The James Brown Commentary

By James A. BrownSociety & Culture Business News News Commentary

The James Brown Commentary episodes

December 04, 2023 Falling behind
Americans are having fewer children overall.
And when we do have kids, more of us are not getting married.
In fact, roughly half of all children born in this country today don't have two parents in the home.
University of Maryland Economics Professor Melissa Kearney said in a recent Bloomberg interview that we're in a crisis.
“I have been studying U.S. income inequality and poverty and social mobility for over 20 years, and I've been in countless at this point policy conversations and academic conversations about these issues,” said Kearney. “And it has become abundantly clear to me that what's happened to families in the U.S., and in particular the rise in the share of kids living with one-parent households, how this has primarily happened outside the college-educated class, these trends are really important to what we're seeing with child poverty, inequality, undermining social mobility.”
Her new book, Two-Parent Privilege, How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind, features dozens of data points that show that marriage improves our lives economically and socially.
And a long tale of this lasts deep into our adulthoods.
She says there's a dramatic impact on kids, no matter how much money you make.
Higher income, higher educated parents are more likely to be married.
But even adjusting for that and comparing kids who are in otherwise similar situations, but for this difference in whether they have two parents or one parent in the home, we see that kids with two parents, they're more likely to go to college, they're more likely to graduate college. They're more likely to have higher earnings and be married themselves as adults.“This is why this is an issue we really need to care about because this is yet another way that the college-educated class is pulling away from everyone else, setting their kids up in much better circumstances to graduate college, to achieve higher earnings, and we're perpetuating advantage and disadvantage across generations by allowing this class divergence to persist and not trying to break this cycle.
What do you think of this idea in Melissa's perspective?
Why children of married parents do better, but America is moving the other way
The economist Melissa Kearney has been both vilified and praised for her new book, The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind.
In the book, released last month, Kearney points out a rather obvious fact: Children raised by two parents have a much higher chance of success than those raised by one. Yet she goes even further to argue that whether parents are married or not impacts their children's success.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/22/1207322878/single-parent-married-good-for-children-inequality
3 min
December 01, 2023 Christmas Carols
Those that know me well know I'm not much of a Christmas person.
This year, this time of year, I often joke that my heart is a lump of coal.
I've been called a grump, a Scrooge, a grinch, and in many ways that has not changed.
But these feelings don't stop me from acknowledging beauty when I hear it from the mouths f middle schoolers singing, echoing through the atrium of my hometown City Hall.
And that, my friends, is what joy sounds like.
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
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2 min
November 30, 2023 I'll be there for you
At a recent Charlie Perth show in Melbourne, Australia, the singer led a melancholy crowd as they sang the theme song from Friends.
This, of course, is because of the death of Matthew Perry a few weeks back.
As regular listeners know, I have a fondness for sitcoms.
If you know me really well, you know that fondness is actually an obsession.
The next time we talk, ask me about what theme song is running through my head.
Sometimes it would be I'll be there for you by the Rembrandts Friends never connected with me as a show but like many I'm still captivated by
But like many, friends never really connect it with me as a show.
But like many, I'm still captivated by its exuberant theme song.
L
It has all the elements that I look for in a great theme.
It's light enough to be consumed over and over and over again.
Its lyrics or tone directly, or in this case, indirectly, address the show's conceit.
The song is also unique enough to stand out in the pantheon of television, but yet representative of its time.
And last, but certainly not least, the song fits with the show's opening or closing credit sequence like a glove.
What do you think?
And what is your favorite TV theme song?
Tell me in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
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3 min
November 29, 2023 A vision of greatness
It's Wednesday and it's time for some wit and wisdom.
This time from Dr. Cornel West.
He's a professor, a philosopher, and of course, a presidential candidate.
Because it's 2023 and why the hell not?
His words come from an interview on PBS with his frequent collaborator, Tavis Smiley.
West argues that we need to have a habitual vision of greatness.
You see, you have to believe in fact that you will refuse to settle for mediocrity.You won't confuse financial security with your personal integrity.You won't confuse your success with your greatness or your prosperity with your magnanimity.If you have a vision of greatness, there's something that's luring you all the time for something grander than you.And of course, as a Christian, for me, he who is greatest among us will be.Your Servant, the quality of your service to others.Do you find joy in your service to others?Do you actually believe, in fact, that living is connected to giving?
With that vision comes responsibility.
Well, those things require what?People willing to pay a price, bear a burden.And if you think it's cost-free, if you think there's no price to be paid, then it's easy to slide back intoConformity, complacency, and that goes hand in hand with our market-driven, narcissistic, hedonistic society where more and more people are concerned just about getting over as opposed to being a better, more decent, compassionate human being.
These words stayed with me, shaping me for the better part of two decades.
I come back to them when I need to remember that burdens aren't always bad things to bear.
What do you think?
And what burdens do you carry?
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
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3 min
November 28, 2023 Pawns in the culture war
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
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3 min
November 27, 2023 Why are Americans eating out earlier?
Have you noticed that bars and restaurants aren't as busy as they once were?
I have too.
And we're not alone.

