{"id":3486,"date":"2017-07-17T06:57:58","date_gmt":"2017-07-17T10:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gnhuu.org\/?p=3486"},"modified":"2017-07-17T06:57:58","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T10:57:58","slug":"sunday-july-16-2017-summer-songs-for-inspiration-ragtime-music-the-entertainer-by-scott-joplin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/2017\/07\/17\/sunday-july-16-2017-summer-songs-for-inspiration-ragtime-music-the-entertainer-by-scott-joplin\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, July 16, 2017, “Summer Songs for Inspiration: Ragtime Music & ‘The Entertainer’, by Scott Joplin”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n

You may recall that the song Les Tacy just played, \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d was the title piece to the 1981 movie \u201cRagtime.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>It was based on a novel, with the same name, by E.L. Doctorow.\u00a0 <\/span>The movie and book were named after the musical genre that was popular during the first two decades of the 1900\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Ragtime<\/span> story<\/b><\/span> focuses on a wealthy New York family who are not named.\u00a0 <\/span>They are simply \u201cFather, Mother, Mother\u2019s Younger Brother, and little boy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Father earns his wealth owning a fireworks and flag factory.\u00a0 <\/span>Like many rich men of the time, he has lots of idle time and gets bored.\u00a0 <\/span>So he joins the first expedition to the North Pole.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While he is gone for many months, Mother experiences independence for the first time.\u00a0 <\/span>She becomes a suffragette and advocate for women\u2019s rights.\u00a0 <\/span>After finding an abandoned African-American baby, Mother adopts the child.\u00a0 <\/span>The child\u2019s mother Sarah eventually finds her way to the house and Mother rescues her too.\u00a0 <\/span>Later still, the baby\u2019s father, Coalhouse Walker, begins to live in Mother\u2019s house.\u00a0 <\/span>Coalhouse is an accomplished pianist who earns a living playing ragtime music in fancy New York nightclubs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mother\u2019s younger Brother is an expert in explosives and fireworks.\u00a0 <\/span>He manages the family business.\u00a0 <\/span>He too becomes bored and begins an affair with Evelyn Nesibit, who was a real life American chorus girl with a salacious reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miss Nesbit meanwhile takes an immigrant single father named Tateh under her protective wings.\u00a0 <\/span>He is an accomplished artist who supports himself by working in a large factory.\u00a0 <\/span>He is caught up in a worker\u2019s strike, meets the real life progressive activist Emma Goldman, and becomes a socialist.\u00a0 <\/span>Tateh realizes the promise of supposed American equal opportunity – is a myth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coalhouse Walker gets caught in the major drama of the story.\u00a0 <\/span>While driving to work in his Model T Ford, he is stopped and humiliated by a racist fire crew and its Chief Conklin.\u00a0 <\/span>They demand a huge sum of money to allow him to proceed. \u00a0 <\/span>They are upset a black man owns a car.\u00a0 <\/span>Coalhouse refuses to pay and the fire crew then dumps human excrement into the car and finally burn it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coalhouse pursues legal action against the fire chief in an attempt to get his car and, more importantly, his dignity back.\u00a0 <\/span>His efforts are blocked by a legal system that is prejudiced against African-Americans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Coalhouse then begins vigilante attacks on New York firehouses.\u00a0 <\/span>He threatens to continue them until his car is restored and Chief Conklin is punished.\u00a0 <\/span>He escalates his attacks by recruiting other disaffected blacks and whites to join him.\u00a0 <\/span>Younger Brother is one of them who, with his expertise in explosives, helps Coalhouse build bombs.\u00a0 <\/span>The gang takes over, and threatens to explode, the famous J.P. Morgan Library with its valuable collection of books and art.\u00a0 <\/span>The real life Booker T. Washington negotiates punishment for Chief Conklin in return for the safe escape of Coalhouse\u2019s volunteers.\u00a0 <\/span>When Coalhouse surrenders after his men are safe, he is shot and killed by police.<\/span><\/p>\n

