiance whenever questioned.

It happened this way once before. And history repeats.

That's right, the African-Americans couldn't take it anymore. They wanted to use the same restrooms, the same water fountains and the same buses.

Protest music came thereafter.

I'm just warning you here. I don't expect you to do anything. You're a good American, you're a follower. But keep watching. There's a coterie of Americans you denigrate who've had just about enough and are willing to put their lives on the line. And sure, some of them are crossing the line, but you stole music, didn't you?

Because when a system is unjust, people rebel.

Music should not be free, but when the label makes you pay fifteen bucks for a CD with one good song you're just waiting to exact retribution.

Those in underprivileged economies, the inner city where the schools suck and the police are oppressive and every other black man is in jail, have been waiting for their moment to fight back.

It happened in Baltimore.

Before that in Ferguson and New York City.

And if you're debating the details you're missing the point. Which is you can only keep people down for so long. America is a great country, but it's not the best in the world on every benchmark. We need to look at ourselves, we need to do what's right.

But that'll happen when they get money out of politics.

And seeing as how that's no time soon, expect more flash points, expect more rebellion.

It's happening here.

And it's becoming more clear.

For what it's worth.


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