eating out in a sparse trendy restaurant
That's one of the lingering changes since the COVID-19 pandemic, documented by Placer AI.
That's a foot traffic analytics firm.
Their data shows that people are less likely to go out to dinner after 7 p.m.
The pattern, as laid out in Nation's Restaurant News, shows that foot traffic around restaurants at 7pm has moved to about 5pm nationwide.
Yelp is seeing similar trends among restaurant reservations.
In fact, in 2023, 10% of all diners were seated between 2 and 5 p.m.
That's double what it was in 2019.
The amount of diners seated between 4 p.m.
and 6 p.m.
went up from 17% in 2019 to about a quarter in 2023.
And I must admit, I've done all this in recent months.
I'm not sure why all this is happening, but I know of a few things that likely play a role here.
We've seen a ton of these restaurants come back with shorter hours and higher prices.
At the same time, it's been well documented that a good portion of upwardly mobile white-collar workers, you know, the people more likely to absorb these price increases and eat out anyway, have left cities due to COVID-19 restrictions and concerns.
They spread out into suburban areas and small cities and towns around the country.
And many of them are among the percentage of our population who are still working remotely, at least part of the week, which means they're not near most bars and restaurants in a lot of cases.
And then there's the elephant in the room.
Crime is still above pre-pandemic levels.
And with that, I'm not surprised by this data.
And honestly, I think it's another reason why nothing is going back to the way it was anytime soon.
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
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3 min
November 22, 2023 Don't be that person
In which James counts down the 7 most offensive things people do on planes.
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
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2 min
November 21, 2023 The Franchise Fatigue Phenomenon: Is it Real?
Over the weekend, the latest Hunger Games movie premiered. It's called The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It's 8 years in the making.
It was number 1 at the box office, making about $44 million. While that's a ton to you or me, it's a massive disappointment to Lionsgate, who made the movie. $44 million on opening weekend is about $58 million less than any previous Hunger Games movie. That's a dramatic drop. And I think a couple things are happening here.
This is the latest in a series of signs of exhaustion of the movie sequel culture that has dominated the last 15 years or so. The movie studios have become so risk-averse that they plow hundreds of millions of dollars in the second, third, fourth, and 18th editions of films over taking chances on smaller movies and ideas that don't come from an already established actor, director, or Barbie. Film studios have become a Cranberries album. Everybody else is doing it, so why can't we? And after a while, we got tired of it.
Secondly, and most importantly, with inflation rising, streaming making movie watching easier at home, the theater experience decaying, and young people married to their phones. Barring some significant philosophical shifts, The future of movies will continue its long trajectory. I believe it will look like Broadway. An elite activity, made for and enjoyed by a few.
What do you think? And are you tired of movie sequels too?
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2 min
November 20, 2023 Andre 3000: Redefining Artistic Boundaries at 48
Andre 3000 is back. To critics he's known as 1 of the best rappers alive. But to most people, he's known for his massive records, like Hey Ya as part of OutKast.
20 years later he's releasing his first solo record with no rapping no singing just 87 minutes of flutes.
He told GQ last week He told GQ last week.
I think just in general when it came to figuring out what we would do creatively and where my creative juice is coming from within OutKast. There was a certain point where I just didn't know where else to go. Even now, people think, oh man, he's just sitting on raps or he's just holding these raps hostage. I ain't got no raps like that like it's it actually feels sometimes it feels inauthentic for me to rap because I don't have anything to talk about in that way like I'm 48 years old and not to say that age is a thing that dictates what you rap about, but in a way it does. And like, things that happen in my life, like what are you talking, like I gotta go get a colonoscopy, like what are you, like what do you rap about? You know what I mean? Like my eyesight is going bad.
I can't help but find myself fascinated and sad by the choice. I feel a little let down. I've been a fan of Andre since middle school. I saw myself in him. We're both oddballs.
We're not captured by someone else's view of blackness. And we both made our living with words until now. That, for me, is the hardest pill to swallow. There's a quote on the wall of my home office that I truly believe in: Never relinquish your microphone. It is your hammer. It's what makes you the leader. That's what Andre is doing in my view.
What do you think? How does age shape creative expression?
André 3000 opens up about 'New Blue Sun,' his daring new solo album
https://www.npr.org/2023/11/14/1212661071/andre-3000-albumLet me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
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3 min
November 17, 2023 Are we in a friendship recession?
Men have no close friends. Well, that's overstating it.
Survey data from the American Survey Center says that 30 years ago, in the early 90s, about 55% of men had at least six close friends.
Today, that number has been cut in half.
And 15% of men reported that they have no close relationships at all.
That's five times the number in 1990.
They call it a friendship recession.
They point to declining religious involvement, lower marriage rates, and changes to the workplace as creating a surge of disconnection.
The accompanying article describes it this way.
Many guys, they see or speak to their best friends every two or three years and say, we just pick up where we left off.
And I've done that.
Too much.
I'm fortunate that I have a few close friends left, but as I get older, the list gets smaller.
Some of that comes from my choices, and some of that comes from theirs.
Family, work, and my inner drive gnaw at my free time.
I'm assuming this is normal, but I haven't the faintest clue.
It's Stein's Law, I suppose.
“If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.”
Even with that, I miss my friends.
What do you think?
And how many close friends do you have?
And are we in a friendship recession?
Why Is It So Hard for Men to Make Close Friends?https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/28/well/family/male-friendship-loneliness.html
American Men Suffer a Friendship Recession
https://www.americansurveycenter.org/commentary/american-men-suffer-a-friendship-recession
Stein’s law
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-krauthammer-steins-law/2013/07/25/f45acb30-f567-11e2-aa2e-4088616498b4_story.html
https://johnmjennings.com/steins-law/
Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.com
Email: [email protected]
Leave me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339
Follow me on social media:
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2 min

About The James Brown Commentary

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The Daily Note is a daily commentary podcast that finds deeper meaning in everyday moments. Host James A. Brown explores how our world really works through thoughtful observation and authentic storytelling.

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The James Brown Commentary

The James Brown Commentary episodes

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