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Doing a little research...


DCS

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It seems there are a bunch of old farts here (I include myself BTW). I am doing research for a book and a very small piece of it touches on politics and musicians. If anyone wants to contribute their opinions on this very simple question it will be greatly appreciated. All I ask is that you be honest and ONLY respond if you are over 50. I am not looking for essays, so succinct responses are really appreciated. I will not quote anyone so anonymity is guaranteed. I am obviously looking for opinions from the 50 and older demo. Sorry for all of the qualifiers but it is what it is.
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Why do you think musicians and artisans in general traditionally have liberal political leanings?
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Thanks in advance - I may regret this...
Dale

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I think musicians tend to be more liberal than non-musicians because music is egalitarian. Good music can be made by many people regardless of race, religion, family background or wealth. If you dig good music and the people that make it, you tend to be more inclusive. Conservatives, I think, tend to be exclusive.

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I'm not sure I agree with the basic premise.....

Where I grew up in the Midwest, most musicians I knew were pretty conservative.

Here in California I played in a fairly liberal area (big surprise?), but the musicians were split about equally as I recall. Maybe leaning more conservative than liberal.

The difference was that the liberal musicians tended to wear their politics on their sleeve, while the conservatives usually just kept mum about politics, especially on stage.

At least that's the way this old guy remembers things. cool.gif

Paul

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Quote Originally Posted by jamesp

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Interesting. When you say 'artisans' do you mean skilled craftspeople as distinct from artists, or did you mean artists?

 

Yes, I meant to include artisans. Musicians are the primary interest but an artisan would include luthiers as well as others skilled in artistic craft. In my mind, a musician is skilled in an artistic craft. Didn"t mean to get into semantics, but I see the point.
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Quote Originally Posted by DCS

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Yes, I meant to include artisans. Musicians are the primary interest but an artisan would include luthiers as well as others skilled in artistic craft. In my mind, a musician is skilled in an artistic craft. Didn"t mean to get into semantics, but I see the point.

 

Another point of semantics: do you mean a classical liberal, as derived from the root word liberty, or a liberal in the modern context, i.e., a coercive collectivist? confused.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by OldGuitarPlayer

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Harmony Central already has a forum for politics called "The Political Party" I am sure they would love to have you ask questions over there. We generally like to keep things non-political here and focus on acoustic guitar and all that goes with it.

 

Maybe he's secretly penning a little acoustic ditty entitled, "The Political Party," and he's mining this forum for lyrical ideas! smile.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by OldTwelver View Post
. . . The difference was that . . . the conservatives usually just kept mum about politics, especially on stage.

At least that's the way this old guy remembers things. cool.gif

Paul
Perhaps true at one time but it seems nowadays a fair number of Country performers are pretty political. Have been for quite a while in my experience.
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The premise is rooted on modern popular music and the poliltical leanings of artists of the last 60 years.

Rock and roll is a youth movement, youth driven sensibility. And youth are rebellious, socially striving, sensitive to fairness in the world, and economically naive. And just stupid. Thus the attraction to leftist politics.

200 years ago this may have been different.

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Quote Originally Posted by DCS View Post
Yes, I meant to include artisans. Musicians are the primary interest but an artisan would include luthiers as well as others skilled in artistic craft. In my mind, a musician is skilled in an artistic craft. Didn"t mean to get into semantics, but I see the point.
Thanks. wave.gif

I just wasn't sure of the question. If you'd meant "artist," then I did have a theory as to why they might trend left. Artisan, otoh, covers so many more people that I'm not sure any liberal tendency exists. I can't think of a reason why it would.
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Quote Originally Posted by OldGuitarPlayer

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...We generally like to keep things non-political here and focus on acoustic guitar and all that goes with it.

