I WROTE THIS POEM TO ISAAC BROCK FROM MODEST MOUSE AND EDGAR GRAHAM FROM UGLY CASSANOVA BEFORE READING "A PRETTY GOOD READ" IT WAS A REALLY BAD READ!!

MR. iSAAC BROCK.
ANY ADVICE??!
NO ONE EVER CLAIMED THAT YOU WEREN'T VERY NICE
YOUR LITTLE PLAN SEEMED TO ULTIMATELY SUFFICE
FOR GOOD GOD DAMN MAN, YOU TURNED 3 LITTLE MICE
INTO A PRECISE, CONCISE, DEVICE
& DOUBLED THE PRICE
WITH A SLICE
MORE THAN TWICE
I'LL HELP YOU PLAY IT OFF AS A SACRIFICED VICE.
I GUESS I WILL ACT AS A FORM OF LICE
& RUN WITH YOUR PREVIOUS ADVICE
WHILE ENGULFED IN FLAMES,
I WILL GET BRUISED & HIT WITH ICE
WELL, I CAN'T LIE.
THIS MESS HAS TAKEN A LOT OF MY TIME
AS ALWAYS, I TRY
TO FOREVER CLIMB
I KEEP WAKING UP AT THE STARTING LINE
IS THIS A CRIME??!
POSSIBLY NINE??!
I GUESS FOR NOW, AT LEAST I'M ALIVE
BUT THE FINISH LINE WILL BIND
WHEN I TAKE A DEEP BREATH FOR THE LAST TIME.
****************************************<<<<<=+D
RE-IN
BEGIN
THE SIN
AGAIN
MY CONJOINED TWIN
IS & ALWAYS HAS BEEN
THE ANTIQUE ORIGIN
ANOTHER TREND
OF A VICO-VICO-VIOLIN
AN EASY BREAK WITHIN THE BEND
FURTHER COLLAPSE OF THE HEROINE
THE END..
MY FRIEND..
YET AGAIN,
THE END.

SELLOUTS??! SHUT THE F#CK UP!! MODEST MOUSE HAVE JUST WENT FROM TALKING HEADS INTO MUCH BETTER THAN TALKING HEADS

I really have no problem if artists want to sell their work to a commercial interest. Its their music, they can do what they want. I'm in no position to judge their motivations. But I really wish people would drop the completely false assertion that capitalism has built this perfect meritocracy where the "hard-working" succeed and the "lazy" fail. Capitalism, or more accurately corporate-powered capitalism in America, has messed up the lives of millions of people.

When an industry is outsourced to a different country leaving hundreds of thousands of people out of a job (and with sparse replacements of equal value) is it because those workers were too "lazy"? Or is it because the attainment of ever-better profit margins have become truly mercenary. If it were all about "hard work" why are so many hard workers doing so badly?

"Almost every non-homeless person in America is over-privileged, at least in a global sense."

Compared to starving children in the third world, or political dissidents in China, sure. But is that a fair comparison to make when critiquing the level of "privilege" in America, by comparing it to the very worst cases in the world? Why not compare it to the very best cases in the world? With all our affluence why are so many millions without health care? Why is our infant mortality rate plummeting to third-world levels? Why are corporations almost completely unchecked and given legal status equal to a living being? This line of argument seems very close to "you don't know how good you got it, so shut up". A defense of American capitalism that the ever-growing ranks of working poor are most likely fed up with. But then, perhaps they are too lazy and uncreative to deserve success.

From my experience, the best defense against cries of "sell out" is to make transcendent art that renders such criticisms meaningless. If you can't manage that, perhaps you aren't working hard enough.