Into these interwoven story lines, Father returns from his adventure.\u00a0 <\/span>He\u2019s shocked to find profound changes in his family.\u00a0 <\/span>Mother is now a feminist who adopted a black child, its mother and it\u2019s outlaw father.\u00a0 <\/span>The manager of his factory, Younger Brother, is not only having an affair with the scandalous Evelyn Nesbit, he has also joined Coalhouse as a bomber.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Father is deeply shaken by these changes.\u00a0 <\/span>In despair and to flee from changes he cannot understand, Father embarks on the ship Lusitania headed to Europe.\u00a0 <\/span>He dies when the ship, as students of history know, is sunk by German U-Boats.\u00a0 <\/span>After his death, Mother meets, falls in love with, and marries Tateh, the immigrant father.\u00a0 <\/span>The story ends as Mother and Tateh settle down to raise their three very diverse children.\u00a0 <\/span>Mother and Father are thus symbols of change in America and how to deal with it.\u00a0 <\/span>Fight against it and sit on the wrong side of history, or embrace it and find peace.<\/span><\/p>\n

The novel <\/span>Ragtime<\/span> has been acclaimed by numerous critics as one of the hundred best books of the twentieth century. \u00a0 <\/span>Importantly, the book\u2019s themes highlight the profound changes in the lives of Mother and Father AND those in the United States and world.\u00a0 <\/span>Human culture, economies and social structures were all upended by industrialization.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Industrial era, most historians agree, spanned from the 1850\u2019s to the conclusion of World War Two.\u00a0 <\/span>It was followed by the post-Industrial era lasting until approximately the 1990\u2019s.\u00a0 <\/span>After that, began the period in which we now find ourselves – that of the Digital Age with its own major economic and social changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Industrial era, however, reached its inflection point during the first decades of the 1900\u2019s – precisely when ragtime music was most popular.\u00a0 <\/span>Industrialization created massive dislocations in society.\u00a0 <\/span>Cities grew to be very large as people moved from rural areas to work in newly built factories.\u00a0 <\/span>Those factories needed lots of cheap labor to run their machines.\u00a0 <\/span>That encouraged the immigration of millions of poor farmers from most of Europe. <\/span><\/p>\n

Factories needed huge amounts of coal and oil to fuel their machines.\u00a0 <\/span>That created opportunities for a few businessmen to build large monopolies like Standard Oil, New York Central Railroad, and US Steel.\u00a0 <\/span>Great wealth became concentrated in the hands of a few.\u00a0 <\/span>An educated, managerial class of professionals was needed to run the factories and large businesses.\u00a0 <\/span>They became a new middle class.\u00a0 <\/span>Those who worked in the factories, coal mines and steel mills – the uneducated rural poor, immigrants, women and children – they were the new lower class.\u00a0 <\/span>They worked long hours, toiled in unsafe conditions and were paid minimal wages.<\/span><\/p>\n

I relate the <\/span>Ragtime<\/span> novel\u2019s story, and the history of Industrialization, as my introduction to a larger point.\u00a0 <\/span>Economic, technological and social change can be shocking and disruptive, but they have happened throughout human history.\u00a0 <\/span>I assert that societies and people must learn to adapt to change, and help minimize its worst effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a symbol of the early twentieth century and its many changes, ragtime music is one of America\u2019s contributions to the world.\u00a0 <\/span>As a musical genre, it was known for unique syncopation and upbeat energy.\u00a0 <\/span>Melodic accents and harmonic sounds come between major beats in the music.\u00a0 <\/span>A pianists left hand plays the beat while the right hand plays the syncopated, rhythmic melody.\u00a0 <\/span>This \u201cragged\u201d sound gave the music its name.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a radically new musical genre that many say was a modern update to Mozart\u2019s minuets and Brahms\u2019 waltzes.\u00a0 <\/span>It influenced later classical music – that of of 20th century composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Stravinsky.\u00a0 <\/span>It’s no coincidence that the music is a symbol for change.\u00a0 <\/span>People around the world reacted to industrialization changes in multiple ways.\u00a0 <\/span>The Russian Bolshevik revolution of 1917 was one reaction.\u00a0 <\/span>Colonialism and rampant greed in Europe was another – one that led to World War One as nations competed against each other for control of natural resources.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the US, progressives like Teddy Roosevelt enacted their own solutions to industrialization and its negative changes.\u00a0 <\/span>Labor unions, the right to strike, child labor laws and minimum wages were their solutions. \u00a0 <\/span>Added to those, constitutional rights of free speech and the right to assemble helped American women create positive change for themselves – by gaining the right to vote in 1920.\u00a0 <\/span>American institutions of democracy and built-in checks on forces of power helped this nation deal with the profound changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

