The CEO of cable network, Ovation, struck back, saying that, "America's arts sector is a huge driver of our economy and proposed cuts to the NEA don't take into account the substantial return on investment those funds generate in tax revenue to local, state and federal treasuries. Shame on her for turning the arts into partisan politics. It doesn't take much creative thinking to work this out".
I usually try to ignore uninformed, ignorant partisan political nonsense like Palin's, but sometimes, its just too fucking diffcult not to. It's tiresome when people continually pounce on low-hanging fruit for their arguments against governmental support for the arts, while completely ignoring the obvious financial benefits from revenue and taxes generated by various sectors of the arts. Not to mention the community good that arts organizations and individuals help to bring about.
Unfortunately, as long as the government does fund art and art-related entities, it will always be a political punching bag. Consequently, the bar for intelligent discourse about art in the public sphere of the U.S. is set even lower, providing an ever-widening ignorance about the value that art and artists bring to society. I think that most people see through this sort of ranting, but the problem is that I'm sure that a lot of people, conservative politicians hoping to remain in office, especially, will seize upon it as another reason to disparage art and artists in this country.
The idea that cutting out arts funding is good for the country completely escapes me, but I'm sure Palin and her ilk would have some kind of off-the-cuff answer for the people whose jobs will be lost, the museums that might have to close, schools and centers that will no longer be able to provide any sort of arts education, the state and city governments that will lose money and future generations of Americans who will have even fewer connections to art in the United States than they do now, should anything she proposes gains any support from representatives in the Congress and Senate, which I doubt, but you never know what can happen.
Ok, I'm done for now. Time to go and be productive in the studio, wash Palin out of my head, and make room for more important things.
5 comments:
I am conservative on certain
issues but when it comes to
art I get annoyed at any other
conservative who goes after a
sector of society which is so
important.
So I agree with you.
The creative economy is a
treasure for the soul/spirit
and mind...it is beyond money.
Her ideas couldn't have taken up too much room.
Pete, Bob: Thanks for commenting. Her ideas didn't last past me leaving the apartment. If htey had, I doubt that I would have had the great session in the studio this afternoon/evening.
Kind of like recent comments from the House saying "all listeners to NPR are rich. They can afford to fully support NPR."
The times they are troubling.
with you Tim, the only thing that gives me hope is that her relevance is on the decline. We do what we love, not because of who loves us, but because we love the work we make!
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