I'm not saying this to attack McMurtry's credibility. I'm saying that the
> binary you're setting up is false and has been for a very long time. The
> thing that made country so good in the 50s through the 70s was people
> leaving the country and making their way in the city. Being comfortable in
> both those worlds is one thing that made the music so compelling.
>
Perhaps Confucius summed it up best:
"The Master said, 'When native substance overwhelms cultural refinement, the result is a crude rustic. When cultural refinement overwhelms native substance, the result is a foppish pedant. Only when culture and native substance are perfectly mixed and balanced do you have a gentleman.'"
Something like that? Or completely off?
-- "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen lytlað."