I generally can't stand Miley, but this song is an interesting take on the ubiquitous and homogeneous aspects of American pop music. When I drove across the country back in college, it struck me how I could listen to the very same song on the radio, whether I was in Ohio, South Dakota, Wyoming, or Washington State. This is of course more than a little disturbing, and it's the very thing that Miley is celebrating. On the other hand, this poses an interesting question.
Like it or not, the political paradigm par excellence of modernity is the nation-state. This is difficult because the nation-state is oftentimes forced to shoulder more than it can reasonably be expected to bear. For example, on the books, modern democratic states are technically simply instrumental mechanisms to secure individual human rights (life, property, etc.). However, we democratic citizens invest much more significance into these states, so much so that it even makes sense for us to die for them. If we didn't invest this extra significance in states--over and above what they're technically due as instrumental rights protectors--then it would make about as much sense to die for your country as it would to die for the post office (MacIntyre's wonderful example).
So the modern nation-state finds itself in the unenviable position of asking from its citizens more allegiance than it can technically justify. What can help the nation-state in its difficult task? Enter ubiquitous/homogeneous pop music. A meager force at first glance, but the phenomenon which Miley sings about is indeed a powerful force. Is it possible that one of the things that makes a soldier from Alabama willing to die for a civilian in LA the fact that we can all appreciate Taylor Swift?
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Except, of course, counter-cultural messages get spread in exactly the same way: the same distribution network that makes it possible to hear Miley Cyrus also makes it possible for interested parties to hear, say, Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A.," probably as fine an example of critique as one will hear on the radio.
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