To be read as a continuation of; https://watchitdie.blogspot.com/2025/02/its-time-to-renegotiate-social-contract.html
The Super Bowl is one of the events that helps Americans renegotiate their Social Contract by allowing the broad sociological issues of the day to be discussed. The Half-Time Show is a huge part of this. As an artistic event rather than a sporting one it allows for a wider range of issues to raised.
This year's Half-Time Show was performed by Kendrick Lamar. With support from SZA.
Since 2019 Jay Z has acted as the artistic director of the Super Bowl Half-Time Show. In 2012 Jay Z performed at the Closing Ceremony of the Summer Paralympic Games. Seeming to take on the role of Rihanna's Father, giving her away at what some of us were surprised to discover was mine and Rihanna's Arranged/Forced Marriage.
In the years since then we've all sort of got to know each other. Although I've never used Facebook I've found the best way to explain this is to describe us as; "Facebook Friends." That is to say that we've never spoken directly to each other, let alone met. However we all check in with what each other post on the Internet.
At around the time of the 2021 Super Bowl I found Miley Cyrus being firmly shoved in my direction. In a similar way to how Rihanna was firmly shoved in my direction in 2012. In 2013, during my 'marriage' to Rihanna, Miley Cyrus actually turned up at my house, uninvited, whilst I was out. With it having an air of unfinished business about it I decided that the tail-end of the Pandemic would be a good time to include Miley Cyrus in our little network of 'Facebook Friends.'
At the time that immediate network would have been myself, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian with Miley Cyrus joining. I think we're all familiar with that cliche; "No Plan Survives Battle." Well, rather than being a military operation what we were talking about back then would have been three, possibly four, people messing about on the Internet. So I was always thinking in terms of broad parameters rather than a rigid plan. The first step in filling out those parameters would have been us talking to each other, directly, on the Internet. You know, that thing people do.
Unfortunately the US Intelligence Community, the CIA, were very opposed to this. So not only weren't we able to talk directly to each other. In October 2021, when it was starting to look increasingly likely that we would start talking directly to each other, I was banned from Instagram. Despite me never having posted anything on Instagram.
This; "Great American Bell Ringing" particularly harms the CIA at the events like the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is supposed to be a national conversation starter. So all the people who want to talk about American Football go off and talk about American Football together. All the people who want to talk about Taylor Swift go off and talk about Taylor Swift. All the people who want to talk about Kendrick Lamar go off and talk about Kendrick Lamar etc. If we were to overly formalise it with technical jargon I'd describe people peeling off into the respective working groups on certain clauses of the Social Contract.
What it is not supposed to be is a lecture from a dictator. A long monologue tied together by a coherent linear narrative. The sort of thing I'm left writing with these blog posts. With this format being totally incompatible with the task it's actually quite a difficult thing for me to do. Meaning my long lectures are often delayed until long after the point everyone has stopped talking about the Super Bowl.
If it hadn't been for The Great American Bell Ringing then my network of 'Facebook Friends' could have a sort of "Structured Reality" style conversation about the Super Bowl, which you could all watch on the Internet. I've got a feeling that someone like Jay Z might be able to steer that conversation towards what were supposed to be the main talking points of the Half-Time Show.
While the Super Bowl is one of the events that calls the most attention to the harm the CIA did to itself with The Great American Bell Ringing. It's something that actually harms them in much more serious ways each and every day.
Kanye West could certainly be included in my network of 'Facebook Friends.' I think that it is rather well known that Kanye West suffers with certain, significant mental health challenges. He certainly seemed to be drawing particular attention to them around the Super Bowl. From his current wife, Bianca Censori's fully nude appearance at The Grammys through to his own Super Bowl Commercial.
I have significant academic and practical experience of what is more properly termed; "Abnormal Psychology." One of the more famous stories from my past is of a Samurai Sword attack against my childhood, neighbourhood Church. Carried out by a Delusional Schizophrenic who genuinely believed that he was living in the universe of the popular, at the time, US TV Show; "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." A portal had opened to a Hell dimension beneath the Church. He needed to slay the demons with his swords to close the Hellmouth and protect us all.
