Pablo Massa wrote in reaction to me:

>>Every way the world goes,
>>every way the wind blows
>>is alright with me.
>
>I could read the poem in this way: the author gives actually a farthing
>for the entire Universe, which he considers an illusion just as himself.
>"Every way the world goes is alright with me" seems a sort of cynic credo
>(or a masochist manifesto, depending on the occasion).

I know that it is possible to understand the poem this way but it is not
meant this way.  It is quite the opposite.  It expresses the Taoist ethical
ideal of wu wei, doing without effort, but this is not the place to further
explain it.

>>I read this and saw my increasing CD collection with music of all epochs,
>>tonal, atonal, calm, furious, deep and shallow and thought: What a
>>privilege to have all these different kinds of music at hand!
>
>Sure.  It's a privilege.  But your CD collection is the result of many
>little acts of exclusion (selection) as well as the result of your
>aecumenical sense of acceptance.

True. So what?

>>how strange to condemn any kind of music, to call some music a "plague"!
>>For me every music is a necessary expression of an individual way of seeing
>>the world.
>
>...  I could call Ricky Martin "a plague", since I've been bombarded from
>every angle (and without my authorization) by the almost entire production
>of this guy.  That's what I propoerly call a plague.

That's what I properly call intolerance.  There is a big difference between
saying "I don't like Ricky Martin and don't want to listen to the guy, he
is a plague and his records should be banned and burnt" and between saying
"I don't like Ricky Martin but there is a place for ALL kinds of music in
the world - thank God, I am not forced to listen to all kinds of music at
home".

>I don't always want to find the beauty of music.  Sometimes I prefer the
>opposite.

Your understanding of beauty is limited.  For me real beauty covers ugly
and disturbing things, too.

>>(Besides, no matter what I do, if I call this singing a plague: I won't
>>change the way this bird sings.)
>
>To call it "a plague" is just the first step.  The second is buying a cat.

Hey, aren't you the guy who called the above mentioned poem cynical?

>...  Those who claims that the music of, say, XVII century is "a plague"
>(suposing that they don't know it really) and those who claims that "every
>music is alright to me" are both discarding the right to choose.

absolutely wrong.  To accept an invitation once does not necessarily
mean that you have to accept it all the time.  And again: there is a big
difference between saying "I was invited by this composer.  His music is
a plague, a kind of evil virus.  I hope his music will be forbidden soon"
and between saying "Well, I tried this music.  It is not my cup of tea.
But surely there are people who feel understood by this music".

>>Or the Taoist would just write a little poem:
>>
>>Every song of every bird,
>>every music of every composer
>>is alright with me.
>
>My granny used to say: "don't trust someone who is friend of everybody".

You misinterpret my poem because your reading and thinking is very
non-Taoist.  I am not friend of everybody: I just don't have enemies and
do not need some and I see use and necessity in every kind of music but do
not have to listen to it at home.

Robert