by Mikalyn

Created on: July 20, 2008   Last Updated: October 08, 2011

Of course the music industry would immediately point to the first amendment if ever held responsible for the crap they play over the radio and publish on their albums. In truth, they cannot be held liable through any judicial system for the words they sell unless someone can prove that they are directly related to the lyrical writing process.

I believe they should be held responsible not in a legal way, for it is ultimately up to individuals and parents to choose what to listen to. In a social way, yes. Are we not still trying to reach the American Dream as one country? Are we not united against discrimination and demoralization in that dream? Too often, Americans turn away from things like this while pointing fingers and hoping someone else does something more. If we are to beat the violent and negative nature that these lyrics can posses people with then we have to do it on a personal level. We have to make the choice and say NO to the nonsense.

In the 1960's during the "hippie" movement the American people not so uniquely decided to provoke change through non-violent means. There's no taking away the gruesome lyrics, the very same principle in our constitution which protects them from losing their freedom to write disrespectful words also protects us from being forced to listen to it. There is action people can take; we must ask that it doesn't come on the radio every two minutes in our cars so that our children can access it at any moment. We must demand that it be less intrusively pushed onto the public and our demand must be heard. Further more, we must remove it from the media spotlight or remove the media from our spotlight. If we refuse to engage the record companies when they present something that we feel is insolent, they will be forced to present us with something else. We have to rebuke the "cool" thats been attributed to the demeaning lifestyle associated with rude music. This is the only fair way to hold these companies responsible, its the only legal way and given enough strength it also works.

We cannot be afraid to tell these companies what we think of their morality and their choices. Since when have the people ceased to have power in the United States? Where are our backbones? We have to let them know and not just the producers but also the consumers of what we don't want second handedly fed into our heads and minds and ears...guess what? We'll throw the first amendment right back at you.

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