January 8, 2021
JOURNAL 210108 – Had he lived, Elvis Presley would be celebrating his 86th birthday today. When asked to which political party he belonged, I believe he said, “I’m an entertainer.”
Let’s talk politics. As you may know, I am a college professor in my spare time. I love hanging with my students. It gives me hope for the future.
One of my favorite classes to teach is This History of Rock’n’Roll. On day one, my first lecture is always about historical perspective. We all love to conjecture about the historical value of today’s music and how it measures up to the greats of the past. Well, the truth is, we haven’t got a clue about whether Justin Bieber is going to stand the test of time. This week, he has three songs in the top 10. Will any of these songs last? I dunno. But, I can tell you that Yesterday by the Beatles is a classic. Most of the population can sing it off the top of their head.
Not to get too far off-topic, but... can you sing me a couple of bars of Anyone? It is a really powerful hook. And it is sung well, produced well, and certainly deserves to sit atop the iTunes chart this week.
So, in my class, we always look at today’s music to find out where it came from. Ya know, its roots. But I never pontificate about its ability to transcend time and make any determination as to how it will fare in a couple of decades. That is a fool’s errand.
Examples of historical conjecture are rampant. The number one “song of the decade of the 70s” was declared by all the people in the know on New Year’s Day 1980: You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone.
History is written by the survivors, the successors, the victors.
Remember that.
Also remember Ben Bradley’s famous words, “The truth will always come out.” What he didn’t add, was that the truth will be laid bare by the survivors.
So, what does that mean in terms of the “historic” transactions of the last few days? Well, first of all, we are quite sure that whatever happened at our Capitol on January 6, 2021, was historic. Why? Duh. It happened, and it was something that stopped the world in its tracks. No argument can be made about that. And trust me on this one, the successors are not going to let this one go. Younger Americans (the survivors) are going to dig deep to find out the who, what, and why about everything Donald J. Trump. including this tragic event, the lead-up, and its aftermath. Don’t think of this as anything big or important. It’s just normal. We will always dig into the facts about every president. Just remember who the diggers are.
Demographics rule. It is impossible to fight demographics. You can complain all you want about the way it used to be, and how the young are irresponsible and don’t know what they are talking about, but they will survive the old. Right now, we are living through a giant demographic shift. It is accelerating thanks to the internet and technology. We are going to watch Red turn to Purple and Purple to Red. It’s a decades thing, not a day, month, or even yearly phenomenon. History changes ever so slowly, one funeral at a time.
And there you have it. That is my political commentary on today’s events. Tragic for sure. People died and the People’s House desecrated. Trump just acquiesced. He may change his mind. Ya know that guy is a little on the volatile side. I will not conjecture. That is not what I do. I am a history professor.
In a couple of decades, I will be glad to dissect all of these political battles for you. Assuming I am still around. If I am not, I guarantee you that one of my students will be glad to do it for you. One can guess what they may think of this whole mess.