I would have expected this message to come from the arts first. But the arts have been infiltrated like PBS. Whether it be corporations supporting that which the public does not, or musicians sucking up to the man to get paid.
But AOC doesn't get paid. She was a bartender before.
I didn't see this coming. The youth stole America from the man in the sixties and then retreated after Kent State, licking their wounds. Then Reagan legitimized greed and for forty years we've seen a separation between corporations and the regular folk, between rich and poor, the income inequality gap keeps widening and we're told to pay fealty to the "job creators" as we lower their taxes and incentivize them while they laugh all the way to the bank.
Then again, it was Mario Savio and the rest of the student protesters who ignited the sixties, the musicians came later, in an era where you didn't think you could make that much money. Actually, the money came later, with albums and 90/10 live deals. But music reaches people better than speech, can you say "Eve Of Destruction" or "Ohio"?
But for the past few decades its been about sponsorship in the music business. Get some of that corporate money. Whether it be the Amex or Citi pre-sale or the whiskey or telco signage. Acts thought there was no cost. Never mind the chilling effect, they've been left behind, lost to the change of time as the wheels of society keep grinding.
Trump illuminated the change. That America wasn't what the pundits and media said it was. Instead, there were millions of voters disenchanted with the way things were going who were angry that they were left behind in an era of globalization. Sure, they liked their flat screens and smartphones assembled elsewhere, but they were wary of not having jobs, angry at those who took them away, blaming not the corporations themselves as much as the foreigners and immigrants.
And then came the Trump blowback. When the enlightened youngsters were sick of their forefathers selling out to the middle, and the aforementioned corporations. Yes, it's a left and right issue, both take the corporate money, are beholden to the man. But the youngsters...we've been reading about their college debt, their inheritance of the national debt and their lack of opportunity for years, but like digital photography, it took this long to reach maturation, Kodak went out of business overnight, as did the old way of thinking of things, the old guard and the corporations.
First it was #MeToo. They went after untouchable men who were powerful icons. The DAs didn't believe them, odds were stacked against them. But one after another "legends" fell. From Bill O'Reilly to Harvey Weinstein to Charlie Rose...the most trusted men in America weren't. And the strange thing is they were not missed when they were gone. Ratings for the "Today Show" held steady without Matt Lauer.
But prognosticators believed the sexual harassment kerfuffle was contained, that it was a limited fire, not a conflagration, boy were they wrong.
There are a lot of things that don't make sense. Like the carried interest rule. And government incentives.
Hollywood is the best place to make movies, because of the weather and the location of infrastructure. But now production has waned as filmmakers chase credits across the nation. They're laughing, but when the credits dry up, the state's business craters.
An opinion piece in the "New York Times" claims this is the way it's been since the thirties, when companies moved south for the money and lack of unions. And sure, the past is prologue, but it's not set in stone. Why are we paying these wealthy entities to come? If they want to move, money should be no part of it. Kinda like sports. Turns out the stadiums don't pay for themselves, best the billionaire owners build them themselves, as Kroenke is doing in Los Angeles.
The wheel is turning.
As for tax rates... Why do corporations end up paying less than the top rate, if they pay anything at all? Sure, the rank and file is unsophisticated, thinking a 70% income tax rate would be from dollar one and apply to them, just like the "Death Tax," but the truth is there are smart youngsters, who do know they're being scammed, and they're informing their constituents, and the whole world is changing as the old guard is clueless.
It is not business as usual in America anymore. The youth may not have money, but that does not mean they're unintelligent, without the power of reasoning. It no longer adds up. Corporations are not people. PEOPLE ARE PEOPLE!
Then again, Depeche Mode said that as country artists work to blend products into their songs.
We haven't discovered a way to break Mark Zuckerberg's hegemony, but we're working on it. It's not gonna come from D.C., too wowed by the success and the money.
As for Cuomo and DeBlasio negotiating in secret... Homey don't play that no more. The internet is all about sunlight. And if you tell someone what's best for them they question it.
And what is the price? The rank and file are sick of paying the price for these corporations.
This is a wake-up call for all of America. This is not an isolated event.
Now we've got pushback.
Tread lightly, for your footing may be shaky.
As for musicians...
They seem to be the last to know.
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