Please pardon the double post.
Perhaps the sugar content of this morning's breakfast was to high, but a nationally syndicated columnist (for lack of a better word) posted the following today and his was my response. Any comments are welcome. "Will someone please tell me how millions of dollars to protect the habitat of a marsh mouse in San Francisco, or millions for the National Endowment for the Arts, or billions for the ACORN neighborhood organizing groups is going to stimulate the economy?" I do not know about ACORN or marsh mice, but supposedly some of the money is to go to performing artists and organizations like our regional symphony. In my state, many orchestras have folded or cancelled performances. Even the MET has had to tighten its belt. After all, when your job is in danger, are you really going to continue to support the local art scene with your donations? Our regional orchestra, of which I am a part, employs 80 people. We spend money on food, automobiles, and houses (and some us tithe to our church). If our orchestra folds, then not only do we lose our jobs and the ability to be gainfully employed (the average educational level in our very small regional orchestra is a Masters degree), but our community loses an expression of what makes us human (after all, we are not called “humanities” merely because the word has a nice ring to it). Crucifixes suspended in human waste was a problem in years past, but my understanding is that the current head of the NEA, besides being an accomplished poet that writes poetry which actually has form and rhyme structure, has cut out these frivolous wastes of the taxpayers’ money. I sincerely wish that our cultural organizations could function only on the proceeds of public sales, but unfortunately, this is not true now and has not been true in the past. Bach, Handel, Haydn, and even Mozart functioned under the patronage of the ruling class of their time. If you have other information about how supporting the artists in our country (so that our country will not slip any deeper into the cultural cesspool, or cultural depression, if you will, that we are already in) is a waste of Government funds during this troubled time, please share them with us. I would hate to see hardworking artists lose their livelihood because some "sicko" siphoned off funds to create blasphemous works of hate and depravity. Respectfully Submitted, Scott C. Young _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
