Believe it or not I'm going to link American politics, music, film and professional wrestling together in this post. My idea is to show you the canned ideas that America has produced in the past 1/2 century and how these pigeon holes have decreased our inspiration and creativity.
In the 1960's America exploded with idealism and creativity. We were involved in a political revolution. We learned how to protest, expand voter registration, really get the core ideas of the country in place with the masses. Remember that our country was founded on the idea that the citizens make the decisions. Sure it's a republic more than a democracy, but the "idea" was to make sure that the plight of the masses was heard and adhered to. We also embraced change more than in any other time in American history. Seeing as how I wasn't alive yet and the 60's weren't taught in public school, I base my knowledge of this important time on the things I've learned through music, movies, books and wikipedia. All in all, the country rallied around a few ideas that were the keystone in creating this more perfect union. And while no one in Washington cared about the protests, it had a significant impact on our future. Some of you may have noticed that I have referenced the JFK assassination a few times already in my blogging. I mention it again because I feel that that was a turning point in our country. It was very personal, very tragic and very indicative of the times. JFK was a terrible politician. He did what he thought was right. Didn't care about what his advisers told him about the Cuban Missile Crisis, apologized to the citizens of the country after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the Vietnam, really wanted to change things for the better using core values of creativity and leadership. He was killed for some reason. By someone. But I can sure as hell tell you that it wasn't Lee Harvey Oswald. But after Kennedy was killed, Marin Luther King was killed, RFK dead (again allegedly by someone with no ties to anyone or anything). These are people with creative and innovative minds. Strong minds that could have changed things for the better. Music was essential in the 60's. Hendrix, Joplin, The Dead, The Beatles...the list could go on forever. These are people that created what they thought was cool and the masses rallied around them. What happened to that? Did the creative spirit in Americans disappear? Let's look into the timeline.
Over the next few decades we saw Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush. We also saw the cold war, Watergate, the introduction of cocaine, heroin and crack to popular American culture, we were introduced to North Korea, the middle east, sitcoms and professional wrestling. All of these situations were conceived through creativity and innovation. Popular or not, positive or not, these became the foundations of what to do and what not to do. In some cases we were forced into a situation that required immediate and positive heroics. And some of those immediate responses are the ones we cringe at today. But they had to be done and they were done. More and more I see less and less of these heroics. When people say "it took an act of congress to get that done...." they're not speaking metaphorically. What happened to genuine leadership. Doing stuff even if it meant we may be doing it wrong. I'm going to back track a bit here. When FDR came into office the campaigned with a positive attitude that he would cut spending and bring the country back to glory. When he was in office, through trial and error, he discovered that actually increasing spending was better for long term growth. He actually spent more than we knew could be spent. We reelected him like 15 times. What they don't teach you in public school is that he screwed up way more than he got it right. He put into place a bunch (nice specificity I know) of policies that he didn't know if they were going to work or not, but he knew something needed to be done. Now I turn to my philosophy on life: If you do something, something gets done. If you do nothing, nothing gets done. In that statement I mean that even if what you do is wrong or unpopular or you get hurt, at least something came from it. Whether the idea was successful or not, you've learned. You either know it will work and do the same thing again, or you know it doesn't work and you can try something new. I don't see this philosophy anywhere anymore. We've become so interested in planning that we've taken away the spirit of doing. Anyone who has worked in a compliance department in a major corporate company will tell you that this is called "paralysis by analysis."
So, back to the point. After we tried a number of things in popular culture and politics, we learned what works and what doesn't work. Since we've learned what works, we're sticking to it. How many TV shows are based off of shows that became popular? How many survivor like shows are out there? How many Two and a Half Men type sitcoms do we need, how many NCIS? How many Simpsons episodes did it take to create Family Guy, American Dad, South Park? When the Backstreet Boys entered the mainstream, how long did it take for Nsync and 98 Degrees to break the charts? When Nirvana broke into the mainstream how long did it take for Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains to follow? That's what we've done. We've created cookie cutter houses, communities, politicians, music, movies, TV shows even football teams. Everyone knows that there is no negative publicity. That's why every rap star gets in trouble with the law as soon as he releases his first single. That's why Paris, Brittany, Lindsey, Christina all have mug shots and pics of their bare coochies getting out of limos. You think those pics are accidents? No. That was discovered as an excellent way to gain publicity for free and sell more stuff. Sure it's to the chagrin of American teenagers who idolize these music stars, but someone (after trying things that didn't work) discovered that this was a great way to increase business, profits, market share. We even apply to colleges, get scholarships, jobs, promotions the same way. We follow the success and failures of past creators to depend on how we succeed ourselves. So, that's the idea. Someone else has already created a formula for success. There's no need to try anything new, risky or innovative. The money points to one idea, one way of doing things and one ideal ending.
My point is this: no one in politics shows creativity anymore. There is a script that democrats and republicans follow to get elected. They need to appeal to the movers and the shakers; i.e. people with money. Republicans have to speak about family values, national defense, lower taxes. Democrats have to speak on healthcare, education, higher taxes for the uber wealthy. It doesn't matter what else is mentioned. Speaking on those issues for those respective parties is what wins. Throw the idealism, creative thinking and innovation in the gutter. Follow the formula.
