What’s Going On?

Paradigms Equal 20 Cents

Those of us that grew up in the 1960s and 1970s lived through a world that was in flux. The biggest issue for most of us coming of age was the Vietnam War. We grew our hair out, smoked pot, took LSD and protested.

Perhaps the greatest social contribution during this era was ART, most of it Protest Art. Visual art as well as music and poetry. Between the tension of Civil Rights and the War, the late 1960s and early 1970s gave birth to a Creative Revolution. Weed and LSD helped, but the creations came from the Soul of the people.

Today, we have a world of people who are called “Content Creators.” There is basically a career objective now for people who want to be Content Creators. Some of the content is educational, some of it borders on artistic, but a large amount of it just feeds the nation’s narcissistic and anti-intellectual tendencies.

TikTok is the minefield of dumbshittery that claims to have the most “Content Creators.” Again, if you want step-by-step instruction on how to prepare a recipe, great. If you want to take a photo of your poop, not so great. On rare occasions, a person may show up with genuine talent and sing a song…but those are rare.

Primarily, TikTok represents the narcissism and stupidity of the culture. Pets are cute, but is this contributing to the culture? Does it make you think? Does it feed your own curiosity and creativity? Is it creating new paradigms, or do “Paradigms Equal 20 Cents?” It’s a combination of frivolous and just downright stupid.

Which brings us back to SOUL. We were incredibly blessed in the late 60s/early 70s to have artists with immense Soul. The Folk Music and Soul Music of that era came from the depths of human experience. I cannot imagine what a Marvin Gaye would be posting to TikTok in this era?

Admit it, when you hear: “Mother, mother. There’s too many of you crying” that you don’t feel that deep in your soul? Then ask, where is the equivalent of this in modern society?

We’re Made of Star Stuff

We live in a culture where every person has a supercomputer in their pocket that can connect them to any other human on the planet and yet there is an obsession with “Reality Shows” and “Fail Videos?”  It really does make one ask, “What’s Going On?”

Not all of it is garbage. If you scroll through Rolling Stone’s Top 25, some of it promotes “range” or an ability to rethink paradigms. But the bulk of it is trash, time-sucking nonsense…”created” by Millennials and GenZ “Creators.” They grew up in a world where “news” was a screen with nine talking heads yelling at each other and where the loudest voice wins? Answer, we all lose.

Comedy is great, it is a salve for the insanity of the world. Observational comedy has the most soul, however a large majority of it is devaluing of one or multiple groups of our species. Comedy largely requires creativity.

Modern Soul music stays true to its R&B roots, but the lyrics mostly reflect the same obsession with narcissistic and anti-intellectual themes. It’s as deep as a puddle.

“I have been a seeker, and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul.” --Rumi

Again, ‘soul’ transcends the human experience. It takes us to places inside ourselves where we know, deep down, that we are the stuff of which stars are made. It isn’t just the music. Andy Warhol painted from Soul. Otis Redding sang from Soul. Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Aretha Franklin. Soul.

If we are lucky, the insanity of the coming Kakistocracy will birth some of the most potent Protest Art we have seen in decades. It will require these younger generations to do some digging. They don’t need to take acid and grow their hair, simply recognize their place in the Cosmos. As Marvin would say: “Only love can conquer hate. This is our learning ground. It makes us worthy. How else are we worthy; except we prove that we’re worthy. Then one day, we know that we’re Spirit anyway. We become Spirit, when we are worthy. We can rejoin the flame. The flame is pure.”