Rock music and Republicans is not a very natural mix -- Woody Allen make a joke of it in Annie Hall. Just as rock music and Christians are not a natural mix, either. Rock music and Liberal & Democrats is more of a natural mix. The numbers of this last mix is huge. Very broadly, rock music is about change and rebellion against the status quo -- conservatives want to preserve the status quo. Rock is about feeling first and foremost (not complex intellectual music) and feelings against some perceived injustice (Vietnam war = folk rock protest music, girlfriend leaving you = blues & country music, against parental authority = heavy metal music, against the establishment & G W Bush = punk rock and/or psychedelic music, etc.) Rock is the call for liberation but the liberation preached in the 60s was mostly informed by a subtle strain of Marxism (Frankfurt School) out to destroy the capitalist system. It culminated in hedonism. And yet, ironically enough, rock's Jethro Tull, ELP, Yes, Genesis, Gentle Giant, etc., were inspired and informed by classical music, a tradition that didn't seek outright rebellion and which wanted to conserve older music and values from the past. But most rock music thrives on novelty and Ted Nugent is a dinosaur playing dinosaur music -- he probably shoots pterodactyls with a bow and arrow for breakfast. He is a caveman of the past. He sends a mixed message to young musicians: embrace good traditional family values but be a rebel, which for many young people may mean adopting a pro gay position, save the planet against capitalism (eco crusades), denigrate Christianity, etc. Rebellion is important if one knows why one is rebelling and not just something "cool" to do and attractive if you're a teen who wants to be "different" or have an identity separate from his parents. Rebellion can be sold by media and Hollywood and it would be great if Ted addressed that issue for aspiring rock stars. The real rebel would actually rebel against Hollywood and the countless musicians who conform by buying into being a "rebel."
Ted is a good guitar player -- good phrasing, passionate, good tone, etc. -- for the music he does. I heard him last year in concert in the park and I was impressed.
Excellent, excellent post. Superb. I hope Ted Nugent reads it. Especially this:
It would be great if Ted addressed that issue for aspiring rock stars.
I know this is way out there but it comes to mind with regard to the discussion, which really has to do with skills required versus admiration received. Disciplined creative people (as opposed to high-earning abstract managers and directors) in my experience tend to be leave-me-alone conservatives who think liberalism is expensive and insulting.
Folks able to be persuaded that a big green dot on a canvas is "art" deserving of praise (though there are demonstrably very few skills involved in conceiving or producing the "artwork") who will pay tens of thousands of dollars for it, are ... willfully scammed in the name of "defiance" and more than likely big-government liberals, republican or democrat, who indulge for all the wrong reasons. It just seems that way to me. There's a correlation between actual skills and production and natural affinity with conservatism.
I like that Nugent reminds us about defying stupid rules. Yeager, an ultimate survivor, wrote "The rules are for people who aren't willing to make up their own." There are a lot of laws higher than the laws of man. Such as freedom from slavery and the God-given right to refuse work at will. Liberals threaten that with every step they make. Republican and Democrat.
There's a fail-safe mechanism in our human make-up, I suppose. In order to achieve great technological and living condition superiority, a society must first achieve great civilization superiority and ability to thrive and sparkle, as we've had the good fortune of experiencing over the past several centuries. When that civilization degenerates, so does its ability to produce tech superiority.
Being skilled requires being civilized; in our reality, Christian civilized. Western Judeo Christianity wiped out the slave trade. Nine-year-old girls don't get married under WJC ethics, gossip is frowned upon, and envy repressed because it is counterproductive. Being honest and honorable and treating others the way you'd like to be treated includes leaving folks alone as you'd like to be left alone. I look at some of the finest people I know, and so many don't call themselves Christian yet they are the backbone of this nation because they by default embrace the Judeo Christian ethic and this is the most important: they are PRODUCTS of 3 or 4 thousand generations of it dominating Western civilization, the most free and prosperous acheived yet. But they don't see it -- they call themselves atheists and think it's sensible. Yeah, right. *sigh*