|
This story is a little long but is a good illustration of the little evils that take place in Conservative America.
......I can remember as a kid going out every Friday and Saturday night to see local rock concerts performed by local bands. This was where I went to hang out with my friends, to meet girls, to entertain myself and for the most part stay out of trouble. When I performed with one of my bands at these concerts, it was an extraordinary feeling, something I would hope every young kid out there would have at least a chance to experience.
For a town that isn't that big and doesn't have that much going on in the realm of entertainment, these local concerts where a great positive outlet for kids. To be honest, there were always a few underage kids sneeking beers and the occasional joint but rarely were there ever problems with violence and most parents felt safe to let their kids attend these concerts.
our local civic leaders have been doing everything they can to end All local rock concerts for kids.
There has never been any shortage of local businesses here who want to provide a venue for these concerts. For the most part, the business owners involved are just good people who remember what is was like to be a kid and are trying to give back to the community. These business men and women, however, have endured all kinds of manipulation and dishonesty at the hands of our city offices. When they go into city hall and ask for all the proper permits, they are not given the full paper work. They are charged money to file their papers and after being charged are told that they are missing papers that they need. They are told that they must file with up to nine different offices, and each office tells them that the office before instructed them improperly; "No, no, you have to do it this way." -and then the next office does the same, around and around in a circle. The run around is so ridiculous that many business owners give up before they are even started. Even when they have managed to make it through this byzantine gauntlet, the costs of obtaining all the proper permits to legally host a local concert are so unreasonably high as to force the business either to charge unfair amounts of money at the door or to give up all together.
Even when they have done all this, businesses are still not in the clear. Every local business that tries to host local concerts is routinely harassed by the police. While I would by no means suggest that the presence of police at any public event is bad, I would point out that they are not simply there to supervise and assist. They are there to place the entire event under the most stringent scrutiny, looking for the slightest technical flaw by which they can shut the show down. This has happened over and over again, for the most paultry of reasons.
Not only that. The planning commission routinely inspects the buildings at which these concerts are held, trying to find anything slightly out of code with which they can threaten the continuation not only the concerts, but of the business as well.
With all this, most business men and women who try to host local shows have no choice but to give up to save their business, putting the kids on the streets and in harms way.
You may say, "Why don't you elect a city council that will lift some of these restrictions." My answer is that most of the unfair restrictions are coming from our planning commission and our police dept. -from people who are not elected and who we cannot get rid of. I would also add, that many of the people voting in my town do not understand the problem, and therefore do nothing to change it. Most of our local elections run parallel with federal elections, which are much more vigorously advertised, distracting voters and letting figures running for local office escape much needed scrutiny.
You may not think that this is such a major problem yet, but let me give you a startling statistic:
STOCKTON HAS THE HIGHEST PER CAPITA CRIME RATE IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
We beat San Francisco and Los Angeles -even Compton and Oakland if you can believe it. A great deal of that crime is being comitted by young people.
While I cannot scientifically prove it, I believe that many of the young people comitting these crimes would not be, if they only had more positive outlets. The problem is that our city provides none. Most young people want the ability to go out on the weekends and meet their friends in large groups, hang out together, hear music, dance and have fun. Basically everything being a teenager is about. These events have to take place somewhere, and since the city has cracked down so hard on local businesses, many kids are throwing houseparties, where there is absolutely no adult supervision, and a lot worse things take place than would at a valid business location.
Then of coarse, there are the kids who drive in circles around the town on a Friday night, looking for something, someway to vent their frustration, their anger at the amazing limitations put of them: many times, this vent is something illegal and/or dangerous.
These kids need help to convince their community leaders that they deserve a chance to be kids and enjoy the things that their parents enjoyed when they were growing up.
Let me close by saying I believe that music (even when embodied by an amateur bunch of kids trying to play rock n' roll) is a beautiful thing. It gives people hope. My friend, Calvin summed it up perfectly when he said, "Stockton is a town without hope." It is true. I know my hometown isn't the only one suffering this problem. I know that all over the country, the radical religious right is doing their best to legislate their personal beliefs into law, and to force everyone else in their community to live by those stringent standards. I believe that this is what is happening in my town. They may have the best of intentions but, as is always the case with arrogant presupposition, the results of their actions have only been destructive.
I can't think of anything more American than a bunch of kids getting together at the local coffee shop or pizza place on a Saturday night to hear their friend's play music. What makes American so beautiful is that people are supposed to have the choice here, to be able to do that if they want, not to let it be taken away by misguided, short-sighted leaders who think less about providing their community with the freedom of choice and more about enforcing their own limited moral views on everyone else.
I am sure, with a little research, that you will find this phenomenon going on across the country. I believe it is part of a larger radical religious agenda -an agenda not entirely unlike the radical religious agenda that so many brave men and women have sacrifice their life to fight against in Iraq and Aghanistan. Please help to bring attention to this growing problem, not just in my home town, but across America.
Music is the voice of God, and refuses to submit.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(467 posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
