[Automatic Nate]

</span><blockquote><span class="smallfont">Quote:</span><hr size="1" />Originally Posted by (Pale RIder,)
A.N., I am not quite sure that I follow you. Are you saying that you agree that the music is a reflection of an attempt to help people that has gone terribly wrong? Or are you suggesting that problems within the society are somehow caused, or exacerbated by the music itself?<hr size="1" /></blockquote><span class='postcolor'>
I think both vectors are in operation. When someone asks me whether art imitates life or life imitates art, I usually say, "Yes." I think that the sociological trends that you noted above are indeed making things happen, but I also believe that, given those conditions, better responses are possible than the "thug" persona as folk hero, and I certainly think that companies are making a load of money from marketing that response. So I think that pop culture pulling from one side and sociological/economic realities pulling from the other share in the corruption of several young men I've known, and I think that changes are in order from both directions.