Interesting take. Of course, the root cause of the problem is "blue state philosophy", as usual.
It's actually a pretty good article. I listen to the new rock bands listed and I never really knew there was such a common denominator.
Often it doesn't. My older Grandaughters started listening to Christian rock music as an alternative to MTV and hip-hop. They were tired of feeling opressed by the music and lyrics. I just smiled (Thank You, Jesus!).
[Short Dawg]
You say how can I make these dirty raps
Number one albums, back to back
If it was 1950, do you think I sell, no
They probably throw me straight to jail
I tell you life just ain't what it used to be
Between you and me, exclusively
Everybody's changed, were losing our minds
The government won't help, cause they refuse to find
A solution to the problems of the inner streets
Its a shame what our kids are beginning to be
Pregnant teenagers, young gun slangers
There ain't no love, there ain't nothin but anger
We don't go to church and can't pray in school
Listen real close to what I'm sayin fool
I know kids who went to school together
Now they all grown up, tryin to kill each other
Shootouts on the playground is where it goes down
But back in the day, we rode the merry-go-round
And some little kid might shoot me tonight
And I always used to wonder what the future be like
Curse words on the tv and radio
You wanna see sex, turn it on HBO
Late at night, you see women freak women
Sex sells, that's why I keep pimpin
I grew up in the 70s', somethin like Crooklyn
But I was in Cali not Brooklyn
I could tell the whole world was going crazy
But it really didn't happen til the 80s'
With freebasin and smokin crack
A lotta people learned not to joke with that
Streets flooded, with homeless folks
Whole families, lives gone up in smoke
We're all related to a crackhead
Sometimes I wake up in the mornin and wanna go back to bed
Layin these thinkin bout things
About the way life change
How women used to like to wear decent clothes
Now they curse like men and dress like hoes
You supposed to be a virgin til you marry
But teenage girls find it normal to carry a baby
Babies havin babies
Rappers like me always disrespectin ladies
Wonder why its like that, well so do I
But I just turn my back and then I go get high
Cause I get paid real good to talk bad about a bitch
And you bought it, so don't be mad I got rich
Ask your grandparents, is life the same
Man thangs change
Chorus
Very interesting article.. thanks for posting!
The damage inflicted upon this generation by 50% divorce rates and absent fathers is going to be catastrophic and I dont think we have seen the worst yet.
Fascinating article. The difficulty is that it posits no way for society to break free of the vicious cycle going on here. Strict parents in the 50s bred children who rebelled by totally indulging their every whim regardless of the cost to others. This generation in turn created a bitter one with children who felt deprived of any kind of childhood in the classical sense. Yet, like their parents, it seems the rap generation is determined to live their ideal childhoods in adulthood while inflicting the same pain on their children that they rage about in their music. I have seen no indication that rappers and others want to become responsible adults themselves.
The baby boomers wanted a society where everything was okay and guilt was non-existent. To that end, they created myths to perpetuate their "right" to live their lifestyles without guilt--i.e., abortion hurts no one, divorce is constructive, indulgence is love, and neglect is empowering. What I see now is that the next generation is truly lacking in guilt or a sense of responsibility for their own actions. The baby boomers had to lie constantly to avoid guilt. The new generation thinks it is entitled to hate their parents and neglect their own children and have no problems, apparently, with guilt (except maybe in the incoherent way that suicide seems to indicate).
So how do we break out of the cycle? I don't think anything less than a major cultural revolution will do it. We need to do everything we can to give our children and our children's children genuine childhoods during their childhood years so they won't spend the rest of their lives seeking the lost childhood. This would involve some major discussions of what exactly is a childhood? Is it strict discipline? Is it some indulgence, some discipline? Is it parents there for the kids regardless of how strong the marriage, in other words, the dreaded "staying together for the kids"? Is it stopping the tendency of parents to "educate" their kids by laying on them adult worries such as financial stresses, strained marriages and so forth? Is it stopping the sexualization of children? There are so many factors in how childhood has been robbed and perverted that it is a daunting task to even begin.
This article touches on a lot of it and yet it is a big step beyond to try to stop the pain from perpetuating itself through the generations, esecially when it means facing the painful answers that may affect our own self-indulgence. May we have the courage to do so.
BTTT
Interesting article. Since most of these "artists" writing these songs are now adults, it just goes to show that the pain of parental divorce is something the kids have to live with for the rest of their lives. It's too bad parents don't think of that first. I know that pain, and there are a lot of us who are now married who will do whatever it takes to avoid repeating the cycle.
All we can do is be vigilant. But, until kids think it's cool to be moral and upstanding, it's an uphill battle indeed.
whining brats seeking reason to keep from getting a grip alert.
...offering up a silent prayer of thanks for my parents, and theirs.
Good post.
As others, I read the whole article. I'm exposed to the music, and the teenagers. I have concerns for my son (who just turned 9), because his mother is no longer around. She died when he was four, though by now we probably would have been divorced. I know it is, and will continue to be, hard for him to separate death from abandonment. I know he misses her, whether it was voluntary or not.
My parents were born in the 1920's, and are still together, me being a late addition. My childhood rocked, and I only wish my son could have what I did. I do my best, and I hope that is what will make the difference.
Pink is a talented singer. I heard her sing that song on Letterman or Leno, and it's a powerful, heartbreaking song. Maybe I'm a bit more sensitive to it all since I, and my children, went through a divorce.
Libs aren't the only ones who have family problems and/or get divorced. There are some thought-provoking items in this article for every parent.
Bump in hopes of an executive summary in there somewhere.
Good article. Long article. I must admit to not reading every word, but it was insightful.
Interesting article. I can't say I like most of the bands involved, but it's pretty convincing to see the common theme running through all their music.
Baloney.
And there is ICP's family:
After I was done killin' all tha yuppie fucks
all tha poor kids would come n' swing from my nuts
and I would walk home feelin' like a Samurai
I'd walk in tha house, and see my momma cry
I's ask why, she'd point to my drunkin' pops
he tried ta hit her again, but that sh*t STOPS
I kick him in his throat, you hear his neck break
I throw a roundhose and knock his beard off his face
I tell him, "Dad, now look at all your broken glass,
why don'tcha pick it all-up n' stick it in yer *ss."
I watch him do it, "Now hurry up ya take fo'eva'."
when he was done I'd squeeze his butt-cheeks togetha'
"Now get tha F*CK out my house, neva' come back!"
I throw a chinese star, stick him in his *ss-crack (Ahhhh)
I turn to my mudda, "I'm sorry that he hit'cha!"
DAMN I wish I could be a ninja