Hyde uses the phrase, “market triumphalism,” in his 2007 afterword to his 1979 tome, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World. With it he is describing the current environment in the US. I think he does so accurately.
But more interesting to me was the brief historic overview he gave of funding of the arts and sciences in the U.S. He suggests that public funding dried up as a response to the fall of the Soviet Union. Before that, from the sixties on, the arts and the sciences were seen as evidence of the superiority of the American open system. After these areas have lost their propaganda use, money immediately began ebbing.
Hyde says that returning to art and science as propaganda is not necessarily desirable. In his afterword, he proposes a model based on Joseph Papp’s success with public theater endeavors. Specifically the way Papp intentionally used a small portion of his financial successes like “Chorus Line” to reinvest in theater for its own sake.
Hyde has helped create an organization, Creative Capital.
At first I couldn’t the Creative Capital web site to load this morning, so you might want to keep trying until it does.
Creative Capital was established in 1999. It gives “direct support to individual artists in film, video, literature, and the performing and visual arts.” “Creative Capital grantees agree to share a small percentage of any net profits generated by their projects with Creative Capital, which then applies those funds towards new grants.”
Another program he mentions along the same lines is for musicians. It’s called the Music Performance Fund.
It was founded in 1948 by musicians worried about losing income when they recorded their performances (i.e. less live performances because people could listen to the recordings).
I don’t see a way for musicians to apply on their website….. hmmm…. food for thought.
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Finally, A Rich American Destroys The Fiction That Rich People Create The Jobs
This writer maintains that jobs are created by the matrix of the economic environment, including people who actually purchase products.
“… jobs is a function of customers’ ability and willingness to pay for the company’s products, not the entrepreneur or the investor capital”
Interesting notion.
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Steven Van Zandt: There Is Only One Issue In America
As I quoted on Facebook when linking this: “Campaign finance doesn’t need reform. It needs elimination.”
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The Sunni Awakening Braces for an Iraq Without U.S. – NYTimes.com
We’re getting closer and closer to getting out of this country.
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Russian Journalists at Kommersant Vlast Fired After Tough Election Coverage – NYTimes.com
Ongoing struggle for openness in Russia.
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When Business Is Regulated, and Isn’t – NYTimes.com
Some letters to the editor about the damage de-regulation has caused.
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Amazon’s Jungle Logic – NYTimes.com
Excellent article about writers’ point of view on a new creepy app by Amazon that allows shoppers to browse at the local bookstore and then buy from Amazon.
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Guantánamo Forever? – NYTimes.com
A sad plea to the President to veto the National Defense Authorization Act that recent legislative bi-partisan debacle of a bill that has already passed.
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What Perry gets wrong about religion in America – Guest Voices – The Washington Post
Bishop Robinson wrote this. He is a voice of sanity in our country.
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Saudi Arabia – Woman Is Beheaded After Being Convicted of Witchcraft – NYTimes.com
crazy stuff.
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News of the World May Not Be Behind Deleted Messages, Police Say – NYTimes.com
Another example of the disastrous effects of bad reporting.
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John Dominic Crossan: The Challenge of Christmas
My brother Father Mark posted this on his church Facebook page. Haven’t read it yet, but I do like Crossan.
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