Popular culture

Popular culture seems to idolize a certain way of living. As I listened to “Pop That Pussy” by 2 Live Crew, I couldn’t help but notice the themes: open sex, partying hard, doing drugs, and living without limits. The message is clear—freedom means indulgence. In another one of their songs, “Banned in the USA,” the group pushes back against censorship, arguing that their lyrics are misunderstood and not meant to promote violence or disrespect toward women. They claim to be simply expressing pleasure and freedom in a new era, pushing against the morals of those who don’t understand—likely white, conservative America. Hearing those lyrics made me reflect on the current state of popular culture, especially from my perspective as a middle-class white guy in my early twenties. Today, in much of rap, movies, and TikTok, there’s this ever-present sense that to be “free” is to act on every desire. If you want to fuck, you fuck. If you want to do drugs, you do them. If you want to party and lose ...

Dec 16

The issue I have with business from being a business major. 


The issue I have is the philosophy of business. It feels like negative externalities aren't ever considered. For example, a company might find some value in a neighborhood. They buy up or build in the community which creates financial wealth for them but then end up gentrifying the area. The company will see this as a win, not for the community or people but for their monetary gain. Also, many of these big firms aren't based in said communities so don't end up creating jobs for anyone. 

For valuing real estate, we don't look at the issues the community needs fixing, we only see a tiny part of it that can be exploited. I think in general this view is pretty specific to a small number of companies. I also think business is something that if used correctly can help lots of people. 


Another issue I have is the idea that the treasury is 100% secure. When we discount money to find a present-day value for our investment. We are making the assumption that the United States government will back our decision. The argument against, depressions and inflation is that we have seen it before and that it will find its way back to normal feels wrong. I get that we have close to 100 years of data but that doesn't mean we won't go to war tomorrow. If we are being relative that's just a blip. If Russia overtakes us our 30-year loan interest rate won't really matter. It's one big system built on a pretty naive assumption. 

Comments