[rollei_list] Re: OT Artistic Voices (was Re: OT Mapplethorpe)
- From: Laurence Cuffe <cuffe@xxxxxxx>
- To: rollei_list@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:39:42 -0500
The world is bigger than the US constitution. As a lawyer you must understand
the evolution of legal systems and constitutional and governmental practice.
The nature of democracy is that If you don't like it, and you can get enough
people to agree with you, there is a mechanism for change. All else is the
tyranny of the majority over the minority, and like it or lump it, that is also
what democracy is about.
If you listen to Bach or Beethoven or the BBC you are tacitly supporting public
funding of the arts as all of these received support from what passed for
government in their neck of the woods. There is an argument that says that we
would all be the richer if any of these had received more public support. If
you drink Scotch whiskey you again are a beneficiary of the public purse,
albeit one that you do not contribute to, not being a British Citizen.
I'm as enamored of professor Bernardo De La Paz's political thinking as the
next man and like to think what the world would be like if armies had to raise
their own funding, and politicians had to pay for the privilege, but it
doesn't require much thought to realize that these are notions which have been
tried in the past and which didn't work out well.
We no longer live in a predominantly agrarian community where citizens can
survive in relative independence from each other. Our mechanisms for living
together have moved on and its only fair to accept that our mechanisms for
funding the arts should move on too.
Another 2c.
Laurence Cuffe
Ps. its worth noting that Prof De La Paz doesn't exist.
On Wednesday, March 10, 2010, at 10:34PM, "Marc James Small"
<marcsmall@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>At 10:23 PM 3/10/2010, Dennis Purdy wrote:
>>How can a person be opposed to public funding of
>>art. What other than the military should be publicly funded?
>>
>
>Please read my earlier comments. There are only
>four obligations imposed on the Federal
>government: to provide for a common currency, a
>common foreign policy, a common defense, and to
>protect indidividual civil liberties. All else
>is so much gush and persiflage. The Federal
>government HAS to provide for a Foreign Service
>and a military and the like. There is no
>provision in the US Constitution permitting them to fund arts in any way.
>
>State funding is another matter entirely, and
>those interested may take it up with their State
>representatives. My Congressmen and both of my
>US Senators know how I feel, as does my State
>Delegate and State Senator (the Federal
>Representative and the two State representatives
>agree with me that government funding of the arts
>at any level is just wrong, wrong, wrong.)
>
>Marc
>
>
>msmall@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>Cha robh bàs fir gun ghràs fir!
>
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