Back when Rihanna was dominating the UK charts with her "Umbrella" I was actually volunteering at a community mental health project. Intended to help rehabilitate people with significant mental health challenges back into society following long stays in hospital. Unfortunately I had to give it up after the paid, government, staff at the project proved so difficult work with it was impacting on my actual job. A job that involves maintaining working relationships with both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
So me choosing to discuss Kanye West's mental health challenges with my network of 'Facebook Friends,' including his then wife, discussions which would, inevitably draw on my wider experiences. That would be me giving the CIA a huge gift. A prize they'd been, unsuccessfully, pursuing for almost two decades. I gather Mark Zuckerberg was particularly trolled over Super Bowl weekend, by the Mother of one of my 'Law School Associates.'
Europe also has a big, mass participation, event to help Europeans renegotiate their Social Contract. The Eurovision Song Contest, the big, gala event of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). This is another event which calls massive attention to the harm the CIA did to itself with The Great American Bell Ringing.
The CIA, and Americans more generally, has long struggled to understand the Eurovision Song Contest. In 2015 they tried to muscle in on it with the unofficial entry; "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift, featuring Kendrick Lamar. The next single Kendrick Lamar released went to the top of the US charts. It was called; "Humble."
If it hadn't been for The Great American Bell Ringing then my network of 'Facebook Friends' could have the same sort of Structured Reality style conversation about the Eurovision Song Contest. Presumably with me being pressured to answer the main questions first. While everyone waited from the dictator's great speech.
The 2021 Eurovision Song Contest actually gave rise to the infamous; "Maneskin Error." In which Miley Cyrus started bombarding the winners with questions on Instagram. As an alternative to being allowed to speak to me directly on Instagram. The person Maneskin and everyone else was waiting to explain the 2021 Song Contest to them.
The CIA's significant want of understanding regarding the Eurovision Song Contest became a critical issue in 2024. When attempts to stage a Song Contest were derailed by demands that Israel be banned from the contest over the war Hamas had imposed upon it.
Amongst the nations hoping to compete at the 2024 Song Contest support for Israel was deep and widespread. Luxembourg actually tried to compete for the first time in 31 years. Specifically to show support for Israel. With the song; "Fighter" by Israeli Jew TALI. While the demands for Israel to be banned were often made citing the precedent of Russia and Belarus being banned over Ukraine's belligerency towards its neighbours.
So in true Eurovision fashion, where the winner is fined US$20million, these were not demands for Israel to be banned. They were protests against the precedent and demands for Russia and Belarus to be reinstated. Over the previous 67 years of the Song Contest it was unheard of for nations to be banned. It used to be perfectly normal for nations to compete against each other at the Song Contest whilst being engaged in active, shooting wars against each other.
There is an old two-part episode of the US TV Show; "The Simpsons" called; "Who Shot Mr Burns." In which an unknown assailant shoots the Mr Burns character. The police and everyone else then try to work out who shot Mr Burns.
The police go and interview one of the suspects "Tito Puente." He tells them that he took revenge against Mr Burns for costing him his job as a music teacher. When the police ask if he shot Mr Burns he denies it saying; "Why would I ruin his body with bullets when I can set his soul on fire with a slanderous mambo?!"
In that The Simpsons inadvertently, yet perfectly, summed up the mentality of the Eurovision Song Contest. Growing out of the ashes of the Second World War it was intended to promote peace in Europe by encouraging nations to hurl musical insults at each other rather than bombs and bullets. A mission that is at its most needed when nations are hurling bullets and bombs at each other.
One possible way to explain the mentality of the Eurovision Song Contest would be to liken it to a Rap Battle. Although that comparison is probably of absolutely no use if you've got no idea what a Rap Battle is either.
Obviously Rap Battles are an informal thing. There is no sort of International Federation of Rap Battles with codified rules you can download from the Internet. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) seem to be trying to move in that direction with attempts to include Rap inspired Breaking/Street Dance.
For the totally uninitiated the 2002 movie "8 Mile" does include some pretty accurate portrayals of Rap Battles. Essentially two Rappers face-off against each other. Trading insults they've made up on the spot in time with the music. Aside for the inventiveness of the insults the competitors are judged on how quickly they can think on their feet. How fast they can think up these insults which build on the insult just hurled against them.
Rap Battles have their origins in a game called; "Playing the Dozens." In which two people, normally young men, trade increasingly inventive insults. Both to entertain onlookers and to assert their social standing.
