Category Archives: Humanity

Compassion, Humanity, Politics, Race, Social Justice, Society

Why the Confederate Cause Should Never Be Celebrated

Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea (of “equality of the races”) ; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth. This truth has been slow in the process of its development, like all other truths in the various departments of science. – “Corner Stone” Speech, by Alexander H. Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy – Savannah, Georgia – March 21, 1861

Not an American portrait of which to be proud – Click   for NPR story

Whether you believe the cause of the American Civil War was slavery, or economics or the economics of slavery, the Civil War comprises a period in American history that must always be remembered but never celebrated.  While there may have been  people of   integrity fighting for southern independence, the ultimate goal of that independence was neither noble nor of moral integrity.   The words of Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy, should leave no doubt as to the purpose of the Confederacy, which had nothing to do with heritage and everything to with white supremacy.

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Art, Culture, Humanity, Music, Society

Listen to All the Music, Do All the Things

Just try new things. Don’t be afraid. Step out of your comfort zones and soar, all right? Michele Obama

In a recent article in Aeon,  titled Now THAT was music, writer Lary Wallace sets the stage for his rather generalized conclusions on our ability (or inability, in his case) to appreciate new music. He starts with the assumption that we all experience this “One grim day (when youth is over)”  and “you find that new music gets on your nerves.”

“Some of us are more susceptible than others, ” he says with authority, “but eventually it happens to us all. You know what I’m talking about: the inability to appreciate new music – or at least, to appreciate new music the way we once did. There’s a lot of disagreement about why exactly this happens, but virtually none about when. Call it a casualty of your 30s, the first sign of a great decline. Recently turned 40, I’ve seen it happen to me – and to a pretty significant extent – but refuse to consider myself defeated until the moment I stop fighting.”

Why, he asks, do our musical tastes “freeze over”?

I got news for you Lary.  It really doesn’t happen to all of us.  I’m nearing 60 and love a wide range of new music.  I always have . I plowed through the 60s , 70s and 80s, and found something I’ve loved in every decade. I got busy with kids at the turn of the 21st century, but they kept me current on everything from technology to literature and music.  Today, my contemporary musical tastes range from Marian Hill,  Paloma Faith, Mumford and Sons, Passenger, Ed Sheeran and Kaleo to Van Morrison, Steely Dan, Jethro Tull, the Beatles and other classic musical artists.

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