“Politics Is Downstream of Culture”

Some healthy perspective from actor/writer/podcaster Clifton Duncan, a lot of which resonates with much of the underlying philosophy that animates and inspires the work of It’s All Happening.

The paradigm is changing. A new energy is here. New Media has been enormously effective in shifting the culture.

But it's not enough.

Right now this space is saturated with journalists and pundits--which is good, as they've clearly moved the needle.

But there are also many self-proclaimed "Culture Warriors"...who create ZERO culture.

They only touch on culture to complain about "the left" having destroyed it.

They lament the lack of beauty or depth or transcendence in today's art and entertainment, the crassness and emptiness of modern music, or the ugliness of modern architecture.

But they build nothing themselves. They create nothing themselves. They don't support the creation of new culture.

They dump capital into making their podcasts look like feature films, yet build no film studios, commission no screenplays, found no theatres or publishing companies, support no museums.

They sneer that "facts don't care about feelings" (which is true), and lament the sorry state of politics.

But they forget that feelings drive behavior; art excites feeling; artists create culture; and, as one controversial figure once observed:

"Politics is downstream of culture."

By that measure, if our culture improves then our politics can improve; if our politics improve, our lives can improve. Society will be enriched.

The civilizational collapse we're frequently warned of might be staved off a bit longer.

Right now Hollywood is imploding. The performing arts are dying. The music industry is struggling for relevance. The publishing industry has been corrupted.

Americans are aching to be refreshed by great art and entertainment made by people who don't despise them, and there are brilliant (and free-thinking) artists aching to share their genius and create transcendent experiences that bring people together.

If we want to heal, if we want to build bridges and not walls, if we want to make America healthy again, if we want to make America great again...

We need a Great American Renaissance.

Now's the perfect time for it.

[Photo by John K.]