John Kenneth Galbraith

I read the biography of J.K. Galbraith earlier this summer. It was a long read as it was a survey of his life and career but also of 20th century American politics. It is a stunning book. Galbraith is little known outside of the poli-sci world now but it is fascinating to know that 30 some odd years ago this gentlemen (in the true sense of the word) from Iona Station Ontario was among the chief counsels to Presidents, shaped foreign policy, influenced public opinion on America's place in the world and his works in Economics were bestsellers by numbers that Grisham would be proud of today. I have been digesting the revelations, theories and conclusions this work has given me and really am no closer to gripping with it's influence on me. I need another life running parallel to this one to read all the books I want, chiefly among them are Galbraiths great books. The Affluent Society and The New Industrial State are his 2 best known works. This was the man who created the term "conventional wisdom"-the general statements about the world or anything for that matter that governs the conduct of what most people accept to be true. Galbraith was a leading figure in the post-war design of what is crudely called now 'the welfare state'. John Maynard Keynes, a more widely known economist, in his book The General Theory gave the modern world after WWII a blueprint for creating social systems to fill in the gaps that capitalism ignores. Galbraith among other incredible achievements made it his life’s work to bring the true vision of Keynes design to reality, but a school of thought in the 1950's diluted the spirit of Keynesianism and turned it into administration and ultimately the tools for creating the machinery for the cold war.

For me, more powerful than his economics, was his devotion to a just society. He tirelessly fought for redistributive processes in our governments and never wavered in his disdain for the machinery of war and the madness of infinite growth of national defence which sucked the life out of the American government's capability to properly care for it's citizens and has created much of the rifts that exist between it and the rest of the developing world and the middle east, not to mention the socio-economic quagmire it finds itself in now in the post Katrina self-reflection.

Galbraith was also very Rock n Roll. He was from the beginning someone who shied away from the quite halls of academia and thrust his message out to the wider public with a confidence and a strut worthy of Mick Jagger. Although he was the establishment and an elite, he fucked with his contemporaries constantly, challenged them and their WASP ideals and shook the ivory tower to it's core at his own school Harvard.

He was also deeply enamoured with India and the developed world and was at the forefront in shining a light for Joe and Jane America to the violent poverty that inflicted the new post-colonial nations. In the end the neo-conservative revolution that took over his profession slowly took a toll on him and he watched through the 1980's and 90's as corporate America, the one he helped define in the 60's, took over the government and the mathematicians of economics won the battle of influencing our leaders. The last 10 years of his life were spent watching with hope as Clinton was elected which quickly failed as Bill made compromise after compromise and was handcuffed by the beauracracy and unweilding giant which is the American system subjugated now completely to special interests. But hope springs eternal and knowledge is really still power. His work hopefully will be looked upon much like Tocqueville, Weber and Marx and can help people in the near future (as we're picking up the pieces of the post-modern world) deal with what we have created.

More of my thoughts will appear on J.K. Galbraith but for now I just want to say thanks to him and recommend his bio by Richard Parker to anyone interested in finding out what is the core of the modern American political experience.

You Might Be Wondering

We have heard a great deal of comparisons of our band to many disparate artists in the last couple of years, and thankfully we are not hearing them too much anymore. This is what a band strives for-a singular unique sound. Although we find ourselves locked in heated battles sometimes over band related decisions, sometimes to the point of professional arbitration, we more often than not agree on the music we love (except for the Mink and I when it comes to the music of Greg Keelor). So here it is, if you care or not, Glenn's Top 5 albums and the artists who made them and why they have stayed with me. You may be surprised.

5.
Three Sides to Every Story
Extreme
Released 1992

To really respect this album you have to start at the end. The last 15 minutes or so is a lavish, at times uplifting, sorrowful, and overall moving rock opera which spins the album's themes of political hypocrisy, war, racism, love, freedom of press, human rights and questions of faith into a stunningly rich and mature piece of music rivalling anything a contemporary composer could put together. Add to it some of the best blues inspired shred rock guitar playing you'll ever hear, fantastic rock song writing and you have just a great album. Oh, and it was produced entirely by Nuno Bettancourt, the guitar player. This album hit me right in the chest and opened my eyes a little further to the power of rock music trying to convey a message. It was heartbreaking to see the album go relatively unnoticed by mainstream rock radio as they were just waiting for another More than Words. Also, with such an epic album in terms of craft and voice, I think they used up everything in the tank-oh and a little genre called grunge pretty much squashed the remaining 'hair rock' bands-though Extreme should have never been grouped with the likes of Poison.This album still stuns me and is one I look to for rock melody inspiration.

