The Mighty Musical Observations Thread

[Dr. Medulla]

When it came to the line "if you think 5 per cent is too small", i couldn't resist a small chuckle. Because 5% on high earners was what corbyns labour proposed - can imagine how much of that Shaun would recoup from his, I'm speculating, extensive use of nhs services - only i imagine Shaun got it mixed up with the song and took it corbyn was going to take the "nineteen".

In the US, from the 30s to early 60s, the rate for the top bracket ($100K, I think) was 90%. JFK got that cut to 70%. People on the right often fetishize the 50s because (in part) of the wider prosperity, but a lot of it was funded by a serious downward transfer of wealth.

The fetish among the ruling elite in the UK is for low taxes, lax regulation, leave wealth in peace and let it filter down to the masses on its own. The old trickledown bullshit. The one thing a tory leader can never do is raise income tax, a perennial pledge, so all they can do is either trick voters with other stealth taxes or else say fuck it and let essential services take the hit while managing with inexplicable success to foist the blame on other parties. It really is some con trick when you think about it.

Same thing here. Cut taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else (which are labeled "inefficiencies"). One frequent rhetorical trick is citing a so-called "tax freedom day," which is the date when the average person's share of their annual income that goes to taxes, arrives. So, if 5/12 of your income goes to taxes, tax freedom is 1 June. It gets people angry that their money is being stolen. But that calculation ignores what one's taxes cover that you'd otherwise have to pay privately. It pretends that you get nothing at all from your taxes, that it's pure theft. More honest accounting regularly shows tax freedom day is usually around 3 or 4 January—that it's, at most, 1% of your annual income that is wasted via taxation. Not as neat a narrative, tho, when you want to transfer more wealth upward.

[Low Down Low]

Hello,

For those too young to recall, the Curt Flood situation was a very big deal back when baseball was the king of US sports (America's pastime!). Fans threw beer at him during games and he received multiple death threats.

Perhaps not surprising, he left the US for Europe for several years and became an alcoholic. He said that the only part that really hurt was the general lack of support from other players. He was throwing his career for them and few could even bother offering support, let alone agreeing to testify. Once free agency was achieved, every spring training Marvin Miller would go to each team's camp and tell the players that they owe their high incomes to Curt Flood, so by the 1980s he was finally getting his due. But Curt Flood ain't in the HoF and neither is Marvin Miller. Bowie fucking Kuhn is, tho. Appalling.

I'm familiar with the name but not the details of the story and is one I'll have to check out. I sometimes wince when the "slave" word is evoked to describe certain situations, but in this one, i don't believe it was any way inappropriate at all.

[Low Down Low]

When it came to the line "if you think 5 per cent is too small", i couldn't resist a small chuckle. Because 5% on high earners was what corbyns labour proposed - can imagine how much of that Shaun would recoup from his, I'm speculating, extensive use of nhs services - only i imagine Shaun got it mixed up with the song and took it corbyn was going to take the "nineteen".

In the US, from the 30s to early 60s, the rate for the top bracket ($100K, I think) was 90%. JFK got that cut to 70%. People on the right often fetishize the 50s because (in part) of the wider prosperity, but a lot of it was funded by a serious downward transfer of wealth.

The fetish among the ruling elite in the UK is for low taxes, lax regulation, leave wealth in peace and let it filter down to the masses on its own. The old trickledown bullshit. The one thing a tory leader can never do is raise income tax, a perennial pledge, so all they can do is either trick voters with other stealth taxes or else say fuck it and let essential services take the hit while managing with inexplicable success to foist the blame on other parties. It really is some con trick when you think about it.

Same thing here. Cut taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else (which are labeled "inefficiencies"). One frequent rhetorical trick is citing a so-called "tax freedom day," which is the date when the average person's share of their annual income that goes to taxes, arrives. So, if 5/12 of your income goes to taxes, tax freedom is 1 June. It gets people angry that their money is being stolen. But that calculation ignores what one's taxes cover that you'd otherwise have to pay privately. It pretends that you get nothing at all from your taxes, that it's pure theft. More honest accounting regularly shows tax freedom day is usually around 3 or 4 January—that it's, at most, 1% of your annual income that is wasted via taxation. Not as neat a narrative, tho, when you want to transfer more wealth upward.

Ideal world you have political leaders who can bring in tough measures when required and explain honestly why there're needed and the benefits that will accrue. But when labour try to do that, they get caught in a "red menace" backlash, they're coming to steal your house, your money, your wife etc. It's hopeless. I read a startling fact about Germany recently, maybe olaf would tell me it's bullshit, but every German citizen is paying a 5.5% "solidarity" tax, on top of income tax, to pay for rebuilding the East. Payable up to next year I think. And they do It, apparently, without moaning incessantly about it. From what i know, they have pretty damn good public services over there!

