Ah yes, the Chinese market... Here I am in the heart of southern Minnesota, halfway between the Twin Cities and... Iowa, and just a few blocks from my apartment lies Asian Food Store - my one stop shop for the unfamiliar and unreadable. This is a pretty remarkable part of American culture; even with all of the heat over illegal immigration, our culture still quickly adapts to those around us. This seems like a pretty normal Capitalist-driven venture - that is, Asian immigrants move in, Asian markets pop-up; this new population plus a few mid-twenties hipsters purchase goods and services and soon more businesses will follow. This is nothing new for our country, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. For over a century we have heralded communities called “Little Italy” or “Chinatown”; so maybe it’s time to learn from populations of changing races -- maybe it’s time to create our own microcosm based upon culture (rather than race or religion)
As I mentioned, several major orchestras are closing their doors, National Public Radio is being treated like a branch of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan Regime, the National Endowment for the Arts continues to diminish, and arts education programs are being cut in order to balance the need to fund the standardization of “Right-or-Wrong Education” (sans the funding). So what do we do?
First things first: Location, Location, Location.
We musicians and artists need to find an area that is inhabitable, perhaps even established but nearly forgotten (no, Canada is out of the question). An area that will welcome us (musicians, artists, writers, listeners, thinkers, educators, and workers of all races and backgrounds (thus eliminating the Southern half of the United States and any leftover “Red States”))
Okay, we’re making progress, but we’re not quite there yet...
California is too far in debt and New York is home to the Yankees - goodbye! This leaves most of the upper-east coast, but I’ve heard that Pennsylvania is a dive, and Washington D.C.? Well, look at Michelle Bachman - they’ll let anyone into Washington D.C.
No, I say we keep it close to home; after all the Midwest is often overlooked. So, of the 5 “Blue” Midwestern states we have:
Iowa - Home to the first presidential caucus, meaning we would have to share our beautiful land with Sarah Palin and “The Donald”. Iowa is out.
Illinois - The Land of Lincoln... and the White Sox. Goodbye Illinois.
Michigan - We’re musicians, they can’t be expected us to “rebuild Detroit”, right? Michigan’s out.
Wisconsin - Oh yeah... That guy...
Alright, Minnesota it is (perhaps by process of elimination).
So here’s the plan: We gather up all of the aforementioned artsy-fartsy types and descend upon an agreed upon, major metropolitan area. We open concert halls, eat and drink at Brit’s, and declare ourselves a cultured bunch. We spend time outside amongst the general public and when people complain about all of “those people” stinking up their streets with expensive perfumes and colognes, we don’t back down! We all move into the same neighborhoods and push for quality education to meet the needs of our children - we push for fine arts and physical education. We demand music and latin alongside biology and calculus. Before we know it, the city does a sort of self-mutation and creates a new borough. Where some cities have Chinatown or Little Italy, we, finally, have an area for ourselves. A place where music is valued, politics are discussed, education is support, and war... well, what is it good for?
Tourists will pass through, amazed that prices to orchestra concerts are a fraction of that of New York or Los Angeles. They’ll bargain with street vendors; vendors selling bootleg recordings of Mahler, Mozart, or even McCartney, while our children skip through alleyways humming Klezmer folk-songs. The adults cheer from the rooftop garden at Brit’s Pub while playing trivia, drinking non-light beer, and watching the Minnesota Twins finally beat the New York Yankees.
And when the day ends, and we tuck our kids into bed, kiss our wives goodnight, and drift into the night with unlocked doors and open windows, we will know that we have created a better future for this country. A future not in doubt; a future that learns from the past and aims to create rather than recreate. We will hope that this spreads; and we will support our fellow man. We’ll move forward and dream of universal healthcare and programs to keep the poor warm and well fed. So that all Americans (even the Tea Party-ers, err... especially the Tea Party-ers) can receive a quality education, top notch health care, and maybe even a dental plan.
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