17 Comments
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Brian Lincoln's avatar

Ahhh, right and wrong. Who is to say what is what for society? What is society? America used to have a fairly consistent and widespread set of acceptable morals but today we just have laws and arguments.

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AndyinBC's avatar

I'll shorten that for you Brian. "Our grandparents had morals, we have rules". Morality is part of who and what we are. Rules are imposed on us.

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Brian Lincoln's avatar

Dollyboy has a good take on it, "Society is to be guided by thoughtful and considerate individuals." Such as our grandparents.

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Fat Rabbit Iron's avatar

I think that a significant but under appreciated societal shift is the replacement of music culture with video game culture. I was born in 1988, so I lived through some of the transformation. I was very into music as a teenager and messed around in a few bands / recording projects in high school. At the same time, my friend group would not think it strange to sit down and play video games together. These video game parties continued until I was close to 30, which is insane looking back on it.

I have yet to see a teenager these days who is really into music (or really any art), but I see plenty who are *very* into video games. They have a deep emotional connection to them that is hard for older people to understand. The values that video games promote — sitting still, being quiet, sharing, following directions — probably have a trickle down effect into other areas.

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Rob D's avatar

Very interesting to think about for sure Fat Rabbit Iron. I completely agree with you on art. I remember art used to be very important in our culture/society. It's a great way for people to find "themselves" and express themselves... their individuality. We were encouraged to make the music or the art "our own". Now... I'm thinking the student would get an F if their drawing of the apple wasn't exactly like everyone else's...

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Dollyboy's avatar

You might dig my Covid album... or you might not. Either way: https://jacemaxwell.bandcamp.com/album/covidians

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The Word Herder's avatar

I like the music of the first one I'm hearing, which I think is the second song... lol. You do sound a bit like Bowie.

Cool. Thanks.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Cheers! He was an influence no doubt. I think on Turning the Lights Down I sound a bit Matt Berninger? Meh. I have a baritone voice. I do a pretty decent Ian Curtis too ... lol. 

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The Word Herder's avatar

What's wrong with baritone? I like it. I'm a musician, too, but there's nobody around to play with these days, my callouses are almost gone, and I am waaaaaay too low tech.

So trust, me, for a one-time Clash fanatic, your tunes are cool.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Oh nothing wrong with baritone voices. People tend to compare you to Bowie if you have one though. And that’s fair enough. He had one of the most iconic and best in the business. I’m just a hack as well The Word Herder. It’s my creative outlet. Thank you for listening.

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The Word Herder's avatar

Well, nothing wrong with modesty, but... You're no hack, in my not-that-humble opinion. ;)

Cheers, m'dear, I did enjoy listening! xo

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Brian Lincoln's avatar

Creepy, dark, unnerving, awesome! Pink FLoyd meets David Bowie on a dark night in 2020.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Oh! You’re too kind. Thank you.

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Brian Lincoln's avatar

It seems that playing video games is akin to turning on a radio or playing a CD, etc. You get right to the playing, the actual enjoying of the thing without thought of how many hours went into designing the game or composing the music. Never mind the endless code rewrites to get it to simply work or hours of band practice in the garage and sessions in the recording studio.

Artists do the work first and then they play for their and our enjoyment.

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The Word Herder's avatar

Might have something to do with how ADDICTIVE these video games, phones, tech generally, really are. Made to be that way. Probably planned to be that way and slowly brought along... Insidious behavior is what to expect from psychopaths determined to have control... and to torture.

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Dollyboy's avatar

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn sums it up when he said “do not participate in the lie.” As you have articulated Rob - say NO when you feel that you must. There’s this notion that we must do things for the good of the collective. It’s very in-vogue currently but it is a misnomer. There is no collective. It’s just an abstract idea. Who can speak for the needs of the collective? Answer: no one. It’s a fallacy. Society is to be guided by thoughtful and considerate individuals. This then informs a collective notion of what is good for all. Not the other way round.

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The Word Herder's avatar

Well said! Excellent post. I'm right there with ya.

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