What we see at left is a a perfect example of a “straw man” argument, i.e., one that deliberately twists one side of the debate. If you asked to guess as to the percentage of Americans who want to give up free enterprise and hand over the “means of production” to the government, I’d say it could be 1/100th of a percent.

Practically nobody wants “everything from the state.” What most of us want, in addition to the many dozens of other things that the U.S. federal, state, and local governments provide us is Medicare for all and subsided education, which is the form of government in the countries that consistently come in at the top of the World Happiness Rankings.

What We Want from the State

The following is simply raw speculation on my part.  I’ll be interested in your comments.

There are musical styles that align themselves with left- and right-wing politics, though none of these, with the possible exception of one, has 100% of its audience–more on this below.

Here are a few musical genres, where they seem to be pro- or anti-Trump. and why:

Classical.  Largely but not exclusively anti-Trump.  Classical appeals to the mind and the emotions that surround the perception of beauty, and people who are strong in these areas are generally anti-Trump.  There are exceptions, in that there are plenty of billionaires and weirdo intellectuals, e.g., the “objectivists” of Ayn Rand fame many of whom adore classical music.

Country.  Pro-Trump.  Most of it appeals to people whose most nuanced thinking concerns getting drunk and laid in the back of their pick-up truck.

HipHop: Pro-Trump.  The opposite of classical, this is music that appeals to the genitalia as opposed to the mind.

Rock.  Mixed bag.  Heavy metal probably favors Trump; fans of prog-rock bands like Yes and Pink Floyd have too much going on in their minds and hearts to be Trump supporters.

Folk: Mostly anti-Trump.  Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan fans aren’t big on stupidity and fascism.  I’m sure there are exceptions.

Reggae: Distinctly anti-Trump.  Black folks’ songs of love, peace, weed, and escape from slavery aren’t going to resonate with the hate of the White supremacists.

The Grateful Dead.  I’ll leave you with this.  If you can find me a single Dead Head Trumper, I’ll be astounded.  Now, I know that essentially no one sits on the fence about the Dead; they have their detractors. But there is essentially zero intersection of Dead Heads and those who favor war, corruption, hate, greed, and ignorance.

Preferences for Musical Genres and Political Demographics

I met a woman from Chicago yesterday who is concerned that the nation’s third-largest city is experiencing increasing frequent and severe tornadoes, causing deaths and inflicting huge amounts of property damage.

She seemed despondent, sadly resigned to the fact that the United States is actively backing out of any efforts it was previously making to mitigate climate change.

Tornadoes in Chicago