RAVEN MACK is a mystic poet-philosopher-artist of the Greater Appalachian unorthodox tradition. He does have an amazing PATREON, but also *normal* ARTIST WEBSITE too.

Friday, January 18

SONG OF THE DAY: We Need Some Money (Live)



Been trying to hype MY PATREON in order to have artistic endeavors supported financially, but the hardest part for me is marketing myself, because I don’t come from an arts supporting tax bracket background. So it becomes an internal jihad question of empathy and entitlement, because I saw a dude with a blue check by his name make a post, which I’m sure he’d say was tongue-in-cheek or not serious (as nothing ever is with entitled people) asking for sponsorship of a trip for five to Las Vegas to go watch some wrestling bullshit. I mean, sure if you can find the rubes dumb enough to support shit like that, go for it. The fucked up thing is at exactly the same time I saw friends posting how their EBT got cut off due to government shutdown, and also saw stories of people’s rent vouchers running out in February, also because of government shutdown, so folks wrestling with hunger and homelessness as real life issues. As I know folks in that position, and have been dependent upon government services at times in both my adult and juvenile life, it’s hard not to feel empathy for that, and see a certain inhumane disconnect to be like “lol send me to Las Vegas to watch fake fights” while motherfuckers out here starving.
Ultimately, this is why I’m horrible at marketing myself, because I know how hard money is to come by, still don’t have it, and know if I get it, hardly none of its gonna ever go to a patreon, simply because even 8 years of stability at the same employer, in terms of multi-generational stability, well I’m at 8 years lol. So the resources remain slim, and yet so much better than a lot of people. I mean, I got food in my cupboard I’m like “nah, I don’t feel like eating that” so it gets pushed to the back. Having known hunger and empty cabinets, I recognize the privilege in that.
So I wrestle with how do I approach people who have extra wealth, who enable the arts, when I’m not that type of person, nor will I likely ever be? And if ultimately I have issue with the system itself which breeds this level of inequality and human disconnect, where your neighbors are struggling and starving, and you’re out here wanting people to give you money to write poetry, I don’t know, I haven’t figured out how to walk that line yet. But I know I need some damn money, and I know others need it too, and I know this shit is broken that we’re living in, broken at the core, y’all can’t blue paint away the internal rot, y’all can’t even green paint it or whatever fuckin’ color fake socialist democrats mark themselves… the shit’s broken. But I also know it’s Friday, and life can’t be all depression and gloom and even revolution gotta be fun. So I’mma throw on some go-go music, after work gonna get my hair cut, might wear a whole fuckin’ Adidas track suit tonight, fuck it, no shirt on too, 20 pounds overweight after holiday slothfulness ass belly hanging out, not giving a fuck. My kids present to me for Christmas was an Adidas track suit, and I ain’t even wore it yet, because hadn’t had no fresh enough heart day to rock it. Maybe I let my brain tell my heart today, “Fuck it heart, I know I keep telling you shit is fucked up, but it’s Friday, you got a three day weekend, so fuck it, let’s lounge.”
If you enable the arts, enable me, please. People support far worse at far higher levels. And if you’re broke perpetually and hate the system like me, let’s tear it up, but not all serious style and recreation of power structures and act like somebody’s gotta be in charge and shit, let’s just tear shit up and have fun and take what we can and then when it’s all gone and we’re like “oh fuck, what now?” we figure out what then. But with go-go drums.

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