I dumb down for my audience / And double my dollars / They criticize me for it / But they all yell "Holla"

-Jay Z "Moment of Clarity"

Every time I hear some news anchor or political pundit blame the problems of modern society on rap music I get a little bit angrier. Today I'm finally ready to publish my response. It may not change the world, but if brings some relief to the twitch over my right eye then I'll call it a victory.

There's no reason to bore you with details of the criticisms hurled at Hip Hop, you've heard them all before: "Rap these days is all about bitches and hoes", "Rap promotes materialism", "Rappers are thugs and murderers", and so on and so on, we get it.

But before I say what I need to say, let's get one thing straight: Violence against women is bad. Anything that promotes it is also bad. Materialism is America's Bubonic Plague. Cyclical violence and drug abuse are destroying US cities everyday.

Now let's do a quick thought experiment. Think about the problems Rap is supposedly causing: violence against women, drug abuse, and materialism. When did these problems begin? Well, violence against women goes back pretty far. A few thousand years at least. Drug abuse is the same. From opium dens in China 400 years ago, all the way back to rules against drunkenness in the Bible. And materialism? The Buddha had a lot to say about that, and he was born 2500 years ago. So Rap, which began in the 1970's, didn't create these societal problems.

So lets think now... what's that...? OK, you don't have to scream at your computer, I can hear you: "Maybe Rap didn't create these problems, but it promotes them and that is still terrible."

Are you done? No. Then please continue.

"Why don't rappers write verses about puppies and Jesus and mama's home baked apple pie?" You ask. Good question, and I'll answer it: They do. "But I've never heard it." You protest.

So if your done interrupting I'll give you a quick lesson on capitalism which should make everything very clear.

In a Capitalist society there are producers and consumers. Producers produce a huge amount of varied products and bring them to market, and consumers purchase those products which they like. Then producers make more of the products which consumers buy, and less of those which they don't.

In this way rap, hamburgers, and eyeglasses are all the same. Producers produce what consumers will buy. Period.

There are rappers who talk about bringing peace to the streets of New York. Just like there are hamburger shops which use organic meat and vegetables and prepare their food fresh to order with healthy side dishes served in recyclable containers.

The reason you don't know about the peace rapper is the same reason you don't know about the healthy burgers. They are not commercially successful.

There might be a niche which loves their work, but the mass market does not accept it.

What the mass market loves is greasy, flash frozen, processed burgers; and violent, materialistic rappers.

In a perfect world rappers and burger makers would make the goal of their lives producing products which are healthy and moral and good for society. But in reality the goal of producers is to make money, and they sell whatever the consumers will buy.

So if you must blame someone for teaching the youth about violence and greed, don't stop with rappers. Criticize the CEO's who feed us cheap, unhealthy food. Criticize Movie and TV producers who make shows about violence and greed. Criticize car companies for selling materialism, and beer companies for selling drug abuse. Criticize world leaders everywhere who use violence to accomplish their goals.

Join with me and rewrite the protests: "TV these days is all about bitches and hoes", "Wal-Mart promotes materialism", "Presidents are thugs and murderers"

That was fun. Now pay attention to this last part because it's important.

Rappers are not the problem. Rappers just write what people want to buy. Society is the problem.

If you want to change rap, change society. Don't be another Lazy consumer.

If you don't like the verses someone writes, don't listen to them. Do some research and find someone with a good message to listen to. Buy their albums or go see their concerts.

If you don't like violence, don't buy violent video games, don't see violent movies, and don't vote for violent politicians.

And if you see a problem with society, don't try to find someone who looks and talks differently then you to blame. But take a good look at your own life. If we all change the way we consume, producers will change what they produce; and then maybe we can get more rappers worth listening to, and more burgers worth eating.