| | "This discussion's been had many times before. On the whole, I think it's difficult to reconcile some particular musical styles (e.g. metal, punk, rap) with Objectivism. But certainly, individualist spirit is alive in very rare instances. (Some might say, "Jewels amongst the sewerage.")"
It's an old discussion, I'm sure. (And tired.)
"Back in the day", a decade or more before Green Day and Blink 182, I was listening exclusively to early punk and what they now call "alternative". It was not so hard to find "jewels". Most of the music was brought about by those who were questioning philosophies/religions/politics/culture that did not make sense to them, and the lyrics as well as the musical styles were highly individualistic and probing. To say that the individualist spirit is rare to find is inaccurate. The music was born about by the very individualist spirit you claim is so rare.
I think that some answers these artists came to could not be reconciled with Objectivism. The movement was filled with unexamined contradictions. But, if one thing above all could be reconciled was the sense of individualism they strove for and the fun they had doing it. These “punks” were not mindless Nazi’s, as I read in another thread. But sweeping judgements of that sort seem to be popular with some Objectivists. Although I understand the arguments made on the aesthetic level and how it pertains to Objectivism and The Romantic Manifesto, I really see these kinds of remarks as ill-informed.
Oh…and I seem to remember Rand’s favorite music was “Tiddly-Wink Music”, whatever that is. It doesn’t sound like anything too sophisticated or grandiose to me, or filled with heady lyrical content. It sounds like FUN. And a lot of punk, believe it or not, is downright fun. I think that some of the folks here that are so unforgiving towards any other music that is not smacking of loftiness and heroism would find “Tiddly-Wink Music” rather pedestrian, if it weren’t that Rand loved it so.
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