As with Rap Battles it's informal so its origins are disputed. Some claim it has its origins in 14th Century England with the name being a mangling of; "To Dozen" meaning; "To Stun or Silence." Other's claim it's based on a Nigerian game called; "Ikocha Nkocha" meaning "To make disparaging remarks." Some claim it has its origins amongst American slaves. A way to entertain the lowest class of slave who were sold by the cheap dozen.
When I used to play it in school it was known as a; "Cussing Match." One of the most successful British Rappers at the moment is Stormzy. While the double act Krept & Konan are also reasonably well accomplished. We all went to the same school. So, funnily enough, the area they grew up in is remarkably similar to the area I grew up in. Probably the source for all those comparisons Eminem has had to endure over the years. As expressed in his 2013 duet with Rihanna; "The Monster."
At around 18:05 on 19/2/25 (UK date) follow-up questions are still not allowed. So I'll have to try and corral my narrative tomorrow.
Edited at around 18:05 on 20/2/25 (UK date) to tidy the above and copy & paste;
In the Spring of 2023 the song; "Heart On My Sleeve" appeared on the Internet. It purported to be by the Canadian Rappers Drake and The Weeknd. Except it wasn't. Someone had used an Artificial Intelligence (AI) assisted computer program to create versions of Drake and The Weeknd's voices then used those to create whatever song they wanted.
Heart On My Sleeve was even submitted for consideration by American Recording Academy (The Grammys). This forced The Grammys to debate whether the song was eligible for awards nomination and whether any similar songs could be nominated in the future.
Throughout the Summer of the Writer's Guild of America (WAGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Screen and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) Trade Unions were on strike. One of the issues in dispute was how to govern the use of AI assisted computer programs to recreate actor's physical likenesses and voices. An issue of particular concern for actors working in the ever growing Computer/Video Game sector.
In December 2023 one of the singers hoping to represent Israel at the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, Shaul Greenglick, was killed in battle in the war Hamas imposed on Israel. This created the possibility that Israel could use AI to have Shaul Greenglick represent them at the Song Contest anyway. Adding to the debates over what is the big technological issue within the Entertainment Industry at the moment.
In April 2024, around the time the Eurovision Song Contest should have been held, Kendrick Lamar started a Rap Battle with Drake. Although one that was played out throughout the Summer, across all media. Where everybody could see it. Rather than taking place live one evening, on a stage in a nightclub that could only hold about 800 people.
I think one of the most famous Rap Battles or feuds was between Tupac Shakur, from the West coast of America, and The Notorious B.I.G (Biggie Smalls), from the East coast of America.
They started off as collaborators before falling out and released numerous records insulting each other over several years. In September 1996 Tupac was shot and killed, apparently by associates of Biggie Smalls. In March 1997 Biggie Smalls was shot and killed, apparently by associates of Tupac. This was despite Nation of Islam (NoI) cult leader Louis Farrakhan supposedly brokering a peace agreement in late 1996.
The media coverage of the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls really brought Hip Hop/Rap into the mainstream. Both in White America and Europe. It also had a really profound and negative impact on the genre.
Prior to that Hip Hop/Rap was as diverse as any other genre of music. You had songs about people falling in love, getting their hearts broken. Complaining about their lives and offering commentary about the society they see around them. Along with songs that just make people happy and want to dance.
Some of the people involved in Hip Hop/Rap did live in areas with high levels of drug use and violent crime. Some of them were even drug users and violent criminals themselves. So there was a legitimacy to them doing songs about the drugs and violent crime in their lives and the society they see around them.
Then everyone looked at all the headlines being made by the Tupac and Biggie killings, all the extra records being sold and all the money being made. So everyone suddenly decided to be gangsters. Releasing songs about all the drugs they're selling and all the murders they're committing. How much respect they all have for the Nation of Islam and the cult's leader Louis Farrakhan.
Here I think I should call attention to Tupac associate Dr Dre's 2001 album; "The Chronic II." This was clearly made for dumb White frat-boys. It sold really well.
To my mind though by far the worst offender for this fake gangster routine is Drake. He was born into an upper middle-class Jewish family in a wealthy suburb of Toronto, Canada. Yet he raps about pulling himself up from the bottom through all the drugs he's selling and all the murders he's committing.