It goes without saying that we are today witnessing cultural, economic and social upheavals similar to those caused by the Industrial revolution.\u00a0 <\/span>Today\u2019s changes, however, have been caused by the so-called Digital Revolution in what many sociologists believe is the single fastest and most profound economic shift in history.\u00a0 <\/span>People of every nation are struggling with how to answer such change.\u00a0 <\/span>Do we embrace current dislocations and innovations – those of globalization, immigration, the demand for minority rights, and new technology in the form of computers?\u00a0 <\/span>Or, do we react like Father in the <\/span>Ragtime<\/span> story – with disbelief, shock, anger and retreat?\u00a0 <\/span>In other words, is the answer to widespread economic, social and technological change one that accepts change and tries to soften its blows?\u00a0 <\/span>Something we call progressivism? \u00a0 <\/span>Or is the answer to deny change, retreat to the past, and embrace a conservative response emblematic of that name – to conserve what was once had?<\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of political reasons why it is essential to accept change, I believe it is a spiritual one as well.\u00a0 <\/span>Ragtime music and <\/span>Ragtime <\/span>the story both implicitly endorse that.\u00a0 <\/span>Ragtime music was, and is popular because of its radical newness in sound – one that is almost robotic.\u00a0 <\/span>Scott Joplin, ragtime\u2019s foremost composer, said it was intentionally written to mimic piano music rolls – what were an early prototype of digital computer cards.\u00a0 <\/span>It\u2019s acceptance and popularity helped spawn ragtime\u2019s musical offspring- jazz, R&B, and rock and roll.\u00a0 <\/span>In other words, much like industrialization and the changes it caused were eventually blended into a new economic and social culture, so too was ragtime.<\/span><\/p>\n

Change, as a basic fact of life, is thus not something we can ignore.\u00a0 <\/span>All around us, change happens constantly.\u00a0 <\/span>All forms of life mature, grow old and eventually die – consistent with the fact that nothing in the universe stays the same.\u00a0 <\/span>Physical laws of entropy and thermodynamics confirm this.\u00a0 <\/span>Since change<\/i><\/b> is a fundamental law of existence, then it holds true for human society as well.\u00a0 <\/span>To ignore or fight against change is a Don Quixote like effort – useless.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Spiritually, change is also a fact of life.\u00a0 <\/span>All religions have used change to encourage new ways to understand life and the universe. Judaism began as a way to change human behavior through religious rules of morality.\u00a0 <\/span>Jesus radically changed that idea by saying rules of behavior have merit, but values of compassion and equality supersede them.\u00a0 <\/span>The Buddha and Mohammad taught the same.\u00a0 <\/span>Virtually all forms of spirituality were and are <\/span>change<\/span> reactions intended to further human decency. <\/span><\/p>\n

