The Good Old Days

      It's hard to think that years from now, I am going to look back on this time considering the massive problems of the world and the nostalgic poet in me will miss it.
      Obviously one of the great contributing factors to why Americans always yearn for Pax Americana has been the innovative achievements of our society. With innovation comes change. Change is not an effect that human beings adjust well to. We, as creatures of habit, mostly disdain developments that cause us to either reevaluate our viewpoint or alter our habits of comfort.
      Since the Industrial Revolution, we have continuously been bombarded by more and more advancements in technology, knowledge, policy, etc which naturally make us think about how nice life was before the advancement.
      For example, when we look back on the 1950's (as many people do), life appeared simpler in the basic context of things. Of course if we really looked back at the 50's, we would remember that racism was still violently evident and our war with communism was just beginning among countless other social issues.
      Still, when we use the phrase, “the good old days”, we are expressing our belief that things were better in the past when society was less advanced and the problems of the status quo were yet unknown. As our society further advances we will no doubt look back as seniors citizens one day and although the state of affairs in America is volatile, we will find some positive aspect of this era to long for again.    

SOTU

Tonight is the State of the Union Address. I find myself unsure of what the President will actually say besides some cliché positive, and inspiring prose about winning the future and his accomplishments to come. What I am sure to see is the disgruntled looks from the GOP led by Mr. Boehner.

I was of the belief that all of the problems between the White House and Congress were solely to blame on the stubborn arrogance of the Republicans. Recently I heard someone explain that perhaps the GOP would not have reacted so poorly towards working with Obama had he not ignored them his first 2 years when the Dems ruled the House. This lack of discourse may have come from a focus on getting done what the President thought he had to while the Democrats had the chance. This may have also been a subtle attempt to kick the GOP while they were down. Unfortunately, it turned out that building good relationships when the Republicans were down might have better helped the policy making in this country get to a constructive speed.

The Republicans could have been the better men and looked beyond their petty quarrels with Obama and the Dems. Obama should have built positive relationships with those across the isle as he professed the importance of in his book. I guess the old saying, “that’s showbiz!” stands further true: “that’s politics!”

Getting Started

This is my first attempt at blogging. I wanted my topic to be broad while keeping an underlying theme of music. As a musician at heart, the world makes sense to me when I can relate events to lyrics and instrumentals. Though at times I can easily rant about something completely unrelated to music, I can always find a song to post that speaks louder than my written feelings. My hope is that as the world teaches me new things everyday, my writing will also help me learn more about myself.