You Get What You Ask For

I offer my sincerest apologies to anyone that I offended by calling them a "suit." I had no idea this word would effect people in such a serious way.

I am going to reiterate the point I was trying to make in less flippant way.

First, let's review what exactly the creative class is. From Wikipedia:

The creative class is a class of workers whose job is to create meaningful new forms. The creative class is composed of scientists and engineers, university professors, poets and architects, to name a few. Their designs are widely transferable and useful on a broad scale, as with products that are sold and used on a wide scale. Another sector of the creative class includes those positions which are knowledge intensive. These careers usually require a high degree of formal education. Examples of this sector are health professionals and business management. Their main job is to think and to create new standard approaches for fixing the problem at hand. Creativity is becoming more valued in today’s global society. Employers look at creativity as a channel for self expression and job satisfaction in their employees. 38.3 million Americans and 30% of the workforce in America identify themselves with the creative class. This number has increased more than 10% in the past twenty years. In short they are shaping a new culture for the America of the 21st century.

So, therefore, when I said "suit" - I, in no way, meant anyone who has a job that requires them simply to wear a suit, nor anyone that has a higher degree. I was actually referring simply to the high number of people that fall into the "so-called" follower category - and don't get me wrong - we need those people to - we just need to be very aware of where we lead them.

I am going to try this argument one more time, and then I am going to move on.

1. In my humble experience, the true creative class thrives on being challenged by new things. In this case, an opportunity was missed to take a group of people, who are supposedly committed to making Memphis a more culturally forward thinking city, and expose them to something they have not already seen or heard. Yes, it is true, many Memphians do not support the local music scene, most likely because they are unaware of the high level of talent that exists here.

2. An opportunity was also missed to take the money that the Mpact members chose to invest and reinvest it back into the arts community by hiring local professional musicians.

3. Because of the nature of the party and the cost - it was highly exclusive, as I have felt many prior events involving Mpact have been. Basically, it has become more of a social club for the elite rather than an organization put together to have any actual impact.

I have had a lot going on this past week and I should have put together a more thoughtful post about the entire situation rather than rattling something off at the last minute. I hope this rectifies what I have previously written.

I realize that I have a knack for rubbing some people the wrong way. What I find the most interesting about people who come here simply to post vile remarks is that they can never make very good arguments about the subject matter, so they resort to calling me drunk/slut/narcissistic etc. I may very well be all of those things!!! But how does that negate my argument?

And I drink HIigh Life, damnit!!