And back to music

It’s been a busy week in the world of Casee. After a strangely grey half term in which February Album Writing Month failed to inspire me to write any songs despite hours spent stapled to the piano, (I think my muse is on vacation), the first week back at college was also the week of My First Gig of 2012.

The set-list was a modest 5 songs, to fit a 20 minute set second to last on Wednesday night, so I played Nobody’s Hero, Beggars at the Feast, a cover of Braille (originally by Regina Spektor), Just Another Love Song (new!) and Mary. I think it went well, there was plenty of applause and no empty seats! No vegetables were thrown at me, rotten or otherwise. I think the daily practice and constant evaluation of my skills is doing me good, even if it feels very repetitive at times!

Anyway, some media for you, here is Just Another Love Song, written as my first FAWM track this year. It has the distinction of having garnered more comments than any other song I have EVER written for FAWM. Also, here is Nobody’s Hero, performed live at Wednesday’s gig. Many thanks to Jane Humphreys for filming it, and Charlie Daykin for doing the sound Wednesday night! Enjoy, and if you like these, please feel free to share Thanks!

 

The folly of poverty

A non-music post today. I watched “Panorama – Poor America” this afternoon, and there were several things about it that really made me angry.

For those unaware of the current situation in the good ol’ US of A, a quick overview. The financial downturn of the last few years has led to a marked increase in the number of jobless. There has always been a “hidden” layer of poverty in America, families who can’t afford healthcare and who survive on food stamps. But in the last few years it’s become a much more serious problem, and tent cities are springing up all over the place. Estimates indicate that the level of poverty present in the US now is equivalent to that experienced during the Depression era.

What I saw that made me so angry in this short half hour documentary, was a Republican bold-facedly denying the existence of child hunger (even though not ten minutes into the program, interviews with a group of elementary school children reveal that one little girl has even eaten rat because it’s all that could be found for that day) and a variety of politicians saying that if you want healthcare, or enough food, you need to be in a better job. You need to try harder. You need to WANT it.

Leaving aside that fact that I can’t imagine anyone wants to dine on rat, or die from an intestinal protrusion due to lack of medical care, there are a few fundamental things wrong with these opinions.

Firstly, I hate to state the obvious but telling someone to get a better job, when they work as a construction worker, or a cleaner, is just missing the point. Who will build? Clean? Serve? Do the typing? Man the buses? Drive the trains? These things are just as worthy as working on Wall Street. Moreso, I would argue. The people who do these jobs should be paid fairly, be eligible for healthcare and be treated as valuable members of society, not punished for doing the jobs noone else wants to do, and certainly not looked down on.

Secondly, there was a lot of condemnation of the unemployed and comments like “we need to teach these people how to be independent”. What a lot of patronising bullshit. Many of the unemployed were recently made unemployed from what even the most jaded politician would call a “decent” job. One family interviewed had lost their three bedroom family home (with hot tub). Hardly people who were not able to work or be independent. There needs to be some recognition that just because someone is unemployed, they do not somehow immediately become shiftless, lazy scroungers.

There is a fundamental sickness in society, when the people who work the hardest are also the people with the least. There is more than enough in this world for everyone. There is more than enough money, food, clothing, and housing. But until the 1% realise that they need to relax their grip on holding 99% of the wealth, situations like that occurring in the USA will only get worse.

If I could do an up-to-date ten commandments, this is what they would be (in no particular order):

1) Pay a fair wage (in other words, enough to keep up with inflation and allow your workers to have everything they need. No-one should have to choose between rent and food)

2) Be transparent in your dealings (there would be a lot less fraud if everyone in the world knew that their spending could be seen by anyone. No more expenses scandals…)

3) Give, as often as you can, to as many people as you can. If everyone did this, wealth would begin to flow. There is  enough.

4) Value everyone in society, no matter what job they do. It’s all important.

5) Schools! Not everyone does well in exams. Stop making this the only way to place a value on someone’s ability. offer more options.

6) Treat everyone equally. Everyone.

7) Say “please” and “thank you”. Hold doors open. Be considerate. Smile more.

8) Be who you are. Not who someone says you should be. Respect other people’s right to be who they are.

9) Relax. Will any of this matter in ten years? If not, don’t worry about it.

10) Be excellent to one another.

That is all. Normal rambling about music will be resumed shortly!