4.
John Cougar Mellancamp
The Lonesome Jubilee
Released 1987

87 was a big year for music. Grace land, The Joshua Tree, Licence to Ill all came out that year and competed with 2 of the biggest soundtracks ever-La Bamba and Dirty Dancing. All the while the crooner of what I call 'farm rock' came out with a great roots laden folk rocker of an album. Yes it had 'Cherry Bomb' on it, a love it or leave it song (Mick and I are determined one day to have us cover this song) It also had 'Paper and Fire' and 'Check it Out' 2 awesome power folk rock songs with all the southern pain, anger, humiliation and human honesty you can muster. Mellancamp was at the top of his craft and had surrounded himself by wicked musicians. It was also an acoustic focused record, something very different in 1987. But it's still a loud album with piercing snare hits, raw telecaster open chord shuffles, bluesy gospel like backing harmonies, and so well engineered you can hear every instrument do it's thing all the time. I love it.

3.
Indigo Girls
Rites of Passage
Released 1992

This was a tough one. The Indigo Girls are pretty close to being my favourite artists. They share it with U2, which is cool because they are so divergent. But trying to pick a favourite album of theirs is really tough, but I have to go with Rites of Passage. This album has everything. Well-crafted song writing at it's roots, textured with the some of the best acoustic work you'll hear, and layered with what Emily Sailers and Amy Ray do better than anyone I have heard-harmony. The first song I ever heard of theirs was Airplane-holy fuck. After that I was hooked. I wanted it all. I bought all their albums they had at the time and knew them back to front in the span of a couple of months. Not to mention they were favourites of a girl I had a mad crush for at the time and I had to have a vocabulary with her and Indigo Girls were that. I could write a book about what these two uniquely gifted and empowered women have done for me as an artist and a human. Buy this album, listen to it and you'll understand. Stand out tracks are Galileo, Joking, Ghost, and Romeo and Juliet.

2.
U2
Rattle and Hum
Released 1988

To say your my age and you love U2 is almost a cliché. They are Generation X's Beatles. But I have listened to them since I was 7, right around when Boy came out so I have my history with them, and fuck it- my mom is Irish, they're like our royalty. Rattle and Hum though was the album that made me want to be a rock star, plain and simple. The movie inspired me to pick up the guitar and be Bono, strutting around and electrifying the crowd all the while planting the seeds of political awareness through some of the best melody I have ever heard. Angel of Harlem is the track for me. Straight backbeat blues-rock but it's a divine song. Rattle and Hum is also the album to me that really buried criticism that they were a studio production band, that they hid behind technology and they could never reproduce the raw and vital energy of War. Silver and Gold, Heartland, When Love Comes to Town, and All I Want is You were all songs from a band that bled honesty and were so gob struck by the pain and beauty of America that they had to write an album about it. Rock n Roll

1.
Midnight Oil
Earth and Sun and Moon
Released 1993

"Well I'm as old as the hills, And young as the day. Nobody see things in quite the same way"

This is for me quite simply the perfect album. It is a force of will. Powerful, infectious and melodic songs, stark political honesty that even the best protest singer could never muster, loud vibrant and colourful rock guitars-all vintage instruments played through tube gear recorded in a warehouse-that's rock n roll. This album told me to stop listening to Metallica, open your eyes to the world, music has a conscience and it's incorruptible and when it's pure, it can a light a fire under any soul. Earth and Sun and Moon is the template for me. It's the strongest influence I bring to the table when we do our thing. I will love this album until I die.

"Suitcase full of good ideas, history that's filled with tears. Kill nostalgia, xenophobic fears-It's now or never land"

Sprinkles

New Orleans

With all of my heart, I am thinking of you New Orleans. I just want to get in my car and drive down, get out and say, "What can I do?". I have felt overwhelmed by this tragedy, at work I had to physically collect myself and try to shake the despair I have for the agony that so many people are going through in the south right now. This is no time for politics, analysis, soundbites or introspection. I can only hope that the mass mobilization that is happening can help everyone down there. I have never felt quite so helpless when confronted by feelings brought on by an international tragedy. I feel so guilty living my everyday while so many folks have been thrown into a pit of hell. Lets keep them in our thoughts, if your spiritual in your prayers.