Our system of government and our politics were not designed for the stress under which they now are under. Lots of very smart analysts write and say things that are insightful and generally (but, importantly, not always) depressing. But we all need to understand what is going on. For that reason, The Daily Music Break now is talking politics.
For me, the best and most hopeful way to look at the situation that is shaking our country to its roots is through a small story.
TDMB’s decision to include politics was made during an all-hands-on-deck staff meeting that ended moments before this candid shot was taken. Actually, it’s Teddy Roosevelt and the Republican National Committee in 1904 at Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay, NY.
In an effort to get out of the house more, I work in the schools in NYC (Queens) a couple of days each week. I keep my political opinions to myself…most of the time. A school aide and I were watching some kids on the playground around election day last November. She made a comment based on the assumption that as an older white guy I naturally was a Trump supporter. It was infuriating and tempers flared. We stomped away before it escalated. I had my feelings about her and she had hers about me. From that point on, we spoke only when necessary to do our jobs.
Fast forward to the spring. A troubled youngster who was usually my responsibility became attached to her. She was essentially the only person to whom the boy would listen. That put her in position to help him in a way nobody else in the building could. But dealing with this very damaged child was unpleasant and difficult.
Working one-on-one with students is not in a school aide’s job description and she had every right to walk away. She didn’t. In fact, she reacted with a great attitude and sense of humor. I was the main beneficiary of her help since the kid was assigned to me.
Her involvement with this boy meant we had to communicate a lot. We handled daily crises (alongside other staffers) and gradually began chatting about non-political topics when things were calm. I ended the year liking her a lot and feeling that she liked me.
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The point of the story in the context of the partial reorientation of The Daily Music Break is clear. Once you really get to know somebody, they become more than a representation of the candidate or broader governing philosophy that candidate represents. They become individuals, not members of the other tribe. In this case, that individual was very nice.
The challenge is that the technology has evolved to a point at which it’s extremely easy for people to be controlled and one side to be weaponized against the other. If random events had not broken in this way, the school aide and I would never have been more than political enemies.
Continue reading after the music break…
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There are many familiar faces in this video from the third Farm Aid in 1987. The love of this country is palpable. My favorite moment is the look on Neil Young’s face. He is thrilled to be there. The message and spirit of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land”– which should be our national anthem — has never more important.
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Technology is making us forget that. In reality, we all are the victims. Victims of social media, all-news channels with no fealty to the truth, clever algorithms, AI-generated falsehoods and other tools designed to demean and foment never-ending crises. Politics never was perfect. (Google Alexander Hamilton and James Callender.) But technology stresses the toxicity.
An adjacent problem is that about one-third of Americans exercise their right not to vote. The problems we face are big and the price of failure great. It’s tragic that so many people sit it out.
Along came the 2024 election and its unhappy aftermath. I volunteered with a group that focuses on voter registration. The project I work on produces podcasts on a topic of interest to a demographic group (young people and their financial issues) in such a way that they are likely to see the value of voting for progressive candidates.
The thought occurred to me that I could do the same thing with The Daily Music Break. I have a stockpile of posts featuring great music and information about the people who made it.
The Daily Music Break will provide voter information and political commentary while continuing to post great music. The hope is folks who come here for music will look at some of the political and voter content. The aim is to both motivate folks who don’t vote and make the case for change for those who do.
I wouldn’t be taking time and incurring the expense of doing this if the current administration was simply taking positions with which I disagreed. That’s part of living in a democracy. Sometimes your side loses and, when it does, a lot of decisions with which you disagree are made.
The Trump administration is doing that. But it is far deeper. It is a conscious, well thought-out, methodical and skillfully engineered long-term effort to fundamentally change our country. Trump is just the highest profile individual in the effort.
The current administration follows the laws and norms that help it and ignores those that don’t. It has unleashed cruelty and malevolence that should shock any American. regardless of their political views and party membership. Non-voters should vote. Those who vote should donate. Those who vote and donate should volunteer.
Those who voted for Trump should not vote Republican in the midterms a year-and-a-half from now and in any election in the interim. Accepting new information and changing positions accordingly is a sign of strength and intelligence, not weakness or betrayal. This site will describe ways in which the administration is hurting America. It will provide voting information.
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The postscript to the story at the beginning of this post is that the child now is in the special district of the New York City school system for those needing special care. Hopefully, they can help him.