I look at my neighbourhood growing up and the type of people I went to school with. Then I look at Drake and I can only come to one conclusion. Drake's not like us.
America has an undeniable legacy of Racism. Contrary to the popular musical America's Founding Fathers, like Alexander Hamilton, were not Black. They were White. They did own a fair few Black people as Slaves though.
In 1861 the issue of Slavery and racism became so heated in America they had a civil war over it. The US Civil War (1861-1865). With the Republican North defeating the Democrat South and ending Slavery.
The civil war was followed by The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) in which the Republican North militarily occupied the Democrat South. In order to prevent the Democrat South from returning to Slavery and racism. Unfortunately the 1876 US Election was disputed. With the Republican's Rutherford B. Hayes and the Democrat's Samuel J. Tilden both claiming victory. The price the Democrats extracted in return for not overthrowing the Republican President was the end of The Reconstruction Era.
Having brought an end to The Reconstruction Era the Democrat South immediately returned to racism and Slavery. Although this time they called it by a different name; "Segregation." This carried on until the late-1960's when the Democrat South faction led by George Wallace was defeated by the Democrat South faction led by Hubert Humphrey. The Democrat South still lost to the Republican North in the 1968 US Presidential Election though.
The youngest player at the 2025 Super Bowl was the Chief's WR Xavier Worthy, who was born in 2003. No doubt a depressing thought for a cohort including Kim Kardashian, Jay Z and Beyonce. I suppose to someone like Worthy the late-1960's must seem like ancient history. However it really isn't. Even the US Civil War wasn't that long ago.
There's a US TV Show called; "Boardwalk Empire" set in the 1920's. In one episode they have a Memorial/Veterans Day event. Honouring veterans of America's wars. Obviously this included many young veterans of the First World War. However it also included some old veterans of the US Civil War.
It was in watching that I realised that my Grandparents were alive at the same time that people who fought in the US Civil War were alive. Admittedly they were on completely different continents and my Grandparents were very young while the US Civil War veterans were very old. However their lives overlapped. Meaning that the US Civil War and the Slavery it ended is only now reaching the point where it's no longer living history.
In the Summer of 2014 the Southern Democrats, now led by the Obama-Biden Regime, noticed they were going to struggle in the upcoming Mid-Term Elections. Seriously jeopardising their chances at the 2016 Presidential Election.
So the Southern Democrats reverted to their core values of racism and Segregation/Slavery. Inventing the racist murder of a thief, Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri and creating the campaign group; "Black Lives Matter (BLM)." This seemed to be a concerted effort to repeal one of only two clauses to John Hobbes' proto-Social Contract. That for Humans to escape the trap of the State of Nature they can't go around stealing from each other.
The ideology of Black Lives Matter is rooted in both the Nation of Islam cult and Critical Race Theory (CRT). Critical Race Theory is said to be a Marxist school of academic thought. It's not. Created during the Cold War it's a Soviet Russian Sharp-Power tool. Intended to bring down America from within by reigniting its racial tensions. African-American scholars who subscribe to Critical Race Theory think of themselves as supremely intelligent and superior. While the Russians who invented the tool describe them as; "Polezniye Duraki" - "Useful Fools."
Critical Race Theory dictates that every societal issue needs to be viewed as a race issue. In order to best divide America's different racial groups, while at the same time uniting them to overthrow a US government they all agree is racist. Although for wildly different reasons.
An example of Critical Race Theory at work is in the dispute over the origins of the game Playing the Dozens which evolved into Rap Battles. Under Critical Race Theory you can only view Playing the Dozens as a legacy of Slavery. A way to entertain the lowest class of Slaves, sold and owned by those evil American Founding Fathers. You must completely ignore all evidence of the game being played by exclusively White people in England several hundred years earlier. African-Americans must also ignore actual Africa, earlier evidence of the game also being widespread in Nigeria.
An early adopter of the Black Lives Matter scam was the American Football player Colin Kaepernick. In 2016 he took to kneeling during the playing of the US National Anthem before games, in protest against the injustice and hardship the multi-millionaire felt he had to endure. As the US National Anthem is played before sporting events to honour those who have literally given their lives fighting for America it's hard to explain just how divisive and offensive Kaepernick was being.
