“The ethnic stratification of the labor market and the radicalization of class struggle resulted from the massive wave of immigration to America between 1840-1850, the emancipation of souther slaves in the wake of the Civil War” (pg53).

1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall

This Reminded of a similar situation be it on a smaller scale, of what happened in Germany when the USSR collapsed and the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. I was stationed in the Benelux at the time, and witnessed the celebrations and contentions.  Initially nearly everyone in Germany celebrated the fall of the USSR and the wall with a warm acceptance of the East Germans as they flowed into the West. Shortly thereafter unemployment rates grew however, tensions flared and resentment festered for years after. Once the dust settled there was a clear sense of us and them.

Chapter Three talks a lot about “coolie labor” (menial) and “free labor” (craftsmen). The idea that the collie labor was reserved for the Chinese, while the crafts-type work became somewhat nostalgic and the realm of the white-worker. Considering this was in the mid/late 1800s, it is surprising to see these portrayals continue today in some rather unexpected ways. To connect it with my Rock subject, the world of guitars provides a good example of this. For instance, Gibson Guitars has two distinct product lines: US made Gibson guitars, and their imported Epiphone guitars.

The US line is presented as an “…ambitious quest to recapture the craftsmanship, performance and quality of an area that had passed…” Their vision is firmly fixed in the nostalgic (with rare occasions of exploration in modern technology) and their guitars– the Les Paul model for example– start at $2,000 and skyrocket from there. The Epiphone Les Pauls are imported from several Asian countries; China, Korea and Indonesia to name a few. The price of these new typically run between $200 – $600. The US made versions are hailed as the “holy grail,” of the craft, while their imported cousins are thought of by many as comparatively inferior, low-quality beginner guitars.

One last connection I’ll mention here was hard to miss:

“In the popular press, many a political cartoonist portrayed the stereotyped Irish Mike or Paddy as ape-like, with hideous low brow and jutting lower jaw. Such simian images of the Irish immigrant were as commonplace as similar subhuman images of the Chinese and the African American…” (pg86).

This reads like a page directly from the National Socialist German Workers Party of the 1930s; a title reminiscent of the Workingman’s Party of California the author mentions in this context on page 62; ideologies from 1876 mirroring those of the 1930s.

My notebook is filled with connections similar to those mentioned above; some more direct than others, but all are tied with one common thread; anytime groups of people gather, subgroups emerge, leaders rise, and injustice follows. Carl Marx had an optimistic vision of communism where the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie cease to exist:

“Following the proletariats’ defeat of capitalism, a new classless society would emerge based on the idea: ‘from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs’. In such a society, land, industry, labour and wealth would be shared between all people. All people would have the right to an education, and class structures would disappear. Harmony would reign, and the state would simply ‘wither away’” (British Library)

The fatal flaw of course as I mentioned above, is that of group dynamics. History provides example after example of Marx’s failed manifesto time and time again. Leaders will always rise up and assume power which eventually leads to history’s truth that, “Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.” 

I am experiencing the same thing when trying to learn songs on the bass. Simply listening to a favorite tune is one thing… listening to what each musician is doing is something else. Now that I am specifically paying attention to what the bassist is doing, a whole new world has been revealed to me. The songs are the same, but I am listening to them from a completely different/new perspective. It’s much like hearing the song for the first time.

Along the way I came across a musician named Victor Wooten. Many bass players already know him– as one friend explained to me, “he is to the bass, what Carlos Santana is to the guitar.” I first became aware of Wooten through his book, “The Music Lesson: A Spiritual Search For Growth Through Music.”  Then, as if a guardian angel was paying attention to my musical journey, I received this TedTalk video through Facebook of Victor Wooten describing music as a language.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here are a few excerpts from the video. Consider these ideas yourself and how you might integrate them into your life– musical, or otherwise:

“Although many musicians agree that music is a language, it is rarely treated as such. Many of us treat it as something that can only be learned by following a strict regimen, under the tutelage of a skilled teacher…”

“Think about the first language you learned as a child. More importantly, think about how you learned it. You were a baby when you first started speaking, and even through you spoke the language incorrectly, you were allowed to make mistakes. And the more mistakes you made the more your parents smiled.

Learning to speak was not something you were went somewhere to do only a few times a week. And the majority of the people you spoke to were not beginners. They were already proficient speakers. Imagine your parents forcing you to only speak to other babies until you were good enough to speak to them. You would probably be an adult before you could carry on a conversation with them.

To use a musical term, as a baby you were allowed to jam with professionals. If we approach music in the same natural way we approacehed our first language we will learn to speak it in the same short time it took to speak our first language.”

So not only am I leaning to listen and hear music differently, my perspective on music– and learning– has changed.

Just get out there and play. The more you play, the more you will want to practice. Before long you will be able to express yourself through your instrument. As Victor puts it, 

“Music comes from the musician, not the instrument.”