A Brief History of Poorly Written Agreements

Contract disputes (whether between artists and streaming services, artists and record labels, etc.) are not limited to the music industry, or even to the modern day. Throughout history people have drafted all sorts of agreements, contracts, and treaties to be more beneficial to one party at the expense of another. Sometimes this stems from greed, much like the problematic artist contracts of Spotify, or from some desire for justice after being wronged.

The latter was the case for the Treaty of Versailles, the document that ended World War I, and unintentionally started WWII. The Treaty of Versailles, specifically the Way Guilt Clause found within, was worded in such a way so as to basically punish Germany for the role that they played in the war, forcing them to pay costly reparations, give up some of their land they had gained, and restrict their military power, among other things. These conditions were extremely harsh and Germany tried to negotiate them after some time, but they were hardly given any breathing room by the other countries they were paying. As such, they started the Second World War in an effort to get their punishment repealed.


Thankfully, contract disputes in the present day aren't causing any global-scale wars. However, when people get the short end of the stick from a contract they were hesitant to sign in the first place, especially well-known celebrity musicians, odds are that they will try to fight against it. Thankfully, with the help of their fans, they are often able to make the positive changes that are needed or at least makes changes happen that will eventually lead to their goal. Hopefully, we will actually make sure to read contracts ahead of time and hopefully will get to a point as people where we do not use contracts as a means of personal gain alone.

Image Credit: https://www.iamexpat.nl/career/employment-news/new-dutch-labour-laws-conversion-of-contract-from-fixed-term-to-permanent Public Domain

All That Glitters...

The Gilded Age is often seen as an age of prosperity--a time where technology advanced and the quality of life rose. Due to the Industrial Revolution, America was experiencing an overall boost in industry and production, but at a cost. With the increase of factories, there was a move to the cities. The populations boomed, but the cities found that there was not sufficient space or supplies for those that came to work in the factories. The standard of living for the factories workers was abysmal.
There was rarely the amenities that we enjoy today such as heat, lighting, or general sanitation. Millions died from these poor conditions. But due to desperation, the workers continued in these conditions in order to make a living, even if that living was barely getting them by. All this time the monopolies capitalized on the cheap labor and built their corporate empires. The poor got poorer and the rich got richer.

Meanwhile in Europe, these same principles were driving nationalistic mentalities that lead to countries like Germany to embark on a mission to monopolize power to promote their agenda at the expense of the countries around them. Nationalism seems to be on the same wave length as monopolies but on a national rather than corporate or individual scale. These ruthlessly ambitious agendas paved the way into World War I and eventually to the fascist systems that perpetuated World War II.

While The Gilded Age seemed to be a golden age, it fueled the sentiments and passions that led the world into two consecutive world wars that rocked the societies and governments of multiple nations. Progress comes at a cost. All the advances allowed people to gain power and wealth, but it also gave us crucial technology and medicine that has allowed us to continue our societal growth clear into the twenty-first century. Without it we could have avoided millions of deaths, but we wouldn’t be where we are today. How do we choose between progress and peace?

image credit: public domain images via Wikimedia Commons

Becoming a Man?

World War I

In the movie All Quiet on the Western Front, boys, straight out of high school, some even younger, are shipped off to save the “Father Land.” As they march in formation, three little boys are trailing behind, wishing and waiting their turn.

A young soldier begins his war experience traumatized by the shooting of innocent horses. He can’t stand the pain, crying out in anger, “Shoot the wounded horses…shoot them!”

Arriving in the battle field, their leader tells them, “I’ll teach you how to kill ‘Frenchies’.” When Paul (the main character) finally has the experience of killing a “Frenchie,” he is overcome with grief. Lying in a trench, next to the soldier he has attempted to kill, he has to listen to the man slowly die. Paul whispers, “I didn’t want to kill you. I never even met you before, face to face. If we threw all the bayonets, rifles, and grenades away, we could be brothers. But they don’t want us to know that.”

There is agony in the belief that they have been transformed from decent human beings to those who “can destroy and kill. When we see their faces, we become wild beasts…murderers. If your own father came…you wouldn’t hesitate to fling a bomb into him.”

Paul asks his leader, “Who is right?” “The one who wins,” his leader responds, saying that one country offended another. “That is the reason for war.”

World War II

It was 1943. My dad was drafted at the same time that his mother lie dying of cancer. He had only been at Fort Snelling, near his home, for a few weeks before coming home for the weekend. He went to his mother’s bedside; she looked up at him and said, “I suppose that we should say good-bye, because we probably never will see each other again.” She died the next day. My dad remembers crying in his bunk that evening. He says that his mother’s death “was a loss from which I sometimes believe I never recovered.”

These boys all had dreams and ambitions, and my dad was no different. Speaking of his dream of becoming a cartoonist, he remembers thinking, “When in the world am I going to get a chance to do this? The war is still going on, and none of us knew if we were going to return. It was so depressing.”

