After reading the title and general premise of this purported blog, many of you who know me may say to themselves "Another one of Josh's wild idea's about mysticism, and social change, why should I bother reading?", many of you who don't know me might say "Awesome man! Blogging Rocks!!".... (my friends have always been very supportive of me!!)
In either case the important question to ask is why should one be excited about Hip Hop and Taoism (pronounced Dow as in dowism) for social change, in fact why would one cite Hip Hop and Taoism as proponents of social change given the current state we live in. For one Hip Hop is mainstream and hyper commercialized music and furthermore it has devolved into a barrage of cliches, remarks of misogyny, mentions of gratuitous sex and violence, and is hopelessly materialistic even narrow minded at times. In most senses one would say that it is the perpetuation of the current state of affairs rather than the impetus for change. I suppose the exact opposite claim could also be argued depending how you would like to look at it. Taoism on the other hand is just one of the many religious philosophies in a whole mess of seemingly conflicting ideologies that make up the chaos that is global religion today. Why then Taoism, as opposed to any other mystical philosophy, what about it is even relevant compared to all other current philosophies.
The reason why I am focusing on Hip Hop and Taoism in this blog, is becuase i feel they are perhaps the most powerful forces I can readily think of in making true deep rooted change in the world. To begin let's focus on Hip Hop.
Hip Hop is a genre that is quickly becoming the most ubiquitous musical style, not just in America, but in the World! People all over have adopted Hip Hop as an artistic means of self expression, and it currently transcends language, race, sex, and age boundaries all across the world. Put simply it is a universal music that connects us all. Even more importantly Hip Hop from its get go was a creation that speaks to disaffected youths, and those who yearn for social change. This of course is inherent in its origins in 1970s African Americans living in the Bronx who were subjected to a lifestyle that most Americans (at the time) could not understand, relate to, hear of, or even comprehend because of how radically different and alien it was to white culture. Perhaps one could even argue that hip hop itself finds its roots even further back into the griots of Africa, and thus achieves a world significance that dates back centuries by extension.
Although what hip hop has become is in many ways quite saddening, and shallow, its roots are pure and powerful. It is not by continuing the trend that hip hop has been following as of recent times, but returning in ideology to its roots in speaking to disaffected youths and those who yearn for social change. Furthermore the art has expanded to include a unification of white and black kids all over america. It is probably one of the only things you'll find uniform amongst teenagers these days: most of them listen to rap. Unfortunately the rap they're listening to is very materialistic, shallow, and to be honest racist in some occasions. Most people don't care now adays becuase they don't get lost in the intricacies of the lyrical content, however if you listen its in there.
In recent years however, hip hop has opened up drastically, and now many emerging emcees come from all nationalities including caucasian. It is my opinion that in the next 5 years the artists that are currently rising through the ranks will be much more diverse and we will see popular white rappers other than Eminem. However this is only tangentially important my bigger point. The bigger point is that I feel if there is one musical genre capable of inspiring a grass roots social movement on a national and global level its Hip Hop. The reason for this is that the youth have been yearning either consciously or unconsciously for some kind of bright light and camaraderie in face of all the problems that continuously get dumped on them by their world, and hip hop is the most universal aspect of the youth around the world. Most people comment on how this generation seems to be lethargic and disinterested in the world at large, however I feel the reason for this is that most of the issues they have to deal with are rather depressing and uninspiring. Talking about politics to someone 12-24 is often times burdening. That's why i feel music is a good alternative because of inspiration and connection. By inspiring and connecting the youthful amongst us with hope through music, rather than belaboring them with political issues that they don't really have a fair say in, we can band together on the shared desire to better our world. It is only through change rooted in culture rather than politics do i feel that we can make a truely lasting and meaningful change.