[Dr. Medulla]

When it came to the line "if you think 5 per cent is too small", i couldn't resist a small chuckle. Because 5% on high earners was what corbyns labour proposed - can imagine how much of that Shaun would recoup from his, I'm speculating, extensive use of nhs services - only i imagine Shaun got it mixed up with the song and took it corbyn was going to take the "nineteen".

In the US, from the 30s to early 60s, the rate for the top bracket ($100K, I think) was 90%. JFK got that cut to 70%. People on the right often fetishize the 50s because (in part) of the wider prosperity, but a lot of it was funded by a serious downward transfer of wealth.

The fetish among the ruling elite in the UK is for low taxes, lax regulation, leave wealth in peace and let it filter down to the masses on its own. The old trickledown bullshit. The one thing a tory leader can never do is raise income tax, a perennial pledge, so all they can do is either trick voters with other stealth taxes or else say fuck it and let essential services take the hit while managing with inexplicable success to foist the blame on other parties. It really is some con trick when you think about it.

Same thing here. Cut taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else (which are labeled "inefficiencies"). One frequent rhetorical trick is citing a so-called "tax freedom day," which is the date when the average person's share of their annual income that goes to taxes, arrives. So, if 5/12 of your income goes to taxes, tax freedom is 1 June. It gets people angry that their money is being stolen. But that calculation ignores what one's taxes cover that you'd otherwise have to pay privately. It pretends that you get nothing at all from your taxes, that it's pure theft. More honest accounting regularly shows tax freedom day is usually around 3 or 4 January—that it's, at most, 1% of your annual income that is wasted via taxation. Not as neat a narrative, tho, when you want to transfer more wealth upward.

Ideal world you have political leaders who can bring in tough measures when required and explain honestly why there're needed and the benefits that will accrue. But when labour try to do that, they get caught in a "red menace" backlash, they're coming to steal your house, your money, your wife etc. It's hopeless. I read a startling fact about Germany recently, maybe olaf would tell me it's bullshit, but every German citizen is paying a 5.5% "solidarity" tax, on top of income tax, to pay for rebuilding the East. Payable up to next year I think. And they do It, apparently, without moaning incessantly about it. From what i know, they have pretty damn good public services over there!

The left lost the narrative fight a long time ago here. Instead of theft, taxes need to be treated as common investment. If you care about your community and neighbours, you invest in society. But if the rest of society are regarded as a bunch of lazy bastards who want to leech off your work, well …. Once again, my comment about one's attitude towards human nature applies.

[Low Down Low]

In the US, from the 30s to early 60s, the rate for the top bracket ($100K, I think) was 90%. JFK got that cut to 70%. People on the right often fetishize the 50s because (in part) of the wider prosperity, but a lot of it was funded by a serious downward transfer of wealth.

The fetish among the ruling elite in the UK is for low taxes, lax regulation, leave wealth in peace and let it filter down to the masses on its own. The old trickledown bullshit. The one thing a tory leader can never do is raise income tax, a perennial pledge, so all they can do is either trick voters with other stealth taxes or else say fuck it and let essential services take the hit while managing with inexplicable success to foist the blame on other parties. It really is some con trick when you think about it.

Same thing here. Cut taxes for the wealthy and services for everyone else (which are labeled "inefficiencies"). One frequent rhetorical trick is citing a so-called "tax freedom day," which is the date when the average person's share of their annual income that goes to taxes, arrives. So, if 5/12 of your income goes to taxes, tax freedom is 1 June. It gets people angry that their money is being stolen. But that calculation ignores what one's taxes cover that you'd otherwise have to pay privately. It pretends that you get nothing at all from your taxes, that it's pure theft. More honest accounting regularly shows tax freedom day is usually around 3 or 4 January—that it's, at most, 1% of your annual income that is wasted via taxation. Not as neat a narrative, tho, when you want to transfer more wealth upward.

Ideal world you have political leaders who can bring in tough measures when required and explain honestly why there're needed and the benefits that will accrue. But when labour try to do that, they get caught in a "red menace" backlash, they're coming to steal your house, your money, your wife etc. It's hopeless. I read a startling fact about Germany recently, maybe olaf would tell me it's bullshit, but every German citizen is paying a 5.5% "solidarity" tax, on top of income tax, to pay for rebuilding the East. Payable up to next year I think. And they do It, apparently, without moaning incessantly about it. From what i know, they have pretty damn good public services over there!

The left lost the narrative fight a long time ago here. Instead of theft, taxes need to be treated as common investment. If you care about your community and neighbours, you invest in society. But if the rest of society are regarded as a bunch of lazy bastards who want to leech off your work, well …. Once again, my comment about one's attitude towards human nature applies.

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

[Marky Dread]

Was always pretty much down with Shaun Ryder until I came across an interview in the Grauniad recently in which he was keen to spell out his socialist credentials but felt the need to add he could never vote for that Corbyn fella cos he'd "have taken too much of my money off me."

I doubt very much that Shaun gives a flying fuck about politics one way or another. He's more interested in U.F.Os.

One of the better Hard Rock/Metal bands. Always liked Pete Way RIP.

[revbob]

Look out!!!!

