http://blogcritics.org/ A sinister cabal of superior bloggers on music, books, film, popular culture, politics, and technology - updated continuously. en Copyright 2005 by the authors Wed, 23 Mar 2005 09:36:27 EST http://backend.userland.com/rss Blogcritics.org custom software http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/22/154055.php#comment-131612 Thanks guys, great thread. 131612@blogcritics.org Wed, 23 Mar 2005 09:36:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/22/154055.php#comment-131515 Excellent comment above. I would add that Music is a powerful toool, both for communicative purposes and expressive purposes. On it's own, in any capacity, music cannot "make" anyone shoot,violate or dessicrate anything. The "factors": you adress so poignantly are predisposing factors, especialy where school aged children are involved/implicated need to be considered.Environment, peer, social support and eduction and well as SES, SOCIO ECONOMIC STATUS, is one of the leading causes of psychological well being in the USA. Further, it is the perpetuation of patriotism and nationalism that leads to this sort of deviant behavior. It instills a rebellious, "you told me to, so I won't do it" response in children. If they had the basic freedom/sense of self efficacy to begin with and were not treated as lesser, incompetent imbeciles, this would be lessened. The mass media and conservatist views that plague your country do not aid in this matter. Ipso Facto, you guys are being bamboozled by your government, your president and your "right to bear arms" The political agenda going on right now is so much more than just censorship and this is just the beginning. Just wait until Uncle Sam blames Manson/Ozzie/Pantera/Anguilara for his latest "war on terrorism" or should I say "cover my ass-ism?" I find your definition of "free speech" and "freedom of the press" to be an utter fallacy. 131515@blogcritics.org Tue, 22 Mar 2005 22:16:51 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/22/154055.php#comment-131417 If a company dumps toxins into the environment, someone will try to hold them responsible for birth defects or other health anomalies even if they are not the only possible cause because it is likely their actions were a contributing cause. I do not support censorship. LET ME REPEAT: I do not support censorship. But I cannot for the life of me understand why people think the only power music has over people is the power of commerce. There is a lot of evidence that suggests music does have an effect on people, sometimes that effect is profound, sometimes that effect is positive and sometimes not. Music has the power to draw money out of millions of pockets. Music communicates ideas. All kinds of ideas. Ideas are not responsible for the people they attract. But music is a medium that transfers thoughts and emotions. There is a power in that. Fertilizer can help things grow. Fertilizer can be used to build a powerful bomb. We do not ban fertilizer, but there are restrictions and safeguards in place. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. But people kill people with guns. Do we ban all guns? No, but we do place have some restrictions and safeguards. Music may not pull the trigger. It might not even suggest violence as a means to solve problems. But music can (and often does) have a powerful effect on the human mind. It seems valid to consider it among many possible factors when situations like this occur. There are no easy answers so we have to ask hard questions. 131417@blogcritics.org Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:55:27 EST http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/03/22/154055.php#comment-131408 Who's blaming the music? Certainly not me. If there are fingers to point, then lets get them pointed in the right direction. Young people these days have no concept of "value" or "self" or "morality". They know not what purpose their life has and therefore fail to find any other direction for themselves than evil. Do good, knowone notices. Do bad, the entire country notices. Lets not blame guns either, they are just objects with no mind of their own. Guns dont kill people, people kill people, so until we as a nation begin leading our youth towards good values and morality (yes the ten commandments too) we are all to blame. Carl 131408@blogcritics.org Tue, 22 Mar 2005 16:28:08 EST