Taste in music is subjective, but it doesn't feel that way.
Multiple times I've seen a facebook thread bash a popular musician. It starts with something like "how can anyone possibly like _______?" Friends join in, hatred piles on. It gets nasty. A commenter may or may not suggest that this musician is the reason terrorists hate the US.
In one of these threads, the target was a band that I never liked much. But a group of my friends, all musicians who are pretty serious about music, worship the band. Then I saw someone from this group (not knowing his beloved band was attacked in the first example), ridicule another artist. And this artist, too, has fans who are thoughtful and serious about music.
Musical taste is subjective. And it is pretty immature to think it isn't. If a particular artist doesn't appeal to me, it doesn't mean he's shit and those who appreciate his music are misguided.
I understand that this is a challenge of our subjective consciousness. Some things we can consider objectively. One river appears wider than another. If there is disagreement about this, it can be measured. But to think that music can be compared the same way misses the complexity of human experience and the fact of our subjective consciousness.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Signs of unsustainability
We know now that one of the signs that the last housing boom wasn't sustainable was that home prices were growing much faster than incomes. I don't know that in all circumstances that would be a sign of a coming major economic crisis. But it at least should have suggested that the boom would at least have to slow. It seems like common sense now, but during the pre-bust housing hysteria, unstoppable growth in home prices seemed to be the new reality. Things seemed to have changed--housing was just going to become more expensive, despite income levels.
Are there signs that elements of our current economy are unsustainable? Signs that will seem obvious to us in the future?
The rising cost of attending college is getting more and more attention. This is different from the housing bubble. Everyone seems to understand that this is a big problem that isn't good for anyone. In contrast, before the housing bubble burst, homeowners were typically pleased at their homes' rapid appreciation. But I think there is still a major disconnect with reality among college students and their families who take on a huge debt burden regardless of a student's future income potential. For example, engineering students have the same access to student loans as creative writing majors, despite the major difference in income potential between the two.
Increasing numbers of young adults are finishing college with a shed load of debt. It is like starting your adult life with a mortgage but no house. And there is an even worse scenario that a huge number of young people face, but receives little attention: incurring large student debt without earning a degree. I don't know how the college bubble could burst and what it would look like. A college degree has already become less valuable for an individual because more people are going to college than ever before.
I also wonder about how it can be that it is often seems to make financial sense to replace, rather than repair, many consumer goods. For how long can factory labor in Asia be dirt cheap? If China's economy continues to rapidly grow, cheap labor there will become more scarce. Perhaps that will mean consumer goods here become more expensive and it will gain make more sense to repair rather than replace a broken TV or lawnmower.
My feeling is that this is a sign of the unsustainability of cheap consumer goods. I have no idea if this will be settled with an economic mess or an easy adjustment. The best possible outcome I can imaging is that an increase in labor costs in Asia leads to a more equal playing field in which even the US can compete again with them in manufacturing. And if consumer goods become expensive again that it more often makes more sense to repair rather than replace them, there will again be a need for repairmen of all types everywhere--good local jobs.
Are there signs that elements of our current economy are unsustainable? Signs that will seem obvious to us in the future?
The rising cost of attending college is getting more and more attention. This is different from the housing bubble. Everyone seems to understand that this is a big problem that isn't good for anyone. In contrast, before the housing bubble burst, homeowners were typically pleased at their homes' rapid appreciation. But I think there is still a major disconnect with reality among college students and their families who take on a huge debt burden regardless of a student's future income potential. For example, engineering students have the same access to student loans as creative writing majors, despite the major difference in income potential between the two.
Increasing numbers of young adults are finishing college with a shed load of debt. It is like starting your adult life with a mortgage but no house. And there is an even worse scenario that a huge number of young people face, but receives little attention: incurring large student debt without earning a degree. I don't know how the college bubble could burst and what it would look like. A college degree has already become less valuable for an individual because more people are going to college than ever before.
I also wonder about how it can be that it is often seems to make financial sense to replace, rather than repair, many consumer goods. For how long can factory labor in Asia be dirt cheap? If China's economy continues to rapidly grow, cheap labor there will become more scarce. Perhaps that will mean consumer goods here become more expensive and it will gain make more sense to repair rather than replace a broken TV or lawnmower.
My feeling is that this is a sign of the unsustainability of cheap consumer goods. I have no idea if this will be settled with an economic mess or an easy adjustment. The best possible outcome I can imaging is that an increase in labor costs in Asia leads to a more equal playing field in which even the US can compete again with them in manufacturing. And if consumer goods become expensive again that it more often makes more sense to repair rather than replace them, there will again be a need for repairmen of all types everywhere--good local jobs.
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