If you want to get elected, write a popular show, create a hit album, direct a movie or become a professional wrestler follow the formula. Someone else has already done it wrong for you.
In the 1960's America exploded with idealism and creativity. We were involved in a political revolution. We learned how to protest, expand voter registration, really get the core ideas of the country in place with the masses. Remember that our country was founded on the idea that the citizens make the decisions. Sure it's a republic more than a democracy, but the "idea" was to make sure that the plight of the masses was heard and adhered to. We also embraced change more than in any other time in American history. Seeing as how I wasn't alive yet and the 60's weren't taught in public school, I base my knowledge of this important time on the things I've learned through music, movies, books and wikipedia. All in all, the country rallied around a few ideas that were the keystone in creating this more perfect union. And while no one in Washington cared about the protests, it had a significant impact on our future. Some of you may have noticed that I have referenced the JFK assassination a few times already in my blogging. I mention it again because I feel that that was a turning point in our country. It was very personal, very tragic and very indicative of the times. JFK was a terrible politician. He did what he thought was right. Didn't care about what his advisers told him about the Cuban Missile Crisis, apologized to the citizens of the country after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of the Vietnam, really wanted to change things for the better using core values of creativity and leadership. He was killed for some reason. By someone. But I can sure as hell tell you that it wasn't Lee Harvey Oswald. But after Kennedy was killed, Marin Luther King was killed, RFK dead (again allegedly by someone with no ties to anyone or anything). These are people with creative and innovative minds. Strong minds that could have changed things for the better. Music was essential in the 60's. Hendrix, Joplin, The Dead, The Beatles...the list could go on forever. These are people that created what they thought was cool and the masses rallied around them. What happened to that? Did the creative spirit in Americans disappear? Let's look into the timeline.
Over the next few decades we saw Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush. We also saw the cold war, Watergate, the introduction of cocaine, heroin and crack to popular American culture, we were introduced to North Korea, the middle east, sitcoms and professional wrestling. All of these situations were conceived through creativity and innovation. Popular or not, positive or not, these became the foundations of what to do and what not to do. In some cases we were forced into a situation that required immediate and positive heroics. And some of those immediate responses are the ones we cringe at today. But they had to be done and they were done. More and more I see less and less of these heroics. When people say "it took an act of congress to get that done...." they're not speaking metaphorically. What happened to genuine leadership. Doing stuff even if it meant we may be doing it wrong. I'm going to back track a bit here. When FDR came into office the campaigned with a positive attitude that he would cut spending and bring the country back to glory. When he was in office, through trial and error, he discovered that actually increasing spending was better for long term growth. He actually spent more than we knew could be spent. We reelected him like 15 times. What they don't teach you in public school is that he screwed up way more than he got it right. He put into place a bunch (nice specificity I know) of policies that he didn't know if they were going to work or not, but he knew something needed to be done. Now I turn to my philosophy on life: If you do something, something gets done. If you do nothing, nothing gets done. In that statement I mean that even if what you do is wrong or unpopular or you get hurt, at least something came from it. Whether the idea was successful or not, you've learned. You either know it will work and do the same thing again, or you know it doesn't work and you can try something new. I don't see this philosophy anywhere anymore. We've become so interested in planning that we've taken away the spirit of doing. Anyone who has worked in a compliance department in a major corporate company will tell you that this is called "paralysis by analysis."
So, back to the point. After we tried a number of things in popular culture and politics, we learned what works and what doesn't work. Since we've learned what works, we're sticking to it. How many TV shows are based off of shows that became popular? How many survivor like shows are out there? How many Two and a Half Men type sitcoms do we need, how many NCIS? How many Simpsons episodes did it take to create Family Guy, American Dad, South Park? When the Backstreet Boys entered the mainstream, how long did it take for Nsync and 98 Degrees to break the charts? When Nirvana broke into the mainstream how long did it take for Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains to follow? That's what we've done. We've created cookie cutter houses, communities, politicians, music, movies, TV shows even football teams. Everyone knows that there is no negative publicity. That's why every rap star gets in trouble with the law as soon as he releases his first single. That's why Paris, Brittany, Lindsey, Christina all have mug shots and pics of their bare coochies getting out of limos. You think those pics are accidents? No. That was discovered as an excellent way to gain publicity for free and sell more stuff. Sure it's to the chagrin of American teenagers who idolize these music stars, but someone (after trying things that didn't work) discovered that this was a great way to increase business, profits, market share. We even apply to colleges, get scholarships, jobs, promotions the same way. We follow the success and failures of past creators to depend on how we succeed ourselves. So, that's the idea. Someone else has already created a formula for success. There's no need to try anything new, risky or innovative. The money points to one idea, one way of doing things and one ideal ending.
My point is this: no one in politics shows creativity anymore. There is a script that democrats and republicans follow to get elected. They need to appeal to the movers and the shakers; i.e. people with money. Republicans have to speak about family values, national defense, lower taxes. Democrats have to speak on healthcare, education, higher taxes for the uber wealthy. It doesn't matter what else is mentioned. Speaking on those issues for those respective parties is what wins. Throw the idealism, creative thinking and innovation in the gutter. Follow the formula.
If you want to get elected, write a popular show, create a hit album, direct a movie or become a professional wrestler follow the formula. Someone else has already done it wrong for you.
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