World War I

After a short convalescent leave from the war, Paul returns. His mother is dying, so from his bedroom, he writes her a letter. “I used to live in this room…all my things are here…but they no longer speak to me…for I am no longer what I used to be. I am a soldier…my business is not reading…it is killing. Out there, all men think as I do…there is no argument about the meaning of life because it has no meaning.

World War I…World War II. Boys sent off to become men––the men they never wanted to be.

Dulce Et Decorum Est

What could be more honorable and glorious than to fight for one's country? To go out into the world and fight the enemy to protect those you love? To fight side by side with your brothers and bring victory home to your country? We all have at one time or another fantasized about living out an adventure filled with battles and excitement where we emerge victorious amidst terrible odds and we get to go home to those we love. My childhood was full of these fantasies, reenacted countless times in play with my brothers. But childhood fantasies are far from what happens in war. 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-photos-of-life-in-the-trenches

Dulce Et Decorum Est is a chilling poem which gives the listener a small taste of the horror of war. This poem bares us the bitter truth that war is not an adventure, it is not romantic, it is not a fantasy. The extended title of the poem is Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori which translates to "How sweet and honourable it is to die for one's country." This poem calls out all who dare call war romantic. It strips away the adventurous facade and shows us the grit and gore and horror found within. The author doesn't seek to denigrate the soldiers who fight for their country, for surely there is honor in that. But he denigrates those who pretend to these men who are signing up for war that it will be a holiday, that they will have their own chance at adventure. 

We as citizens of a free country should always be grateful for those who have fought for our freedoms. We should honor them, and part of how we can do that is by understanding what they had to go through. We need to get the romantic notion of war out of our minds and understand its ugliness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qB4cdRgIcB8

As If I Was There

Trenches on the 11th Cheshire Regiment

I attended a poetry reading which was held in commemoration of the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War I. I have never been to a poetry reading before, which is shameful because I do enjoy it. I usually sit towards the front of the room, but this time I sat in the back. Why? Perhaps because World War I was such a terrible war and I subconsciously wanted to distance myself from the people who would be reading about it.

Before entering the auditorium, we were invited to select a single poem from a stack just outside the door. I grabbed one without looking at it, and took my back-row seat. It wasn’t long before a good friend of mine, Dr. Westover, a professor at BYU, came into the room and sat by me. We chatted for a few moments, and then the lights dimmed. A man stood up to the microphone and welcomed everyone. I was slightly taken aback when he said that the audience would be invited to come up to read the poems they had picked from the stack. I don’t know… I guess I assumed that someone had been assigned to read a list of poems?

As soon as the mic was open, Dr. Westover made his way to the front. This was unsurprising to me, as one of his passions is poetry and the written word. He had selected “Dulce et decorum est.” I recognized this poem from high school, and words like, “blood-shod,” “stumbling,” “drowning,” and “writhing” came back to me. I imagined the unlucky soldiers gasping for breath and finally giving up. I could almost see “the blood/Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs” (21-22) and could feel the “incurable sores on innocent tongues” (24). Dr. Westover’s voice continued to send me to this place that I have never been and hope to never be.

I don’t think often about war, at least not in more than “once upon a time” terms. But it is real. And it mangles bodies and rips apart families. War is horrible, but sometimes it is necessary. When done with the correct end in mind, a country can experience great nationalism and can be brought together more closely. I believe that remembering our country and the values we enjoy would be eye-opening for every American, especially as we remember those who will never open their eyes again.


Image Credit: Wikipedia public domain "Trenches on the 11th Cheshire Regiment at Ovillers-la Boiselle, on the Somme, July 1916.

Seeking Signs

I think we’ve all been guilty at some point or another of looking for signs. In A Very Long Engagement, the main character, Mathilde, frequently tries to create signs that will confirm her belief that her long-lost fiancé is still alive, even though he’s been MIA for the few years following the end of World War I. As she sees more and more signs "confirmed," she feels her conviction grow and her motivation to find her fiancé is heightened. This pursuit very much reflects the ideals of Romanticism because Romanticism focused a lot on our human connection with something more supernatural--something reason and logic couldn't quite explain. Throughout Mathilde's pursuit, she was told numerous times to give up, that her fiancé was gone, that she was going to end up hurting herself, but despite all the reason and logic fighting against her, she held on to belief and hope, her inexplicable certainty that he was alive.

Holding on to those views of transcending reason during a time of war when everything seemed grim and hope was a distant memory for many people would have been challenging, but this just shows how powerful the ideas were of the Romantic Era. It was so important that those ideas preceded WWI because without that connection to something bigger, all hope would have been lost. If the war would have started after the Enlightenment, the logic and facts of the carnage and horror would have been enough to beat away any glimpse of hope.

A Very Long Engagement goes to show that the themes of Romanticism didn't disappear after the war. They were what kept people sane, with or without the happy ending. The feelings of hope and peace that you have even when there is no reason for them to exist are what keep the world moving forward. We should all be grateful to Romanticism for helping us to trust in these supernatural connections that keep us moving forward.

image credit: public domain images via Wikimedia Commons