OP in the comments: "A part of why I love this article is this great sample questionnaire to determine how fit you are to be making big decisions about the country:
What is your favorite book? (Cannot answer “The Bible.”)
How many languages do you speak? (Let’s be wary of numbers lower than 3.)
What’s your favorite opera? Ballet? (How can we expect arts funding from people who don’t appreciate the arts?)
When did you last use your passport? Where did you go? (If you don’t have a passport, maybe you shouldn’t be anywhere near foreign policy. Ditto if your travels have only ever taken you to Mexico and Canada.)
Who is your favorite political philosopher? Have you read Burke? Paine? (Any good music teacher will tell you, theory first!)
Obviously it's more of a thought experiment than a serious proposal, but imagine if the people making decisions actually appreciated art and travel and culture. It actually sounds like a constituency you'd find in a major European city, with no Billy Bobs in trailer parks to hold us back culturally."
Hmm, I wonder why exactly rural people hate liberals? :thinkin-lenin: Obviously they are just good for nothing disgusting poors. Back to brunch!
"Any good music teacher will tell you, theory first!"
Fuck no. I'm working on being a music educator and this is exactly the OPPOSITE of what you want to do. Theory is an abstraction of the sound we make from our instruments. Once you have a child familiar with that sound and the ways to make it, THEN you introduce the explanatory bullshit as to why it works. There's so many great artists out there who have never read a lick of music in their life, because it's an ABSTRACTION of the sound you hear. Goddamn the other stuff is horrible too, but this shit is so near and dear to me. (also how do i end a quote on this shit I can't figure it out)