Progressivism in the early 20th century, symbolized by ragtime music, was also a way to initiate positive change in human behavior.\u00a0 <\/span>And so it is today.\u00a0 <\/span>A common definition of progressivism, however, says nothing about politics.\u00a0 <\/span>Instead, progressivism is defined as \u201ca philosophy based on the idea of Progress, which asserts that advancements in science, technology, economic development, and social organization are <\/span>vital<\/i><\/b><\/span> to the improvement of the human condition.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Underlying that definition is the spiritual notion that our purpose for living is to improve the condition of all humanity such that the world becomes a better and more humane place.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I say GNH is spiritually progressive, I mean the same – that we embrace change as a means to improve ourselves and the world.\u00a0 <\/span>In fact, we are each called to be <\/span>change agents<\/b><\/span> – people who work to change themselves so that they can then work to change the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

But humans being human often reject change out of fear.\u00a0 <\/span>The act of becoming something different is not easy, physically or mentally.\u00a0 <\/span>With change, we move into unknown territory, where life is unfamiliar and seemingly unsafe.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Church congregations, for instance, are notoriously averse to change.\u00a0 <\/span>Both myself, and some of you, are not immune to that response.\u00a0 <\/span>We like our traditions – our rituals, hymns, committees, and policies we\u2019ve used for many years.\u00a0 <\/span>Adopting new ideas for how we worship, sing or govern ourselves – such things are scary.\u00a0 <\/span>I still lament that some of the former Gathering members, who chose not to continue with the merged congregation, did so because they did not want to change. \u00a0 <\/span>A new congregation, in a new location, with some new practices, those were unsettling.<\/span><\/p>\n

Certain segments in our nation are reacting strongly to the social and economic change they see.\u00a0 <\/span>Attitudes against LGBT rights, globalization, immigration, Black Lives Matter, global warming, and new forms of technology have manifested themselves in a conservative response.\u00a0 <\/span>Such people say, \u201cLet\u2019s ignore these sweeping forces for change.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s stay the same or retreat backwards.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s refuse to educate ourselves and evolve.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But as much as it is easy to wag our finger at others who resist change, we must look within ourselves and how we also resist change.\u00a0 <\/span>I resist change in my life – that I\u2019m getting older, that I am having new health problems, that the patterns of my life and work evolve, that forms of social media like Facebook or Twitter <\/span>can<\/b><\/span> be useful.\u00a0 <\/span>At times I can sound like a grumpy old man who sits on his porch and yells at kids in the street who make too much noise!\u00a0 <\/span>Take a chill pill Doug and move with the onward flow of progress!<\/span><\/p>\n

I therefore try to encourage evolutionary change here and in myself by allowing things to move forward gradually.\u00a0 <\/span>I believe a progressive attitude in politics, spirituality, economics and society can help us change in ways that is balanced.\u00a0 <\/span>Progressivism is neither revolutionary nor ultra-conservative.\u00a0 <\/span>It accepts change but it also tries to manage it in ways that are compassionate to those hurt by it.\u00a0 <\/span>Progressivism echoes Martin Luther King\u2019s belief that the arc of moral history is a long one, with many temporary backward steps, but it <\/span>always<\/i><\/b><\/span> bends toward justice.<\/span><\/p>\n

With that hopeful thought, my encouragement for us is to listen to the implied message of ragtime music.\u00a0 <\/span>Change is a universal fact.\u00a0 <\/span>It is a force for good.\u00a0 <\/span>Change in us, in life, in human institutions, or in technology may be frightening, but it will ultimately be for good if we take time to adapt.\u00a0 <\/span>We can act like angry white men in any area of change – with technology, at church, with our jobs, families, health, foods, sexualities, and lifestyles – or we can act like Mother in the Ragtime story – an open minded, compassionate woman who heard the new syncopated call of \u2018The Entertainer\u2019 and boldly moved into a better future.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You may recall that the song Les Tacy just played, \u201cThe Entertainer\u201d was the title piece to the 1981 movie \u201cRagtime.\u201d\u00a0 It was based on a novel, with the same name, by E.L. Doctorow.\u00a0 The movie and book were named after the musical genre that was popular during the first two decades of the 1900\u2019s. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3487,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3486\/revisions\/3487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gnhuu.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}