What snow shovels have to do with musicology

6 links in the chain

1. Many snow shovels sold in Canada, where it snows a lot, are made in China, where it in general snows much less.

2. Snow shovels are one of many products which used to be made in Canada but are now made in countries where labour costs are lower and where the welfare of workers and their families is less secure.

3. Many Canadians who used to work in production are now unemployed or must work in the underpaid service sector, with the result that the public purse — local, regional, provincial, federal — is deprived of income tax from fully employed citizens. This depletion of public funds is exacerbated by tax cuts to corporations who ‘outsource’ labour to China, India, Indonesia, etc.

4. Decreasing public revenue from income tax (see point 3) means less money to pay for essential services like public transport, health care, education and research.

5. Arts, humanities and social science are the areas of education and research conventionally regarded as most ‘useless’ in capitalism, even though no human community anywhere has ever been without artists, musicians and thinkers. Arts and humanities are usually the first to experience budget cuts despite the fact that the advertising business, with its abuse of knowledge from the arts, humanities and social sciences, turns over more money worldwide than the arms industry, despite the fact that the music, computer games, TV and other audiovisual industries play a hugely important part in the economy of many nations. Work out the logic of capitalism from those contradictions, if you can!

6. Musicology is a typical target for budget cuts, despite the fact that, if applied properly, it can help people understand how emotional manipulation, commercial coercion and political propaganda all work. It may even help us understand why so many people here are on anti-depressants and give us some clues about how that misery can be alleviated.