Don’t be turned off by his scary face. Tom MacDonald’s song “Sheeple” is superb. I think I agree with every line, except one: “Mass incarceration equals capital for cash investments.” For all I know, that one could be true too, but I don’t even understand the theory there.
My instincts, historically, have been to side with ’90s-style conservatism and be cautiously optimistic about the Republican Party–and to think people go to prison because they’re criminals. On the other hand, I’ve learned a little bit lately about not trusting the Republican Party apparatus. And these days, it’s easier to believe new things, even about prisons. Maybe there’s something about prisons I don’t understand. What I do understand, and fully in line with ’90s-style conservatism, is this: The root problem with lots of people in prison isn’t crime or corporations, but fatherlessness.
That’s a point MacDonald left out, but you can’t hit every point in one fine rap song.
“Nothing’s what it seems,” but there’s no fancy conspiracy theory here–just regular old human venality and stupidity. MacDonald is just giving us some of the plain facts along with a fine beat. The plain facts mostly revolve around the guys who are wrecking the world being even worse than I used to think. But maybe those jerks are also more organized than I used to think. That seems to be the main difference these days between a conspiracy theory and the plain facts.
Now I could criticize the song for correctly–mercifully, virtuously, gloriously–mentioning that Lincoln was a Republican who ended slavery, but using that as the premise for the conclusion that Trump voters can’t be racist. A premise like that could be true and a conclusion like that false at the same time.
But I’m not going to criticize it. I don’t think it’s even meant to be an argument. It’s just an alternative viewpoint. And it makes sense: Hey, sheeple! Try thinking about what you think! Have you even heard of the alternative view? Now doesn’t that make at least as much sense as what your screen has been telling you?
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