Normative and Descriptive: Update

I don't put myself high above others. Now, by personal experience, I mean I'm a musician. By knowledge, I mean I'm a musician who knows how music works. I know quite a bit of music theory to tell you the simplicity of the song, but I wouldn't be able to put it in lament terms. Also, you can listen to her, but to act as if she's some kind of musical genius is idiotic. [She] isn't creative. [This song] is hardly even intelligent or charming.

That's a direct quote from a (judging from tone) very reasonable person writing about Lady Gaga.

But being reasonable and knowing the obvious--that tastes are subjective--doesn't stop this person from, at least appearing, to make statements about what music is objectively good. The progressive use of the terms "simplicity," "creative," "intelligent," and "charming" show a drift some adjectives that could reasonably have an objective meaning (if you put a song on paper in some encoding scheme, some would be easy to compress due to repetition etc. thus simple) to code words for good and bad (people are charming, songs aren't).

Maybe he or she did intend all those adjectives to be seen as objective descriptions. Maybe he likes Lady Gaga, but thinks she lacks charm, intelligence and creativity. But I wouldn't put money on it. Those things, like beauty, are largely in the eye of the beholder.

Cultural Imperialism

I'm puzzled about all the excitment over the World Cup.

Isn't it just the legacy of colonialism? Soccer's historical roots in England are weak (the game is less than 200 years old) and in the rest of the world it's a legacy of the British Empire and cultural imperialism.

Economists and other sensible people would have us believe that soccer is popular because people like to play the game. The rules are simple; all it requires is a ball, some rocks to mark the goal, and a field; and everyone enjoys a little exercise and competition--especially kids.

But this belies the truth. Every people has its own historical set of games and recreational activities, just as it has its own language, music, and culture in general. Soccer is popular because it was imposed through imperialism and globalization. The fact that Africans love soccer isn't something to celebrate--because it provides some joy in what is for many a short, drab life--it's something to protest. Africans should play African games, just as they should wear African clothing and speak African languages.

If Africans don't like that, too bad. If we allow soccer to become the "world's sport" and the World Cup to become a semi-annual ritual sucking up the time and talent of countless billions of young men (and, one day, women), everyone will suffer from the lost diversity. Everyone has a stake in ensuring that languages, sports, and musical traditions don't die.

Links:

Has American Pop Music Displaced Local Culture?

Kwame Anthony Appiah with relevant thoughts