Jason Aldean Isn't the Problem. He's a Symptom.

What is the simplest way to explain the difference between a liberal and a conservative? 

I have heard all kinds of explanations: Liberals want to regulate corporations and conservatives want to regulate people. Liberals believe nobody working an honest 9-5 job should have to struggle to pay living expenses while a conservative believes if you struggle to pay living expenses, you are not working hard enough or living beyond your means.  A conservative believes in hierarchy while a liberal believes in egalitarianism.

The most amusing difference I ever heard referred to conservative and liberal patriotism: Liberals love the United States. Conservatives love America.

Ask most liberals what they love about their country and they are likely to give some concrete answers.  They will say they love the natural beauty of the land.  They will say they love the idea that we are all held accountable for our actions through the rule of law and the justice system.  They will say they love the fact that everyone has a vote. They will say they love the free press, which is the system that holds the people at the top accountable for their actions.  They will say they love the freedom of religion because the government isn't beholden to churches, and practicing a religion - and the religion one practices - is optional. 

What criticism would most liberals have of the United States? Ask liberals what's wrong with the country and they would likely say the ideas above are not executed properly.  We do not have equal justice and equal accountability, because those with money can use that money to avoid justice.  We do not all have an equal say in government because of voter suppression tactics. We do not have an equal say in the government because politicians are beholden to wealthy donors.  The free press is also constricted by the wealthy corporations who own the news outlets. They might also complain that no matter how much we try to level the playing field, certain religions seem to hold more power in the government and have more influence on the government.

Now let's ask a conservative why he loves America and what would you hear?  The answer would not be so much about a country, but about an idea.

 "America" is a place where everyone is white, or at least maintains the same standard of being culturally white.  In other words, we maintain a cultural, linguistic, and stylistic Euro-centric hegemony.  It's okay to be black, but you can't talk in AAVE, have black hairstyles, or dress in hip-hop fashion. You can quote MLK, but only the I Have a Dream speech and not his more radical and controversial writings.  If you're Latinx, you have to speak English and also make sure you leave a large portion of your cultural heritage behind.  Subcultures of most types are looked at with suspicion.

"America" is a place where everyone is Christian and Christianity will cure all societal ills.  Anyone who suffers from socioeconomic woes doesn't have enough faith or isn't praying hard enough. Divorce and infidelity don't happen because these things are against Christian morality. Let's not forget that good Christians are never sexually deviant. LGBTQ doesn't exist in America because we value traditional families over perverse pleasure and deviant behavior. Abortion never happens because nobody has sex outside of relationships stable enough to raise a baby. Citizens who commit crimes do so because they don't have God in their lives. Other religions can exist, but the "good" ones follow the same moral codes as the Christians. More importantly, Christian values dictate our rights and our laws. 

Justice in "America" is a combination of personal vigilantism and brute force police tactics. Criminals must be dealt with has harshly as possible.  Crime is black and white and any broken law is punishable by death. Again, good Christians aren't committing crimes.

In "America" rights are mutable (except for gun rights).  We all have the right to vote, but you have to jump through hoops to do it. A free press is a good idea as long as it confirms the correct worldview and tells us what we want to hear.  If it doesn't, then we should ignore it, even if it tells us what we need to know. Christianity has the right to impose itself in the public sphere as well as influence the government because Christianity is the only moral religion. The right to free speech can be silenced if it doesn't fit in within the government's moral framework.

Anyone can be successful in "America".  All you have to do is work hard.  Equal opportunities, equal justice, and inborn privilege have nothing to do with making it in America. If you're not doing well, you're not working hard enough.  You're probably lazy.  The very wealthy are earning their money through their industrious spirits and strong work ethic.  (What are you doing to earn your money?) If we maintain a free market, the economy will always be strong.  Laissez-Faire capitalism always works perfectly and wealth will always trickle down if taxes are low.  There are no obstacles to success, only laziness bad attitudes. Government benefits don't exist.  If you truly can't work, churches will take care of you.