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/ronnie- ... m-on-hold/

[Low Down Low]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

There's an old political maxim that goes something like, "if you're not a liberal at 25, you have no heart and if you're not a conservative by 35, you have no brain." The average 35 year old i know is probably mired in student debt and living in the box room in the house they grew up in so I think that old saying requires some updating. But if we're not currently breeding one of the most radicalized generations of young people ever, then i genuinely do fear for the future of this great big human experiment on the planet. I'm pretty fucking terrified, in fact.

[revbob]

...
I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

There's an old political maxim that goes something like, "if you're not a liberal at 25, you have no heart and if you're not a conservative by 35, you have no brain." The average 35 year old i know is probably mired in student debt and living in the box room in the house they grew up in so I think that old saying requires some updating. But if we're not currently breeding one of the most radicalized generations of young people ever, then i genuinely do fear for the future of this great big human experiment on the planet. I'm pretty fucking terrified, in fact.

Always hated this saying.

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

She's creepy weird looking but she's an absolute force. Just an amazing person, one of those transformational individuals who emerge when needed.

There's an old political maxim that goes something like, "if you're not a liberal at 25, you have no heart and if you're not a conservative by 35, you have no brain." The average 35 year old i know is probably mired in student debt and living in the box room in the house they grew up in so I think that old saying requires some updating. But if we're not currently breeding one of the most radicalized generations of young people ever, then i genuinely do fear for the future of this great big human experiment on the planet. I'm pretty fucking terrified, in fact.

It's an adage that flatters conservatives. People's attitudes do change—their sense of limits and priorities—with age and experience, but I don't buy for a second that core values necessarily change.

[revbob]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

She's creepy weird looking but she's an absolute force. Just an amazing person, one of those transformational individuals who emerge when needed.
...

AOC ? UMM i think the term you're looking for is hot. As well as the other things you said.

[Sparky]

Look out!!!!

Um, Richard Ramirez, the night stalker?

[Dr. Medulla]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

She's creepy weird looking but she's an absolute force. Just an amazing person, one of those transformational individuals who emerge when needed.
...

AOC ? UMM i think the term you're looking for is hot. As well as the other things you said.

No, no, not AOC—Greta Thurnberg, the Swedish teen. AOC is also crazy talented, intelligent, charismatic, and beautiful. She's as likely to be assassinated as become president (a true coin flip).

[Low Down Low]

Yeah, i think that fight has been lost in lots of places. I mean, i have some faith in Sanders and AOC & co keeping Biden honest and ensuring the left get to make a mark, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part. It's optimistic and I been down that rabbit hole enough times to know it invariably ends with nothing but a faceful of rabbit shit.

Here's something that gives me some optimism: In the last couple years, but especially this past year, I've found my students to be openly critical of capitalism. Not necessarily doctrinaire lefty or anything, but questioning effects and fairness and whether something better could and should exist. I've generally couched my language a great deal in lecture, not wishing to seem, let alone be, proselytizing, so it was rather shocking to feel like the students were ahead of what I was saying, so I had to readjust to help expand their critical scope. So I'm hopeful that this youngest cohort of Millennials/early Z's have come of age without the neoliberal demon faith that we've had to ingest all these years. There's something very satisfying and heartening about young people who are asking questions that for decades we've been told are irrelevant or heretical.

I was such a wanton, feckless hedonist in my youth that i am loath to pass down judgements. But i have no problem declaring my undying love and admiration for Greta Thurnbeg. I would happily march into battle behind her.

She's creepy weird looking but she's an absolute force. Just an amazing person, one of those transformational individuals who emerge when needed.

There's an old political maxim that goes something like, "if you're not a liberal at 25, you have no heart and if you're not a conservative by 35, you have no brain." The average 35 year old i know is probably mired in student debt and living in the box room in the house they grew up in so I think that old saying requires some updating. But if we're not currently breeding one of the most radicalized generations of young people ever, then i genuinely do fear for the future of this great big human experiment on the planet. I'm pretty fucking terrified, in fact.

It's an adage that flatters conservatives. People's attitudes do change—their sense of limits and priorities—with age and experience, but I don't buy for a second that core values necessarily change.

Yeah, it's just a silly old adage, coined by churchill i think or some other ancient tory, so it's meant to be flattering to conservatives. But thing is, and why it is being wheeled out in the uk these days, voting patterns over past 20 years or so have been bearing out a grain of truth in it. Simply, the higher you go in age groups, the more they vote right until you get to the most senior where it's silly numbers for the tories, which is all the more grim when you consider how many 10s of 1000s of them have been sent to premature graves over the past 18 months and even beyond due to government incompetence and callousness. But there we go! The polling companies even offer a median age for when a voter is most likely to switch from left to right which i think is currently somewhere in the mid 40s range.

It's not my lived experience or anything but it might suggest age demographics are moving ever closer to equally or even supplanting class as the major divide. Strange to think back now, but Thatcher generally held sway when it came to the youth vote!