As a result of Kaepernick's selfish actions American Football quickly became a focal point for the divisions of Black Lives Matter. As, 25 years after the fall of the Soviet Union, its Critical Race Theory operation finally started to have an effect. Ever since then there has been significant efforts to heal the rifts opened up by Kaepernick and Black Lives Matter. Both in American society generally but also within the American Football community specifically.
Europe doesn't have this same legacy of racism and Slavery. So the fact that it doesn't appear as much at the Eurovision Song Contest is another area in which it differs from the Super Bowl. In part this is because in much of Eastern and Northern Europe you don't really get non-White people. So there aren't really any racial divisions due to there only being one race.
Obviously the Colonial Western European nations like Britain, Spain and the Netherlands were heavily involved in the African Slave Trade. However that was really something they did over there. Sailing out from Europe to pick up Slaves in Africa, then selling them in the Americas before returning to Europe without Slaves. So any non-White people living in Europe during that time were doing so freely, enjoying the same rights as anyone else despite being a bit of a novelty.
Even in Western Europe mass non-White immigration only began following the end of the Second World War, the end of the European Colonial Era. This "Windrush Generation" as it's known in Britain moved to Europe freely, after being invited to help rebuild a continent deveatated by war.
Plus the largest European nation by area, excluding Russia, is France. France is roughly the same size as the US State of Texas. It's quite hard to maintain Segregation when you're trying to fit that many people into such a small space.
At around 18:40 on 20/2/25 (UK date) I'm really hoping to get the hammer down on this next week.
Edited at around 17:50 on 24/2/25 (UK date) to tidy all of the above and copy & paste;
The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition between TV and Radio broadcasters, rather than record companies. So an area of the Social Contract it is particularly interested in are so-called Public Morals. Things like attitudes towards sex and sexuality, foul language and violence. What it is acceptable to broadcast on TV and Radio. The Song Contest was originally known as the Light Music Competition. So entries are supposed to be of the type you can broadcast on daytime radio and show on TV in the early evening, traditionally family viewing time.
This interest in Public Morals can sometimes give the impression that those involved in Eurovision are sex mad. Despite a large section of the Eurovision community having absolutely no interest in nude women.
A lot of discussion at Eurovision is what the Public Morals are in 50+ different nations. How the rules are enforced in 50+ different jurisdictions. However a lot of nations have a list of words that you can't broadcast on TV and radio. Or words that can only be used at certain times in certain quantities.
Eurovision entries need to be submitted a couple of months prior to the Song Contest with their lyrics being submitted in writing. As such it's very easy to tell whether a word in a song's lyrics is on the banned list in a certain country. It's a binary test. Whereas discussions about whether a performer's skirt is a little too high or whether their top is a little too low-cut are more subjective. So the references to nudity certainly can be references to nudity. Such things make up a large part of Public Morals. However they can also be a euphemism for other aspects of Public Morals, such as foul language, which are harder to reference during performances.
The US is one of the nations which has a list of words that you can't broadcast on TV. The; "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" as the US comedian George Carlin highlighted in 1972. As upheld in Federal Communication Commission Vs. Pacifica Foundation (1978). The 2004 Super Bowl Half-Time Show famously ended up at the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) after Janet Jackson's nipple was momentarily exposed. This led to the broadcaster, CBS, being fined over what is termed a; "Fleeting Expletive" an unplanned breach of Public Morals in a live broadcast. The term refers to foul language but can also be applied to nudity.
Kendrick Lamar's music is not the sort of music that gets played on daytime radio or is, normally, broadcast on TV during family viewing time. It includes many of the words the FCC won't let people say on TV. As part of their Rap Battle Kendrick Lamar accused Drake of being a paedophile. In response Drake sued Kendrick Lamar for defamation. Something which anyone familiar with the rules of Rap Battles, Eurovision or Cussing Matches knows is the equivalent of running off to tell teacher. An instant, automatic defeat.
So a large part of the build-up to the Super Bowl involved Kendrick Lamar submitting his plan for the Half-Time Show to both the National Football League (NFL) and the broadcaster FOX. Including all of the lyrics in writing. A few days in advance. Not only was there interest to see whether the lyrics would be rejected on the grounds of Public Morals there was also concern over whether Drake's defamation lawsuits would lead to further censorship. What steps such as time delays and audio dropouts (bleeping) would the broadcaster take to stop unapproved lyrics being broadcast.
