On 21 Feb 2005 at 19:33, Crystal Premo wrote:
I'm sorry, but I take offense to being called illogical because you don't agree with my reaction to an artistic display.
It's not your esthetic reaction that's being criticized, but your truly illogical point about school funding. The money spent here would not exist to *be* spent were there no public art installation to generate the revenue in sales that supported its creation.
Certainly true. Just as the millions of dollars raised by politicians COULD be spent more productively on health care instead of on their own egos, but again that money would not be raised at all except for the cost of electioneering, and so would not be available for ANY other use.
But, David, this profound illogic may actually be hardwired into our brains, at least judging by the frequency it gets trotted out by people who THINK they are being logical. The false dichotomy: spend it on this or spend it on that, but of course don't even admit that you can spend it on both! Oliver North, famous for subverting the U.S. government and running a guns program from inside the White House, raised over $20 million to feed his ego and desire to take public office, almost all of it from outside the state of Virginia, but the money he spent on his unsuccessful bid was spent here in Virginia and in D.C.
The arguments against the space program, which is the ONLY way we can eventually ensure the survival of the human race, are similar. But where do these people think that money actually goes? It doesn't disappear into some black hole. It is used to purchase things and to pay people's salaries. Every penny is immediately returned to the economy to create jobs, which in turn create more jobs, increase the tax base (which is where educational funding comes from in this country), support contractors and subcontractors and their employees' families. I don't consider economics a real science, since it can only generate opinions and never predict outcomes accurately, but common sense says that every dollar spent in ANY public or private endeavor circulates through the economy and benefits both the economy and the citizens who make up that economy. Including the money raised for and spent on the infamous Gates.
'Nuff said.
John
-- John & Susie Howell Virginia Tech Department of Music Blacksburg, Virginia, U.S.A 24061-0240 Vox (540) 231-8411 Fax (540) 231-5034 (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.music.vt.edu/faculty/howell/howell.html _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [email protected] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
