Hi Ray, The story you posted 17 Dec 2001 from The New York Times "As Welfare Comes to an End, So Do the Jobs" by Nina Bernstein, could not fail move anybody who didn't have a heart of stone.
But it was anecdotal and selective. It does not accurately reflect the benefits that a modern economy actually brings, despite all its faults, corruption and disjunctions that occur from time to time. Taking the longer view, the ordinary person today has an incomparably better standard of living than the typical farm worker of 200 years ago. Would you that the Industrial Revolution had never started? I'm afraid that I believe that artists, poets, composers and philosophers do not have anything more to say that successfully impinges upon and helps to change the lot of the poor and oppressed as Charles Dickens. We're living in an incredibly more complex world in which "obvious" solutions to many of our problems have counter-intuitive effects. Melioration cannot proceed any longer from individual vision, but by the interplay of specialised interest groups. I'm afraid also that I believe that the intellectual standards and comprehensiveness of so many artists, poets, composers and philosophers has been in decline ever since, let us say, the first of those Greeks who left sufficient records for us to ponder -- indeed with a sense of wonder. (A great deal of which was saved for the western world by means of Arabic translations by Islamic scholars!) In my view, it you take "snapshots" of the greatest creative minds throughout history, then the purview of their enquiries has necessarily become more restricted century by century, simply because of the immense growth of knowledge that has accumulated -- with no extra hours of the day for the scholar to peruse it. I much enjoyed reading your essay. But you really gave the game away in some of the examples you cited! Indeed, the article itself is such a case. Nina Bernstein cannot be called an "artist" in the sense of Charles Dickens -- you have stated yourself that it is a piece of "commercial literature". It is the product of an experienced, specialised journalist who knows how to write something that will, at least be read by a wide audience. Despite my criticism above, it was an article that deserved to be written and published -- if only that it helps to keep us empathic and humane. But this, nor even a multitude of such articles would ever produce a solution. Also, when you wrote "It was the war photographers who put their lives on the line to keep the American public aware" [that is, their pictures -- particularly the naked burning girl running along the road -- were the principal reason why the public turned against the Vietnam war]. But they didn't do this out of any artistic vision or because they were trying to stop the war. Time and time again, when journalists and press photographers are asked about why they put themselves in danger they reply something to the effect that they wanted "to do a good job". They want to represent reality in the best professional way they can. That's their prime motivation. They can't afford to have emotional commitments. That would tear themselves to pieces. I know you find my view hard to take -- particularly as you are engaged in the arts yourself. As you know I, too, am involved. I am far from disparaging the arts. At no financial benefit to myself (and at a significant initial cost) I have spent most of my time in my declining years to develop a business, Handlo Music, which will help (I hope!) to keep the great tradition of choral music to remain accessible and thus to survive in good heart for many years to come. I could easily earn a very considerable income if I were to work at my other business. I am not being unselfish. I am being very selfish, because the challenge of starting something new (we were the first music publisher on the Net) is satisfying and I so much enjoy choral music. We will always have artists, poets, composers and philosophers, and it will be a poor society that doesn't have them any longer. I am sure they will continue to excite, encourage and delight us for as long as man survives. But don't impose too much of a responsibility on them! Keith ___________________________________________________________________ Keith Hudson, Bath, England; e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___________________________________________________________________
