Art and Politics examines how the combination can be detrimental to the integrity of the artist and to the quality of art produced by a culture as a whole. Art and politics in my view are like mixing oil and water. Granted that many old master paintings would depict political or religious themes. their sponsors were either church or state. That was not the painter’s primary objective though, as evidenced by the quality of their works. If their objective was only to produce propaganda on behalf of their benefactors, we would not have the exquisite paintings hanging in the world’s museums today that convey transcendence over subject matter, suggesting the sublime universal answers to human existence. to produce propaganda the artist must subordinate his personality and artistic theories to that purpose. The old masters were painting for the purpose of their own understanding of the world and of art. My first college level art class was taught by a young professor who distributed to the class, although not as required reading and distributed innocuously, the writings of Chairman Mao on Art. Was it a subtle form of indoctrination? Probably and I am glad to have dumped them in a waste basket where they belonged.
The point being is that art is a powerful medium which those with political aspirations or already in power, want to manipulate toward their own ends. Totalitarian regimes will attack art and artist upon their seizing of power and dictate an aesthetic afterwards that would serve as a propaganda tool to further their political ends. The results are barren cultures such as Nazi Germany or the former Soviet Union from which not one significant work of art was ever created. Art for art’s sake is an idea I subscribe to. If the purpose of a work of art is subordinate to an agenda it becomes an illustration. A means to an end such as a Madison Avenue advertising campaign promoting soap or the next dictator.
On the way to work this morning I was listening to two people on the radio go on and on about the economy and unemployment. Their contention was as soon as the economy starts to grow again companies will begin to rehire employees and unemployment will drop. I was just starting to agree with what they were saying when I noticed the garbage truck in front of me. It was at that point I begin to realize that the garbage truck epitomizes the economy and the state of modern business. I am not talking about our economy being in the trash nor am I saying that business is going to the landfill. That is an argument that has more political overtones to it than I care to debate. For this discussion let’s focus on the garbage truck. Do you remember your typical garbage truck picking up trash in your residential neighborhood several years ago? In our community it involved a large garbage truck, one driver and two people riding on the back. Then the economy went through a small downturn and the garbage companies had to make changes to economize and stay profitable. To do this they restructured their organization and downsized which resulted in one of the two trash handlers on the back of the truck going through an economic layoff.
To make this new corporate structure succeed they sent notices to all their customers limiting the number of trashcans that could be placed curbside on trash day to two cans. As the economy continued to stumble and the garbage companies struggled to make a profit for their investors they had to look at other cost cutting measures. The next major change came with the customers receiving notice that the garbage pickup days were being reduced from 2 days per week down to one day per week but the limit of 2 trashcans per pickup remained. Then the economy collapsed and the garbage company had to take drastic cost cutting steps to continue operation. They supplied each of their customers with a special standardized garbage can which could be picked up by a special automated garbage truck. Now the only person needed on the truck was the driver. The result was the last of the trash handlers being unemployed. Now as the economy starts its slow change from a failing economy to one that is beginning to show signs of growth do you thinks the garbage company is going to rehire the trash handlers they laid off.
When the garbage company begins showing strong profits will they increase the days of pickup? They have learned to operate more efficiently, doing the same amount of work using less resources and cost. Happycoin The United States has been in a recession since December, 2007, as defined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private, nonprofit research organization. But the American people, and the Obama administration along with the democrat majority congress, seem to be at odds on how to fix the US economy. A robust US economy means companies expand which results in job creation. Currently, the American people are not spending because many are not working, and those who are working are spending less, most likely due to the possibility of losing their job. Current unemployment rate stands at 10.2% as of October, 2009. A decrease in spending by the American people results in a decrease in company profits, company non expansion, and more layoffs. Reporting on a survey by Watson Wyatt, a consulting firm, the HRSpecialist.com reported in November of 2008 that one-fourth of U.S. employers plan to have staff reductions during the following calendar year. We are now seeing this come to fruition for 2009.
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