Another area in which the Eurovision Song Contest differs from the Super Bowl is that it is a discussion between nations. Whereas the Super Bowl is more of a statement to a nation. It is then discussed amongst the people of that nation.
This is something which works well for America. It can even be useful for nations which aren't America. It turns out that wherever you go in the World people aren't that different. So what might be a relevant issue for discussion in America might also be a relevant topic for discussion in other countries. However the Super Bowl runs into trouble when it starts addressing issues happening in countries which aren't America. This year's focus on Israel and the war Hamas imposed on it being a prime example. Then the Super Bowl can give the impression of an American dictator yelling at nations which have no right to reply. Whereas if one Eurovision nation insults another Eurovision nation then they're expected to insult them straight back.
Having a more conversational format also allows the Eurovision Song Contest to address very complex issues in a lot of detail. Through the medium of three minute pop songs which can't overtly reference the topic being discussed. The 2015 Migrant Crisis was probably a very bad year for the World in general. However it turned out to be a very good year for Eurovision. With everyone wanting to talk about the same topic that complex issue got passed around in discussion. With each nation making their own contribution. Resulting in that complex issue being discussed in an almost eye-watering level of detail.
In his Half-Time Show Kendrick Lamar attempted to address a complex topic which is more typical of the Eurovision Song Contest; "Urban Planning and Development" or; "Urban Geography." The type of topic you really need an appropriate under-graduate degree to understand, although even that probably won't help you stay awake. In establishing Philadelphia William Penn actually laid out some strict urban planning rules. Establishing the city in the form of a grid to keep homes and businesses separate. His intention being to give it the feeling of a country village rather than a city.
The Super Bowl is just part of the much longer Awards Season which begins with the Golden Globe nominations then runs through to The Oscars. It is during the season that the discussions events like the Super Bowl raise take place. One Oscar nominated movie this year is; "The Brutalist." It is about an architect and is named after a specific school of architecture/urban design. So even now, less than a week until The Oscars and the end of Awards Season, I'm a little unsure of how much detail to go into without ruining the rest of Awards Seasons.
However the Brutalist school of architecture/urban design is a Marxist ideology, like Critical Race Theory. Brutalism is all about using architecture and urban design to crush the individual. Getting them to; "de-centre" themselves and sacrifice themselves entirely to the collective.
Brutalism sees buildings and cities as a machine. With lots of separate parts all working together for the collective. So you will the dormitory part of the city where the workers sleep and the industrial part of the city where the workers will toil for the collective good. Then you have the transit parts of the city where the workers are transported from their dormitories to their labours and back again.
This is something which is probably best illustrated on the scale of a single building rather than an entire city. A very clear example is London's Trellick Tower, designed by Erno Goldfinger. If you look up a picture of it online you can see that there is one main tower, the dormitory section where the apartments are. Then there is a second tower, the industrial sector containing the elevators and plant machinery such as air ducting. They are linked by a transit section. Air bridges or skyways linking the dormitory and industrial sections.
I thought the 2022 movie; "Don't Worry Darling" gave an interesting take on this. With Chris Pine's "Frank" as Hollywood style studio boss ruling over his own planned dormitory city. With Frank being a Harvey Weinstein type studio boss it also touched on the, equally Marxist, Feminist school of architecture/urban design. What I found interesting is that it presented these Marxist schools of thought as Fascist. Although I'm still not sure how intentional that was. Getting Harry Styles to try and act opposite Florence Pugh didn't seem like the wisest decision.
Awards Season is really clustered around the US Entertainment Industry in Los Angeles. While Kendrick Lamar is from Los Angeles. So the Half-Time Show was particularly focused on The Urban Geography of Los Angeles, rather than Brutalism.
Starting on January 7th (7/1/25) Los Angeles was devastated by a series of wildfires which destroyed some 18,000+ structures over 57,000+ acres of land. So Los Angeles is now going to need to undergo significant rebuilding. Meaning this topic of the Urban Geography of Los Angeles is going to run and run long after the end of this Awards Season.
