Let's Abandon "Pop" Business

Why can’t I stop talking about “pop?” There is a simple example I can pose that directly relates to what has been happening in American media for the last few years. I am going to use an analogy. “To pop,” now is going to be considered “selling out.” I’m not sure if anyone in pop culture even knows what that is anymore. “Sell what?” Selling out means compromising your values for monetary gain. For the longest time American entertainers were at the forefront of real knowledge. That is upon what they based the credibility and integrity of their product. “Making it big” meant you were wise enough to be a comedic social conscience for the country. Being an entertainer had substance, because in the past America was steeped in cultural integrity. Maybe it was because of the Cold War. When communist enemies are on the verge of world dominance, then that frightening thought would compel government and society to “Keep it real.” The consequences of not “keeping it real” would mean drinking lots of Vodka in a police state with long lines for cheese and toilet paper. In the not so distant past that was a real image to the American people. Evidently with the fall of the Cold War the real threat of world domination by a fascist political regime has subsided to a point where the mainstream (no matter how concealed it is) is no longer afraid. How can it be that a monumental terrorist attack on downtown Manhattan could not fuel the same type of fears embodied in the Cold War for so long? Is it that nuclear disarmament has somehow lessened the consequences of a violent take over? Certainly Extreme Islam is every bit as violently potent as the Red Army. In certain ways in the last six years we have seen more violence and disregard for human life than in previous decades fighting the ensuing threat of the Soviet Union. How could it be a more marked threat to national security has merited such a timid reply in pop culture? How could “selling out” for quick, superficial, immediate monetary gratification have taken the place of what once used to be the most visible and viable platform in America? While Extreme Terror has made inroads into the United States, pop media has checked out. This once public forum of ethical and moral philosophy led by entertainers has now moved to the internet taken over by the common man. The rapid influx of “blogging” has made a sizeable dent in the tradition of journalism, and media is still reeling from it. What I don’t understand is how the tried and true history of broadcast journalism suddenly disappeared? Is it because the newest generation working in the communications industry have not been schooled in the “Old School” of communications? When Devry University came along and said dad’s skills were now outdated, did that apply to every viable vocation nurtured in the United States since her inception? Who would have the power to disassemble the very infrastructure of America and leave it in such mass disarray? “To sell out” must be qualified. “To sell out” means that a traditional set of values common to most people were actively abandoned in return for monetary gain. That means we first must acknowledge what those values are. Those values are what used to be embodied in a traditional liberal arts education in school. A mixture of science, English writing, foreign language, math, and the arts made up a core of what our country thought important in educating future citizens of the United States. These principles have endured the majority of the history of the United States, and they were carried over from the study of Western Civilization. European models of university surely became building blocks for America’s educational system. Then something happened. Suddenly someone began to say the traditional set of values and skills we prized and valued were no longer applicable to “modern” America. Dad had to do a quick double take and realized “someone” was now discrediting much of his working life. “You are no longer valuable to us, Mr. Smith. Your years of service to the company are no longer appreciated,” and Mr. Smith was tossed to the dogs without a care in the world by the company. “That’s the way it is. Take it or leave it. Win or lose. That’s the way of the world.” I don’t believe anyone who lives in America would think this was appropriate behavior. While you could justify such behavior by the definition of Capitalism (if it doesn’t sell, you are out of a job) it doesn’t represent moral behavior. How could a large company that has been served for many years by faithful employees suddenly say, “Screw you.”? That would mean religion was absent from the company’s policy, thus relieving them of the higher responsibility to their workers as people. Separating religion from business would allow private companies to abuse their workers in the names of their jobs, much like has been done in many other third world companies outsourced with American manufacturing jobs. It would be easy in Mexico, India, or China to abuse your workers making American products without scrutiny by the judicial branch of government. While the separation of religion and state has been a public issue for many years, no one has really talked about religion in business. How could this be possible seeing as we live in a Capitalist nation employing a public workforce for a privately owned means of production? Would not the rights of employees be governed by the tenants of religion? If there weren’t tried and true labor practices enforced by unions, what would govern employers treatment of their employees? I guess it would be government, yet systematically the federal government has continued to DE-regulate private businesses and provide tax breaks for the rich. It must be the traditional work ethic and value system of America that has served us so well since the beginning has now become defunct. With the out-sourcing of staple manufacturing jobs that were the meat and potatoes of so many middle class Americans, so out-sourced was our value system. No longer is there a need for the defining of vocations crucial to the inception, development, and creation of a product held in high esteem by the American people. Our mainstream has been out-sourced and with it its governance of acceptable rules of conduct for both media and pop culture. If there no longer was a set of rules in place meant to guide Americans in a worthwhile and fruitful existence, then anything would go. Boundaries would be broken and chaos would ensue. America’s new reliance upon personal entertainment technology and wireless communications has undermined the intellectual integrity of America. No longer is the technology sector seeking to raise its status by developing products that will help mankind endure. Technology like media has lost its heart. There is no human theme driving the market. Somehow the change of threat from Russian nuclear invasion to Extreme Islam has disguised the true nature of man. We must survive. We must survive on this small and fragile planet with lessening supplies of fresh water, air, and cold. Why would it be that Al Qaeda would seem less of a threat than a vastly armed Soviet Block? The Soviets were at the forefront of many disciplines including space exploration. For intellectual reasons we feared them because it appeared they had more wisdom than we did in certain areas. Al Qaeda has sent no capsule into space nor have they produced Olympic level athletes. It is for this reason we fear them less? It would seem we would fear them more, because unlike traditional intelligent human beings with a need for civility and enlightenment, they focus their attention only on destruction. Oddly enough media and pop culture as abandoned our fight against Extreme Islam. Instead they have disconnected, de-sensitized, and attempted to create a false reality of superficial propaganda that we really do not fear Al Qaeda at all. Is that the proper thing to do in the wake of such public displays of escalating violence, especially in our school systems? “Send Big and Rich out there to distract the folks from reality.” Has that been the philosophy of media for the last five years? My suggestion is we apply an old term. Media should be replaced with the term “Communications.” From now on if media has nothing to communicate, then they shouldn’t be on the air. There is no eye candy. Life is too short to forget why we are here, and that is what is happening. The campaign of business that has undermined our society, our work ethic, and our values should be abandoned for the core values we have always held. Put down that plastic. Stop using the ATM. Turn off the cell phone. Count your pennies. Keep a checkbook. Don’t watch primetime television. Ride your bike. Make your own clothes. Organize a neighborhood athletic team. Grow your own garden. Let’s put the shallow businesses that destroyed our mainstream back into perspective. We matter. The American people matter. Cell phones do not matter. In this way when someone does get up to sing a song, it will be about something for which they care.