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Hi Ray,
This is interesting. You have surprised me. I
had not expected you to be annoyed by my perspective on artists as engaged in
the activity of pursuing personally responsible self-defining self-expressive
work, and doing so even when support and understanding in the larger community
might be lacking. This is not to deny that, within narrower parameters,
there are forms of art that follow and interpret established disciplines, but
who is to say that the solo self-defining artist may not be pioneering a new
discipline? As in law, it is the extraordinary cases that establish the
boundaries. But never mind.
The issue can be recast: are we willing to
guarantee income to people the "worth" of whose activities we may not
understand, or approve, but don't seek to judge provided we are not actively
harmed by them? I am reminded of a question that I heard someone once ask, in
all seriousness, "Of what worth is a giraffe?"
What interests me more in your post though is
the "am I wasting my time?" I don't think the purpose of our
discourse here is to persuade each other so much as it is "to compare
mythologies" and be illuminated by each others' perspectives. I have
frequently been illuminated by yours.
Best regards,
Gail
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 12:56
PM
Subject: Re: Work and the economy
Gail,
I object, once more, to your catagory of
Artists. Am I wasting my time here?
REH
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, February 05, 2002 12:33
PM
Subject: Re: Work and the economy
Charles,
Two comments in response to your
interesting posting.
1. You wrote: "I
suspect that many of those who have not entered the conversation have stayed
silent because they believe this is just a rather meaningless word
game. Gail to some extent perpetuates
this view by talking about voluntary work as different from employment, and
Keith talks about working for himself as different from employment. I
guess these are differences, but they are not what I am getting at (at least
not necessarily)."
You seem uncertain about distinguishing these
from employment. Could you elucidate, especially with respect to voluntary
action? (I was of course not talking about volunteering which is often
coerced, e.g. students and CEO's needed it for their resumes, young
offenders being sentenced to do so many hours of community services,
churches and other institutions making it almost a condition of membership,
and even friends (or Presidents) putting moral suasion on people to
"volunteer." This of course is not what I meant by voluntary action.) Do you
not see it, and entrepreneuring, as sufficiently different from
employment as to meet your criteria for "work?"
2. I am intrigued by your "peroration:"
"For me, the alternatives will involve a much
more vibrant local community (by which I mean the network of people and
resources close to us) than currently exists - mostly because nationals
systems simply can't measure let alone control needs and wants at the local
level. In my future for work, everybody has
at least one community with which they can identify and within which they
can sustain themselves. There will still be plenty of people who
interact within many communities and many of the current economic systems
will continue to very very useful in facilitating this interaction.
But they will be meaningless at the local community level which is where
sustainable strength will be based."
In my terms you are speaking about "meaningful
work" in which the work is meaningful both to the person involved and to the
community for which it is done, i.e. doubly meaningful, what we could
perhaps call "work-in community" done by "persons in community."
(MacMurray). Pressing you a little, do you think something can be called
"work" that is meaningful only to the person involved independent of what
others may think of it? Self-defined work? In short, is work necessarily a
social concept or can it be a personal concept, even perhaps in defiance of
community? Who decides what is "work?" To make this practical, my interest
has been in public policy. The question has relevance for taxation
policy (personal income tax, policies for foundations that give grants,
guaranteed basic income), policies toward education and support for people
who say they want to be students or artists,.. and so on. Where does
individualism meet community in your definition of work?
These are issues on which I would hope this FW
list might not only enter into discourse but perhaps even develop and spin
off some public policy proposals....
Regards,
Gail
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