If Los Angeles is still going to go ahead with hosting the 2028 Summer Olympics/Paralympics the topic is going to run, at least, until then. The Olympics does seem to enjoy big urban construction projects as part of their; "Legacy." The rebuilding of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is actually rather small by Olympic standards. Normally they like to see entirely new areas added to cities - the Olympic Parks. Beijing, China, repurposed the so-called; "Brown Field" site of a disused Steel Mill into a Ski resort for the 2022 Winter Games.
The first recorded Human settlements in Los Angeles date back to the Stone Age, 4000B.C-2000B.C, when it was home to a group of Indigenous Americans who spoke the Tongva language, leading them to be known as the Tongva People. They referred to the area around Los Angeles as; "Yaa."
In 1769 the first European Colonisers arrived. Hispanic Settlers led by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and Sebastian Vizcaino who claimed it as part of Spain (New Spain). The Los Angeles settlement "Pueblo de Los Angeles" was established in 1777.
In 1810 through to 1821 the people of New Spain fought a War of Independence against Spain. Rather like how America fought a War of Independence against Britain in 1776. After achieving independence from Spain the people of New Spain declared themselves to be the new nation of Mexico.
Between 1846 and 1848 Mexico and America fought a war between themselves. The Mexican-American War. In defeat Mexico ceded all of California, including Los Angeles, to the US. The Mexican-American War was a war between two groups of European Colonisers. The fact that Jenna Ortega's ancestors were on the losing side certainly doesn't make her Indigenous or Aboriginal.
When the US Army was established at the Second Continental Congress it was established with the Army Corp of Engineers. In 1838 the Army Corp of Topographical Engineers (map-makers) was established.
So when the US Army took control of California and Los Angeles from Mexico they did so as much with Engineers, Map-Makers and Urban Planners than it did with infantry and cavalry. These engineers set about producing the first detail maps of the area, dividing it up into packets of land. Mexican and Tongva land claims were not recognised giving the California State government and the Los Angeles city government huge landholdings for free. They were then able to sell these vast landholdings or just give them away for free (Land Grants).
The Governor of California (1862-1863) and later Senator for California (1885-1893) Leland Stanford decided to give away many of these Land Grants to himself. Along with to three of his business associates; Collis Potter Huntington, Mark Hopkins Jr and Charles Crocker. Collectively known as; "The Big Four" Stanford, Huntington, Hopkins and Crocker are considered the biggest swindlers in US history. Exploiting this type of political corruption to make themselves vastly wealthy at the public's expense. They and others were dubbed; "Robber Barons."
The Big Four used Land Grants in California and other States to establish the "Southern Pacific Railroad." This linked existing railroads is the North-East, places like Chicago and New York City. with ports in the American South, such as New Orleans, then with California. Creating the first trans-continental railroad.
The Southern Pacific Railroad opened up Los Angeles and California as a tourist destination for visitors from across the US. Prior to that Los Angeles had been real Yellowstone-style Cowboy country. With vast, unpopulated ranches providing beef for the Gold Rush happening in the North of California.
At around this time people were also discovering another exciting new technology. The ability to produce moving pictures; "Movies." The tourists visiting Los Angeles via the railroad found that its climate was much better suited to making movies than the existing creative hubs such as the Broadway theatre district in New York City. So in 1903 they took advantage of all the cheap real estate to establish the city of; "Hollywood" dedicated to making movies. The famous white sign originally read; "Hollywoodland" until the last four letters were blown down in a storm.
In 1892 Edward L. Donhey discovered large deposits of Oil in and around Los Angeles. This happened just people were learning how to turn Oil into this thing called; "Gasoline" and learning how to use this exciting new technology to power this other piece of exciting new technology; "Motor Vehicles." This allowed Donhey to establish the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company (PAT) as the largest Oil company in America and Los Angeles as one of the World's largest Oil producers, producing a full 25% of the World's Oil at one point.
Edward L. Donhey was part of what became known as the; "Ohio Gang." A group of corrupt businessmen who exploited their links to President Warren G. Harding to corruptly enrich themselves at the public's expense. Replacing the Big Four of Leland Stanford as the Robber Barons of their day. They were eventually brought down by the Teapot Dome Scandal which, until the Watergate Scandal, was considered the biggest scandal in American history.
