Intro to CeeGees: “I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You”

BREAKING: Rando writer/musician thinks he can solve American tribalism by writing a newsletter a couple times a week

(10 points if you can guess where I stole the bones of this image from...)

Greetings from the grounds of a vacationing pal’s country abode 40 minutes outside Nashville, Tennessee. I’m here tending to his sweet pooch and thought it’d be an inspiring spot to write this introductory installment of CeeGees: Ideas, a socio-political newsletter from a decidedly non-sociologist/politician.
 

[Post picture of cute dog to tug at their heartstrings right off the bat…check.]

Not only am I not a sociologist, or a politician, or play either on TV (I haven’t even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express anytime in recent memory), but I’m not an expert-expert on much of anything, really, besides meat-n-potatoes bass guitar, sweet sweet harmony vocals, grammar naziism, hair metal, and Harry Nilsson. (And maybe Ghostbusters.)

But I've wanted to write about the divided state of the less-and-less-united United States for a decade now. And as depressing as things seem these days, I still feel compelled to explore ways to find common ground (CeeGee #1) and fight together for the common good (CeeGee #2) of all Americans—since those in power seem to primarily care about the über-rich.

Here’s a quote I worked up explaining the premise of CeeGees.org (before I realized CeeGees.org might work—for now, at least—as a Substack newsletter):

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I’m not against people getting rich and/or powerful, necessarily (sorry, Bernie), but many of those at the top have been baiting the rest of us to fight dumb culture wars amongst ourselves. Meanwhile, they pervert capitalism under our noses to breed obscene income inequality.

So tamping down on corporate greed (CeeGee #3) is also a big part of my drive to write. But the journey to that end is going to involve getting Americans who have been talked into resenting each other to recognize it’s a far better play to align and fight—not so much against the bad guys, but for the good guys.

As a fellow bassist wiser than I once said:

How do we transform America per the above glorious (and very British-sounding) daydream? Hell if I know! It’s all so overwhelming. Taking any meaningful steps to change the minds of people who are so wrapped up in hating “the other side” can feel pointless.

So what good is a rando newsletter written by a rando musician gonna do, then??

Maybe no good at all. But as another famous singer named Harry once said, “When in doubt, do something.” So my “something,” for now, is going to be asking questions about blind spots I personally have regarding people who are not straight, and/or white, and/or American (or perhaps were not born in America), and/or male like me. And I hope that by airing out my thoughts and sharing my discoveries along the way, those with perhaps similar questions can refine their viewpoints and learn about themselves, too, as I learn more about myself.

And then we’ll realize we all have the same hopes and dreams and desires and interests, and everything will totally get fixed, and the New American Era of Perfect Solidarity will begin.

I figure building this utopia, via this newsletter and this newsletter alone, should take roughly three to 300 years. But then it’ll all be good. So buck up!

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There will be three segments making up each newsletter. Appropriation is an example of the kind of thing I’ll be talking about in the first segment, called “The Big Idea.” Appropriation, as in:

1. Is it cool with Jews that I used the term “grammar naziism” in paragraph #2 above? Or is that making light of the Holocaust?

2. Am I doing the right thing by trying to cut out using terms like ay yi yi and holy frijoles? Or do Hispanic folks not care in the slightest? (Kind of like many Hispanics reportedly think the term Latinx is silly…)

3. I thought one of the sections of this newsletter was going to be called “Blind Spots” for a minute, so I worked up the below graphic. Is it offensive to the blind, do you think?
   

   

This is the kind of cultural stuff I’m often conflicted about, and I’m thinking some of you might be conflicted about it, too. The remedy for that inner conflict in this instance, I believe, would be to take the time to find out what Jewish, Hispanic, and blind people really think about all this. Because as far as I’m concerned, what they collectively say goes.

The second segment will be called something better than “Topical Topics,” but that’s my lame working title for now. It’ll provide the perspective of an utterly amateur political mind regarding a news item from that day. For instance: today I would’ve talked about the (supposedly) final January 6 committee hearing—how the hearings were hugely important for the country, and yet have resulted in approximately zero minds changed in my view.

And then segment #3, the Music Box, will talk about music stuff. ‘Cuz I’m a musician. I think for CG:I #1 on Tuesday (Oct 18) I’ll talk about the fact that my all-time favorite band is not very compatible with the spirit behind this newsletter.

[UPDATE (Nov-9-22): Now it’s the longer-form “Big Idea” on Tuesdays or thereabouts and the medium-form “Somethin’s Happenin’ Here” plus “The Music Box” on Thursdays or thereabouts.]

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CeeGees: Ideas will post most Tuesdays and Thursdays. Subscribe for free, or buy a paid subscription with 10% of my take (gross-not-net!) going to the American Red Cross:

Thanks for reading, and for considering signing up and e-brainstorming with me...
~Dean

P.S. - COMING TUESDAY (CeeGees: Ideas #1):

• The Big Idea: “Contemplating Pronouns Kinda Makes My Head Hurt, But, So Be It”

• Topical Topics: [I dunno, it’ll be about something topical-y!]

• Music Box: Why my favorite band of all time, which has shaped my life since I was 5, is woefully problematic to have as a favorite band.