JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Credentials, opinions, songs..

i agree with you Tony, although certainly not for the same reasons. There are countries where the arts are subsidized quite substantially. In Scotland, for example, the book publishing is pretty generously subsidized, which seems like a good idea, but pretty soon the same cliques start to include both the authors of awful short story collections and those who publish them. "Worthy" volumes are published to be read pretty much only by those who were involved in their creation and publication. The result is a completely sterile and dreary literary "establishment."

Some support for the arts is definitely a good idea, but the truly innovative and relevant creations are likely to emerge from elsewhere.