The National Endowment of the Arts

While $140 million is really chickenshit, I think the government should be earmarking some money for the arts. I find it amusing that someone who would otherwise vote for Bush would be turned off by this, but however you spell Kerry is fine by me.

I have less objection to spending for defense than for offense, but that's neither here nor there. Social Security and other entitlements programs are and always will be where the lion's share of government money is tied up, and there is not nor ever will be any politician who will do anything about it.

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Originally Posted by Stone

Also, what place do you guys think religious art has amongst NEA-funded projects?

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None, really. Churches and the such have plenty of money to fund religious projects themselves.

its one of those things. It could be a great thing if its spent right, though it probably won't be, making it a huge waste of money.

Still, I'm all for it.

To keep things in perspective, split between every American equally (which isn't reality but bear with me), the NEA costs less than fifty cents a year per person.

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Originally Posted by Stone

Wallace Stevens is, I think, the greatest American poet of the 20th century (better than Eliot) - Stevens wrote most of his poetry while working as the VP of an insurance company.

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Agreed.

Of all the things the government funds, $140 million is a drop in the bucket. For that little money, it's definitely worth it.

I would, however, prefer that the money go towards the creation of new, frontier-pushing art rather than the art of people who have been dead for hundreds of years.

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Originally Posted by Stone

A lot of other countries spend way more than us, by the way. France spends a ton of cash funding French movies - Les Triplets De Belleville was getting money from like two or three different government institutions.

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Did Yamakashi get as much support? :sweat:

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Originally Posted by burgundy

To keep things in perspective, split between every American equally (which isn't reality but bear with me), the NEA costs less than fifty cents a year per person.

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Fifty cents from every American would also provide clean drinking water for millions in the third world. 140 million is a lot of many no matter how you slice it.

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Originally Posted by diffusionx

I dont think you should necessarilly blame the educational system that kids are too stupid to realize how great that stuff is. We are certainly exposed to it, there's not a whole lot the educators could do besides that. Most people hate that work. Im not trying to be elitist here but thats how it is. Theyd rather read Chuck Palahniuk or the latest Fabio book than Shakespeare.

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I don't know, I'd like to think that I was fairly well educated and I don't consider Shakespeare to be the greatest achievement of humanity. I like Midsummer Night's Dream and MacBeth, but that's about it. I couldn't get into the other stuff. On the other hand, Palahniuk sucks. I mainly read stuff by Asimov and fantasy. You know... fluff.

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Theyd rather listen to Cash Money Millionaires than Bach. Why? Because theyre kids. Its like that guy said on the Simpsons. "that's why you're kids. Because you're stupid!".

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Hehe. Stone likes the Cash Money Millionaires. ;)

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Originally Posted by Johnny

Fifty cents from every American would also provide clean drinking water for millions in the third world. 140 million is a lot of many no matter how you slice it.

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We already spend enough of our money on that sort of stuff, a lot more than $140 million in fact, and nobody knows if it really goes to where it's supposed to - actually, everybody knows it goes exactly where it shouldn't. Giving humanitarian aid to shitty foreign nations is about as close to a waste of money as you can get, especially since it mostly ends up in the hands of corrupt government officials.

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I don't know, I'd like to think that I was fairly well educated and I don't consider Shakespeare to be the greatest achievement of humanity. I like Midsummer Night's Dream and MacBeth, but that's about it. I couldn't get into the other stuff. On the other hand, Palahniuk sucks. I mainly read stuff by Asimov and fantasy. You know... fluff.

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There's a difference between not liking it and just writing it off because it's "old", which is what I *know* a lot of kids do, a lot of middle schoolers, high schoolers, etc. I remember class, as soon as someone mentions Shakespeare, kids become instantly against it and dont give it a chance. Because they're stupid kids. Furthermore, there's nothing wrong with liking CMM as is (the Project Bitch video is one of the best out there), but there's more to music than that shit.

Cash Money Millionaires suck. Almost as bad as Shakespeare. ;)

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We already spend enough of our money on that sort of stuff, a lot more than $140 million in fact, and nobody knows if it really goes to where it's supposed to - actually, everybody knows it goes exactly where it shouldn't. Giving humanitarian aid to shitty foreign nations is about as close to a waste of money as you can get, especially since it mostly ends up in the hands of corrupt government officials.

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The US gives very little when compared to the other wealthy nations, then there's the trade restrictions on top of that. If the developed world truly practiced free trade, the third world would be in a better position than they are now without handing out one cent in aid.

Money does go to those who need it when channeled through NGOs like the Red Cross. The real problems arise with trade of diamonds and coltan, stuff like that.