For all that we pay lip service to inclusivity (is that a word?) it seems increasingly clear to me that we are actually creating a society of anything but.
Start with price tags. The price of whatever it is goes up the more exclusive it is, either in reality or by inference. Take $1,000 shoes as featured in today's NYTimes. Take fame as opposed to quality, probably the same in music as in fashion.
By hiding behind labels, degrees, institutional credibility we have removed ourselves from direct lines of communication, from direct sensory experience. So much music reflects the cult life of insiders.
Is anyone else bothered by the homogeneity of the audience in so many concerts and clubs?
