I agree with you about beauty. I latched onto the fact you mentioned music as something touching the soul.
As it pertains to the kids today, the music is awful. Hip hop and some of the other genres are absolute death to the soul. Listening to the lyrics is bad enough...even without focusing upon them, they penetrate the psyche.
Compare that to classical music....how uplifting that music is. A great classical piece will touch your soul at the deepest level. Too bad the kids do not see that.
I love the picture of Houston...how does one see beauty in a bunch of signs that are advertising fast food places. Actually, it is rather ugly and symbolic of the corporatism that we are present locked in.
The almighty dollar (or whatever currency) is the most important thing today...a god if you will....peoples higher power.
Everything else seems secondary.