Rock for Socialism
A New York Times Magazine article examines Broken Social Scene and the Arts & Crafts label to see how Canada's spirit of collectivism has allowed it to achieve indie rock dominance. The unmentioned factor, however, is socialized medicine, which makes it far easier to sustain an existence as a marginally successful musician than it is here in the USA. Meanwhile, on his curiously unpublicized blog, Malcolm Gladwell considers the idea of an employer-based mass transportation system as an analogy to America's screwball approach to health insurance.
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Not only does this apply to the musician friends I have in Toronto, but also a guy I know who runs a consulting company by getting jobs off of Craig's List and the like. I couldn't do that here in the U.S.---I need the health insurance my company provides me. It's definitely easier to do your own thing in a place with socialized medicine.
February 27, 2006 10:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Although slightly off-topic, indie rock bands from New York and Los Angeles are doing fairly well. In the east you have The Strokes (who seem to be omni-presen), The Secret Machines, etc. Out west you have Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Shins, Eagles of Death Metal, The Warlocks, Interpol, etc. Only ignorant, uninformed listeners would say Fall Out Boy is one of the best bands in the world. Nay, they have a record company who spends mucho dinero getting them airplay.
February 27, 2006 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Having a few old friends who are/were indie musicians in Canada (most notably the members of Radio Berlin, who've gone on to such awesome bands as Destroyer and Black Mountain), I'd totally agree that their socialized healthcare system gave them a leg up. However, down here in the states, I don't know too many indie rockers who quit playing music because they didn't have health coverage -- they just kept playing and hoped they don't get sick or hurt. In my mind, the far bigger advantages for those up north are the grants they can access from the Canada Council for the Arts and the fact that, by law, Canadian media makes room for homegrown artists.
And in response to Gettysburg, for what it's worth, Interpol are from New York. (I'm so picky.)
http://www.mydd.com
February 27, 2006 11:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whaaaaaaaaaa.....Pay my medical bills while I strum my guitar and pull bong hits.....Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! Try paying for your own medical coverage, you sure had enough money to buy the guitar and amp...and probably enough money for good weed and beer...WHAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! "But I don't want to!!! Everyone else should pay for me!!!! " Yeah socialized medicine is great!!!! Unless you're really sick...then enjoy the wait for that surgery...it might be a while.
February 27, 2006 1:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Scott
Good point. I guess they are so popular in LA that I assumed they were a left coast band.
February 27, 2006 2:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow, that sure was intelligible and cogent.
February 27, 2006 2:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
And yet, I like Fall Out Boy better than The Strokes despite having heard Strokes stuff early and often, so I'm glad that dinero was spent.
February 27, 2006 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't think socialized medicine has much to do with anything. Most people particularly when young can do without medical insurance. It is not actually that likely to kill you.
February 27, 2006 2:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Electronic eric works at the business end of a glory hole
February 27, 2006 2:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's electronic eric 1 ....not this phony electroniceric2
February 27, 2006 2:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
On a related note, at last week's New Pornographers show in Madison -- rescheduled from last October after an attack of appendicitis -- A.C. Newman spent several between-song breaks discussing the awesomeness of socialized medicine. The highly liberal Madison crowd didn't take it too well, but I thought it was funny.
February 27, 2006 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
"I don't think socialized medicine has much to do with anything. Most people particularly when young can do without medical insurance. It is not actually that likely to kill you."
But what if you are in an accident and your parents have to empty their retirement accounts so that you can get the medical care that you need? Happened to a guy I knew. He also lost all the money he had spent a decade saving to open a club of his own.
Young people don't usually need insurance, but that is why you need them paying into a universal system. And look at the lost opportunity of the restaurant he never opened. Someone just lost not only their health, but their financial future as well.
Matt - you haven't heard about Gladwell's blog because it is only five days old. Spend a bit more time at boingboing.
February 27, 2006 7:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
The USA rocks, so what if we spend twice as much money for healthcare as any other country in the world. We are nearly, but not quite, as low as Cuba in infant mortality, and there are only 26 countries with greater longevity than the USA. We have less doctor visits, the highest priced drugs, we support the big pharm companies through gov't funded reasearch, in fact Big Pharm has had many NIH researchers on six-figure salaries in addition to their 6 figure gov't pay. What other country would allow that? Our healthcare system is so great emirs and shieks rent whole floors in hospitals in the USA when they need care. That ain't no socialized system, and we should be very proud of it.
We have more children who live in poverty, often with no health care insurance, than any western country. If we can force women to have unwanted babies that number will go up even more.
February 27, 2006 7:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm 28 and my brother is 29. I'm self-employed. He is a cook at a restaurant and plays in a band.
I pay $50 a month for individual health insurance which I shopped for and purchased online. My policy has a high deductible, but it protects me in the unlikely event I get catastrophically sick or injured.
I remind my brother every so often that it is really important to have health insurance and for $50 a month he should cancel his cell phone if he has to. It has been over a year and he has not done it yet.
The sad part is I don't think he ever even considered shopping for individual health insurance because he was already convinced it would be too expensive.
I'm posting here because when I read Matt's post I imagined all of the young American musicians like my brother who might read it and make the same wrong assumption, when in reality they probably could afford individual health insurance if they gave up their daily cup of fair-trade coffee.
Henceforth, I call for the end of the dominant reign of Socialist Canadian indie rockers. Fear not, young American musicians! You too can be a marginally successful musician *and* have individual health insurance, right here and right now in the United States of America.
I comparison shopped for my $50 a month Blue Cross Blue Shield policy at eHealthInsurance. Google 'em and get yourself covered. Otherwise, move to Canada already...
February 27, 2006 10:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ughhh, not one member of Fall Out Boy has an ounce of talent. I can't speak for other genres such as rap, hip hop, country, or R & B, but for rock, whatever you hear on the radio is likely NOT the best the genre has to offer. In fact, the best bands in rock rarely get any radio play at all and when on tour typically play smaller venues. That is good for us fans because we get to see the best musicians in small venues, but it is bad because they aren't being recognized (and not making the money) that they deserve. That Fall Out Boy is huge right now is a travesty and a sham. They are a terrible band full of wannabe musicians.
February 28, 2006 8:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't hear stuff like this on the radio. I live in the upper midwest, so you're either going to get country, pop, or 80s rock on the radio. My girlfriend used to be heavily into the punk scene (the real punk secne) and while she's not anymore, she is still friends with people who ARE so I hear a lot of these bands a couple of years before they actually get on the radio.
April 17, 2006 12:17 PM | Reply | Permalink