In "America" small towns reign supreme. People in small towns are kinder and more neighborly, but also more independent and self-determined than those who live in cities. People in rural areas are more honest and hard working than people in urban areas.  People in the country are more wholesome and down-to-earth. If you prefer beer and whiskey to wine; if you prefer a camping trip to a fancy hotel; if you prefer a truck to an electric car; if you prefer country music to hip-hop; if you prefer a backyard grill to a fancy restaurant; if you prefer football games, honky-tonks, and country fairs to books, museums, and the theater, then you are a better, more honest, more authentic person than the elitist snobs in the city. 

What criticisms do conservatives have of America? It's that too many liberals live here who don't share this vision.

I know what I am saying is a gross exaggeration, and I don't want to paint anyone's world view with a broad brush, but that is often the image the folks on the MAGA side seem to want to generate. We live in one country that nobody wants to see as one country anymore.  I am tired of being told that it's my fault for not being empathetic to the needs of people who don't live the privileged life I live, but that goes both ways. If you want to meet me halfway, how about you do some of the work yourself?

So where does Jason Aldean fit into all of this?

It seems to me Aldean lives in this bubble that believes in "America".  He holds some of that vision I describe above.  He came from the south. He attended a Christian school.  He used that belief to write the song Try That in a Small Town.

Like many people living in Aldean's bubble, he has no idea what he is talking about. Aldean didn't grow up in a small town. He grew up in Macon Georgia, a city with a population more than five times the population of the NYC suburb I live in. Like many country singers, he did his time in Nashville, which is a "blue island" in a red state (although it was also the state where Al Gore was a senator).  He isn't singing about an actual small town. He is talking about this wholesome American fantasy place that doesn't exist and never did.

Now we have the issue of what's wrong with this country in a nutshell. We have major groups of Americans embracing this wet dream of what they think the country is, or at least what it should be, without wanting to face any sort of reality of how things are. People living under the belief of restoring "America" or making all citizens of the United States love "America" aren't interested in addressing important issues like infrastructure, or housing, or education or clean drinking water.  They care about maintaining this nebulous vision of what the country should be.  

I'm sure Jason Aldean truly believes he isn't a racist. Most white Americans don't believe they are racist and claim to hate racism.  The problem is Aldean and his ilk see racism in strict terms. Racists are people in white hoods. Racists are people who believe in separate drinking fountains.  Racism died in this country with the Civil Rights Act.  What most Americans don't understand (and I am including the liberals) is racism is a spectrum. Racism permeates our culture in ways we don't realize. It is ingrained in all our legal, social, and economic systems to the point where we don't notice it.  No white American is immune to these influences.

The problem is that Jason Aldean, the culture that raised him, and the people who support him, refuse to acknowledge systemic racism.  If you acknowledge it, then you're "woke".  I'm not sure why it's so bad to be "woke" and to acknowledge systemic racism exists, but in Aldean's world it's bad. To acknowledge systemic racism is to ruin that image of "America".  If you acknowledge that the United States isn't the "America" you envision, then you don't love "America".  The country needs to be loved unconditionally or else you don't love it at all.  Also, if you acknowledge the problem, you might start to empathize and if you empathize, then you will feel obligated to create change.  Change is scary. We have no idea what a more just and equal society will look like.  It's better to keep things as they are than to do the work necessary to make a change.

Jason Aldean is doing what most conservatives are doing.  He's wrapping himself up in the flag and ignoring the real problem.  He's becoming defensive - even a little belligerent - when he sees the world doesn't think the way he does.  Aldean isn't unique.  He is a symptom of a larger problem. We have a substantial group of citizens of this country who would prefer to cling to their image of a perfect country and defend that image - with guns if necessary - to the point where it becomes destructive to everyone.  That's because it's easer to cling to performative patriotism, religion, and empty platitudes than it is to do the real work to address the issues the country faces.  

Removing Jason Aldean from popular culture isn't going to change much. If we want to see real change, we need to understand and change the culture that created him.