Kynoceph, I have great respect for the fact that you have obviously given this a great deal of thought. I am saddened that you are so hopeless in your belief that we can inspire social change. For all that didn't come of my generations' hope to change the world (yep, I'm one of those damn boomers), the one thing that was obvious is that social change comes when we can inspire people to act. And just as in the old times of my people, it is up to the bards to carry the message. I will agree that my generation took some very good causes, caused moderate amounts of good, and a fair amount of less than positive, change to occur. If you will start with the era of a songwriter/activist Joe Hill; move to the generation of Woody, Leadbelly, Odetta, and Pete; on to the Dylans, Theime, still Pete, Arlo, Utah Phillips, and so on; you will find that it is not about polluting the music with politics. It's about music being the cleansing agent for society. In each of those generations, it was the bards that gave a voice to the disenfranchised, disappointed constituencies. Sure there is a lot of preachy, whiney, and less than inspiring stuff. That is always the case. But it is up to us folkies to give voice to those that need it. We all play music for the sheer joy of it. But I believe that we have an obligation to lend our talents to that which we believe in. During a time in the history of this planet when the biggest threat to existence is the feeling of hopelessness that you expressed, that task becomes the most important thing that a folksinger can do.