In which Jen earns of the ire of Cat
Disclaimer, The First: I once was a conservative, but that was before I came to UA and saw the Republican Club here. Now I'm more liberal. However, if you look really really closely, you can still see images of Conservative Jen. Conservative Jen is described as Jen who is against abortion, against illegal immigrants, and other such lovely ideas commonly associated with the Republican party. Since Jen is no longer Conservative Jen, she cannot recall every single one of her previous views, so please just accept the idea that she was once a much more conservative version of what she is now. Current Jen is fairly liberal but chooses not to associate herself with the Democratic Party because they are, in her opinion, extremely disorganized and out-of-touch.
Disclaimer, The Second: Jen has no followed the band Green Day for all her life. However, she owns two of their albums: Shenanigans and Warning. She rather likes Shenanigans. As far as their latest Album, Jen is a bit under the influence of Cat, and Jen borrowed American Idiot from Cat. Jen is no Green Day expert but was familiar with them pre-A.I. (American Idiot).
Disclaimer, The Third: Jen has not listened to the whole American Idiot Album. Right now, she's focusing on the latest single, also titled American Idiot. The lyrics are here http://www.lyrics007.com/Green%20Day%20Lyrics/American%20Idiot%20Lyrics.html .
One of Catherine's favorite quotes is "Religion is the opiate of the masses," or something to that extent, as said by her favorite dead white guy F. Nietzsche. I happen to disagree with Cat. I believe that music is the opiate of the masses. And no, for the record, I'm not a member of one of those organizations who believes that MTV music is turning the nation's teenagers into a mass of satanic, immoral demons. I just believe that Music (which falls under the Arts slice, I believe, of the IB polygon) is able to influence people in ways other mediums cannot. Take the idea of ancient armies carrying drums and bugles onto the battlefield. It was largely ceremonial, but it certainly fired up the soldiers. Also, take the example of violence at rock concerts. Here's a citation to one of the first items I got on google (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1055101). It's certainly not unheard of for fans, in the throes of the music, to act irrationally. I make no ties to the effect of music on tragedies such as the Columbine Massacre, but simple say that music affects people's emotions and can cause them to act in ways that they wouldn't normally. The armies used the musical instruments to instill a feeling of righteousness and bravery into the troops.
I choose the talk about A.I. because I have access to the CD. I own a few CDs with political messages (Rise Against) but none as so blantantly political as A.I. A.I. in general talks about being a disillusioned American Citizen in Bush America. My contention here is that A.I. (the single, haven't heard the entire album) serves the same purpose as the drums and bugles of yesterday's armies: to incite strong feelings on people--whether it be rational or not. Lines such as "Don't want to be an American idiot/Don't want a nation under the new media/And can you hear the sound of hysteria?/The subliminal mindfuck America" paint an interesting picture of the media controlling the United States. According to Green Day, only an idiot would allow himself to be brainwashed by the media. While this is a valid argument, for some, this political message mixed with music is exactly like the media Green Day complains about. Music can influence people's emotions like nothing else can. Whether the message Green Day sends out is valid or not isn't part of my argument. Mainly, I just believe that the effect of the CD on the listener (knower) is exactly like the effect of the media on the American citizen. However, Green Day divides America into two groups: idiots and non-idiots. I believe that since the message is in music form, listeners are less likely to question this division than if it were printed in the newspaper or some more traditional form.
As a political message, my conclusion is the music is effective. However, encourage free thought it does not. Music with messages only divides people more. White Power Rock is a genre listened to by White racists and it only encourages them to be more racist. Christian music is supposed to make the faithful even more faithful. Music with messages makes people feel more strongly. However, it is possible that conversions to the artist's perspective happen. When this happens, especially with political messages, it isn't a valid or logical conversion since music has an illogical effect on people. Music is about the pathos, not the logos.