This last issue brings me to the second aspect of this Blog: Taoism. The reason I feel that only a cultural revolution could inspire true change in this world is because the political systems in my mind are the problem. I'll come out and say that I don't vote, and I'm not ashamed of that because (aside from the fact that lobbying makes votes a mere formality, when in actuality wealth determines one's say in government) i don't believe that any politicians from either political party can make the changes that i feel are necessary in my country or my world. I think this becuase they are either part of the problem or too ineffective (normally both) to make the change. Even if I thought someone could get something done, they would only make more laws, that would make more complication in government and eventually make government more bureaucratic and suppressive. I believe the governments we live under are inattentive to our needs, overly commanding in their say in our personal lives, and ineffective in managing our world. Furhtermore i feel they end up suppressing the desires of the people they govern. I feel they work too closely with big business and purposely mislead us to look outside of ourselves for comfort. They bombard us with things to buy in order to placate our emotional disharmony, and give us prescriptions to curb any wild emotional excesses one may encounter, therefore preventing humans from facing their own anxiety which helps one grow. (When you put it this way it sounds like one of those dystopian novels doesn't it) The result is a populace of scared and emotionally ignorant people. I'm not saying the average American is bad or stupid, i just don't think we are creating a culture that is conducive to growth on a personal and psychological level. In this age of technology we have the ability to contact people across the globe and have relationships with people we've never met in person and maybe never will. However in our own families and amongst our communities there is disharmony, divorce, hatred, racism, discrimination, bullying, etc. Do you think it wise to contact people across the world when we can't even take care of those we live with on a daily basis. How far have we come if we can send a man to the moon, but can't get along with each other on a personal level. Now adays i think many fear war, and all our concern for the outside world has only enabled us to heighten our ability to destroy one another. If there is coercion and disharmony in ourselves, then these technological tools, are the most dangerous weapons in our own hands.
So what does Taoism offer. Well the truth is i could talk to you for 100s of pages about that. I hope to address alot of it gradually through this blog. I think mainly it calls for a return to simplicity. Taoism is generally about breaking through and destroying coercive or limiting ideologies, structures, or habits in one's life, which makes it a perfect compliment to the suppression people encounter on a global level from politics. To start for now we'll concern ourselves with Taoism's main tenant "to treat things from the root." This is a metaphor for one taking care of oneself before going out and instructing others. The self or the individual could be considered the root of all his/her personal interactions in the vast matrix of relationship. In Taoism life is relationship, life is literally the energy that connects us. Therefore study of Taoism concentrates on getting to know oneself, in order to find balance, and by doing so it creates a chain effect that balances all the corresponding relationships. (If large groups of people were to do this imagine the chain effect) In Taoism it is said "Knowing the self is enlightenment and knowing others is wisdom." Ultimately this goes against the subtle ideology of our culture that one should look for outside stimulation to placate any problems. Too often do we prescribe food, drugs, toys, goods, cars etc etc, to help with our mid life crisis's, or emotional insecurities. instead Taoism calls one to look inside oneself to find a peace from such disharmony.
Another benefit of treating things by the root fits perfectly into the paradigm of a cultural rather than a political revolution. Culture is the the root of politics. Politics is the male governing property that corresponds to the female culture (male/female, are yin and yang correlatives in Taoism, they represent opposites that are mutually entailing) It is our livelihoods that are suppressed by rigid and inattentive systems, and it is only by enhancing our livelihoods that we can eventually lead the politics to change, since politics are rooted in our culture. (It is important to note that Taoism is a peasant religion, it is embraced by the little people rather than top heavy ones) In the end Taoism calls one to stop spreading themselves thin by reaching beyond their grasps, and instead to pay attention to the foundation of their livelihoods and strengthen that.
paired together, a hip hop designed social movement inspired by Taoist principles, could address many of the issues we face as a society today, particularly due to the suppression of our ruling structures. Not only are they a perfect compliment in lieu of the current world events, however they are quite complimentary in ideology as well!! The Warrior poet style of the MCing is almost a perfect analogy to many of the themes espoused in the Tao Te Ching. On a grander level my interpretation of Taoism calls for a warrior like focus in order to harness change in oneself. Furthermore I interpret Taoism as calling for Warrior-like efficiency in living one's life in order fight for the real change and true liberty in one's self and one's relationships.
To keep things short, I'll stop for now, however soon their will be a continuation of this post, so hold tight and stay tuned!!! also don't worry its not all gonna be heavy social theory, I'm just laying down some of the ideas i had in creating this blog!!! Talk to you soon, and everyone have good luck, peace and Love!!!
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