Listen.
Not all things are properly valued by the market, therefore we should not let market principles dictate the behavior of all things. It's not that complicated. Economics is a single lens through which to view the world, and it's a lens based on efficiency and production. It's central principles are not beauty or truthfulness or even, necessarily, usefulness.
Could we please, then, discuss journalism and government and the arts on their own terms - in terms of what they exist for, which is not, at their core, to turn a profit? It should be our goal to try to remove or reduce, as best we can, market influences on those things so that they can more closely align with their central tenets; not to move them as much as possible into the private sector, simply to avoid paying taxes.
thank you so much for writing this. you've captured my exasperation perfectly. if i hear one more person comparing government to either a household budget or a business i'm going to lose my fucking mind.
ReplyDeletei do think we bear some responsibility for people thinking that arts organizations should run like businesses, namely that we (well not really "we" because i don't, but you know what i mean) keep using that vocabulary and way of thinking to make our decisions. If you treat the nonprofit as simply an alternate way of creating revenue, you kinda reap what you sow.
I actually agree there. I think there's certainly a place and time for economics, etc. But we've sort of let the language of the market become the default language for far too many discussions.
ReplyDeleteThere is this increasing tendency to see the humanities and humanistic values as a luxury that either is, or should be limited to the economic elite-- to a point that even when we make the case for the arts and humanities without recourse to either business or home economics models, we are often arguing with regards to secondary utilitarian benefits, i.e. the cognitive development of students as opposed to the arts, without addressing the meaning of the arts and the humanities.
ReplyDeleteCould we please, then, discuss journalism and government and the arts on their own terms - in terms of what they exist for, which is not, at their core, to turn a profit?
ReplyDeleteIt pains me to say this, but you're sounding unAmerican. In fact, you're starting to sound like a pinko commie sympathizer. I've forwarded this blog post to Homeland Security for further investigation.
No, were Comrade Freeman were a real communist he'd be insisting that journalism, government and the arts serve the revolutionary proletariat, and that the metaphysical ideals of truth, justice, and beauty that these institutions pursue are no more than bourgeois ideology. In short, Comrade Freeman, like all counter-revolutionaries will be put up against the wall when the revolution comes.
ReplyDeleteIn short, Comrade Freeman, like all counter-revolutionaries will be put up against the wall when the revolution comes.
ReplyDeleteGod bless America.
I love Big Brother.