 

I wasn't sure about that, but if that is the rule here I'll certainly abide by it. PLease disregard the question.
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Quote Originally Posted by jamesp View Post
FWIW, you'd get some useful responses in HCPP. There are only two or three posters there that warrant ignoring. The rest are interesting peeps.
Thanks - I am sure it is easy to get a political forum snorting and spitting. They usually live to take a pot shot at anyone who disagrees with them. I was really after guitar players specifically, and older ones at that. After seeing some of the discussions go on in this forum, I guess I'm a little surprised a question pointed fairly specifically at musicians, albeit a political related question, would raise anyone's hackles. I got some very interesting answers when I polled younger musicians in a different media format. They didn't seem to have a need to get into a peeing contest over any of it. Just stated what they believe or don't believe.

Maybe this forum is primarily a vehicle for members to test their ability to tear a premise to pieces. There is a grouch factor here that is palpable. I once knew a guy who seemed to enjoy getting kicked in the nuts. To each his own.
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Quote Originally Posted by DCS View Post
Thanks - I am sure it is easy to get a political forum snorting and spitting. They usually live to take a pot shot at anyone who disagrees with them. I was really after guitar players specifically, and older ones at that. After seeing some of the discussions go on in this forum, I guess I'm a little surprised a question pointed fairly specifically at musicians, albeit a political related question, would raise anyone's hackles. I got some very interesting answers when I polled younger musicians in a different media format. They didn't seem to have a need to get into a peeing contest over any of it. Just stated what they believe or don't believe.

Maybe this forum is primarily a vehicle for members to test their ability to tear a premise to pieces. There is a grouch factor here that is palpable. I once knew a guy who seemed to enjoy getting kicked in the nuts. To each his own.
I'm relatively old, and I "play" guitar after a fashion. I do grouchy, but not exclusively. This forum is billed as on topic only, but there does seem to be some leeway, which, IMO, makes it a much more interesting forum than it would be if absolutely restricted to "on topic."

So, is it classical liberal or modern liberal?
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I'm relatively old, and I
"play"
guitar after a fashion. I do grouchy, but not exclusively. This forum is billed as on topic only, but there does seem to be some leeway, which, IMO, makes it a much more interesting forum than it would be if absolutely restricted to "on topic."


So, is it classical liberal or modern liberal?

 

 

Ah, it is good to see someone make that distinction. As a classical liberal myself (I say that I am a libertarian constitutionalist), I have noticed that many musicians with whom I have associations tend to be conservative. The younger ones tend to be social liberals while fiscal conservatives. I guess it is the sign of the times.

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Awww Dale, c'mon.

What's a premise for, if not to be tested???
:idk:

 

James,

 

You are correct of course. And some of that is very useful. There are those who would prefer to bat around the definition of the word "is" (not in this case but I would guess you get the point). Some are seeking clarity and some think they appear more intelligent if they tear apart a premise rather than address it. If one does not agree with a premise, responding accordingly is still useful data. There was a reason I wanted an over 50 demo and this seemed a good place to get it. I completely understand WHY political commentary is frowned upon here. I wouldn't want to logon hoping to read about acoustic guitar issues and then have some prig insert his or her political views into a totally unrelated question. I have withdrawn the question although I don't buy the virginity portrayed here. Let's march ahead with the great standards like "which guitar should I buy?" or "does humidity really affect my guitar?" or my fav "is there really a tonal difference between different B/S woods?" (paraphrasing obviously).

 

Dale :-)

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You know what they say about wrestling with prigs, don't you?

The prig likes it and you end up getting all fussy. ;)

 

There's really only been one objection to the thread. You've gotten at least a couple of good answers, and two or three questions about the exact meaning of your question (which yeah, imho was a little bit nebulous.) You're doing fine. We should be able to go another three or four pages before having to resort to string threads and such.

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You know what they say about wrestling with prigs, don't you?

The prig likes it and you end up getting all fussy.
;)

There's really only been one objection to the thread. You've gotten at least a couple of good answers, and two or three questions about the exact meaning of your question (which yeah, imho was a little bit nebulous.) You're doing fine. We should be able to go another three or four pages before having to resort to string threads and such.

 

Okay - that was funny. :-)

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