As a musician/artist who loves Bluegrass (enough even to capitalize the genre name) and grew up listening to much of it, I have a couple perspectives/opinions that might help open some thoughts here. Two perspectives from the life of a struggling musician/artist
It is commencing. OMG! The only good thing about it is that it will probably minimize ads for pharmaceuticals... maybe not.
The year of the US Presidential election. Here we go, the overwhelming bombardment of political ads and 'news' of what is supposedly happening at every turn and debate, caucuses, and we'll be overwhelmed with rhetoric. Throughout all this year, candidates for both sides of the aisle and independents, and pundits, and more, will try to convince us what they say and bark about like some bad product huckster is going to make things better. They will inflate hype and throw out figures and mention someone's name and their predicaments as a way to convince us that they're 'in touch' with the little people, and in so doing get us to think (believe) they're our friend and the best candidate. They'll use every trick, 3 card Monte, and smoke & mirror show to get us to pull the lever in their favor. They'll even go so far as to glaze over any issues they might have that lowers their ratings in the polls, and they'll attack one another to get the same result.
Ok, so why is it that more and more often people spend more time trying to make someone else's day a bad one? I mean, it is everywhere I look. From not saying please and thank you, and other somewhat simple and menial everyday things, to legal complications and loopholes and tech difficulties, to political, financial, and government ridiculousness. SHEESH!
A couple examples:
First, I was involved in an auto accident back in November in Wytheville, VA. The other driver, a young man (mid 20's) driving a trash dumpster service truck veered into my lane, causing damage to my vehicle. I found out later from his boss and father, that this was his 9th accident! They wanted to pay for the damage to my car without turning it in to his insurance (fearing cancellation), which I reluctantly agreed. I am sometimes a good person when I should be tough. They didn't end...