Current President Trump has certainly been accused of having his own Ohio Gang. Surrounding himself with the Tech Titans such as Elon Musk. The leaders of the exciting new technology of the day.
Compared to the rest of the nation California and Los Angeles in particular weathered The Great Depression relatively well. It turned out that people still needed Oil and the movie industry was perfectly placed to provide people with the cheap escapism such miserable times required. So The Great Depression was actually something of a boom time for Los Angeles, it hosted the 1932 Summer Olympics. Its population soared as people travelled from across the country looking for work. By 1943 the population of Los Angeles was larger than that of 37 US States.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's response to The Great Depression was the; "New Deal." An attempt to stimulate growth through massive programs of public works. The New Deal included the Federal-Aid Highway of 1944. Which established Federal funding for a network of national Freeways, similar to the Southern Pacific Railroad, along with Federal funding for feeder roads - local Freeways to connect to the national network.
With Freeways being the exciting new technology just as Los Angeles was expanding massively they became central to Los Angele's Urban Geography. As result Los Angeles isn't really one city. So much as a network of small cities; suburbs, sub-divisions or neighbourhoods interconnected by Freeways. So you the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, the Beverly Hills neighbourhood, the Altadena neighbourhood. Kendrick Lamar is from the Compton neighbourhood.
Now that we know that powering Motor Vehicles with Gasoline produces huge amounts of Greenhouse Gases, which cause Climate Change, which causes Wildfires this type of Urban Geography creates huge environmental problems. It also causes huge problems in terms of Social Cohesion by increasing Social Isolation.
It's not possible to walk along the Freeways that connect Los Angeles' different neighbourhoods. Both due to the distances involved and risk of being hit by Motor Vehicles. So unless you have your own Motor Vehicle or really good public transport links such as Bus and Rail lines then you are forever stuck in your neighbourhood. Unable to do things like travel to the grocery store to buy healthy, affordable food, travel to work or just meet people outside of your community.
This is the literal, scientific definition of; "Ghettoisation." The literal creation of a; "Ghetto."
America has an undeniably legacy of Racism and Segregation. It is undoubtedly a factor is neighbourhoods in American cities being divided into Racial communities. Along with those Black communities not getting the good public transport links leading to the creation of Ghettos.
However I'm not sure how much of that is a factor in Los Angeles specifically. California was never a Slave owning or Segregated State. It only became a US State in 1850, 15 short years before Slavery was abolished nationally. California delayed becoming a US State in order to prevent Texas become a US State while it was still practicing Slavery. So California's Black Lives Matter inspired plan to pay reparations to Californian victims of Slavery does seem a little odd to me. The number of Californian victims of Slavery they think there are certainly seems very odd.
These problems of Social Cohesion and Ghettoisation can occur where race is not a factor at all. In the previous part I mentioned how hyper-localised rioting is a normal part of a British Summer. Despite the coverage they received the Summer 2024 riots where not anything out of the ordinary.
To illustrate my point I mentioned how the Whitehawk and Moulscombe Housing Estates/Projects would riot every Summer. The Moulscombe Estate/Project is a prime example of this sort of Urban Geography. Built in the 1960's when Brutalism was very much in fashion it's not really in Brighton so much as a separate town linked to Brighton by the A270 Freeway-like road. Even when I was living in Brighton I would still almost have to plan a day trip to go and visit my friends living in Moulscombe.
Reading about the riots in these Housing Estates/Projects American readers would probably assume they're Black neighbourhoods. They're not. They're exclusively White neighbourhoods. Even I'm considered too Black for Brighton and I'm so White I'm often mistaken for a Neo-Nazi Skinhead.
So I was rather amused to see Brighton holding protests insisting immigrants were welcome in response to the 2024 Summer riots. If they're so welcome why aren't there any?! The Brighton Hip-Hop/Rap scene is not something you'd want to be involved in. Drake would fit right in though!
Of course if we were to view these social issues through Critical Race Theory, as Black Lives Matter dictates we must. They'd we'd have to ignore the influence of exciting new technology, corporate greed, political corruption and the fact that sometimes bad ideas just become fashionable.
Instead we'd have to blame it all on racism. As we quietly get on that ship over there, by the dozen.
To be continued in Part 2.
18:48 on 24/2/25 (UK date).
