Will Public radio be hurt by HD the way Public TV was hurt by basic cable?

[TheBigA]

Classical music part of whose cultural heritage? The composers are almost all French, German, Austrian, Italian or some other European country.

I'm talking about the arts in general, not just classical music. But Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland are two names that come to mind. Lots of great American composers of music beyond Eminem. But we're slowly killing off our heritage. Too bad. Previous generations contributed to a great wealth of music and the arts. All you guys care about is yourselves. A great country deserves great art and culture.

I think you misread history in saying national government "support for the arts" goes back centuries.

No I didn't. The ancient Greeks, Romans, Turks, and Chinese all funded the arts. And yes, the monarchies did so too. But you really should visit a free public library some time, funded with your tax dollars. You should attend free concerts. And visit Washington DC while you can still visit museums for free.

It still boils down to somebody deciding what's good for everybody else and then making them pay for it.

That's what living in a country is all about. Other people make decisions for you and your money every day. And they don't consult you.

 

[MattParker]

Classical music part of whose cultural heritage? The composers are almost all French, German, Austrian, Italian or some other European country.

I'm talking about the arts in general, not just classical music. But Leonard Bernstein and Aaron Copland are two names that come to mind. Lots of great American composers of music beyond Eminem. But we're slowly killing off our heritage. Too bad. Previous generations contributed to a great wealth of music and the arts. All you guys care about is yourselves. A great country deserves great art and culture.

A "great country?" Not wanting to get this topic bounced over to TIO, I'm not going to get into whether the US qualifies as a "great country" but any standard, including contributions to world art and culture.

Just because some people don't go to museums or concerts or don't care for classical music does not mean they don't care about anybody else. Beyond your assertion that everybody else should pay to subsidize the things you enjoy is an underlying assumption that everybody should like the things you like.

I know some people here can not stand the idea of the government spending money on anything except cops and the military. I don't agree with that either but I can think of a lot better uses for taxpayer money that supporting the pastimes of people who have enough money to support "the arts" for themselves. I also notice often these calls for government support for the arts comes from people employed in the arts and that makes such calls completely self-serving.

I think you misread history in saying national government "support for the arts" goes back centuries.

No I didn't. The ancient Greeks, Romans, Turks, and Chinese all funded the arts. And yes, the monarchies did so too. But you really should visit a free public library some time, funded with your tax dollars. You should attend free concerts. And visit Washington DC while you can still visit museums for free.

Not a good example. Except for Athens, briefly, all these societies were ruled by kings, emperors or sultans. These arts they funded were only for the ruling and economic elite classes, not the lower orders (whose servitude made the rulers rich and their arts possible).

It still boils down to somebody deciding what's good for everybody else and then making them pay for it.

That's what living in a country is all about. Other people make decisions for you and your money every day. And they don't consult you.

It happens, so that makes it right? I assume this means you are happy with all the decisions these other people make for you and would not think of complaining.

 

[TheBigA]

Beyond your assertion that everybody else should pay to subsidize the things you enjoy is an underlying assumption that everybody should like the things you like.

No there isn't, because you're assuming that I like classical music or other forms of art that are currently being preserved by the US government. The way a country works is everyone pays and subsidizes what the GOVERNMENT likes. Not what *I* like. The ones making a judgement over where the money goes are the ones charged with that responsibility. Understand? I'm talking about high school civics. We are, at least for the time being, a united country. We have, or had, a common heritage. There are certain forms of art that are viewed by objective analysts as the kind of art worth preserving. Have you ever studied how the government makes these decisions? As I keep saying, this isn't my personal taste we're talking about. This is American culture.

It happens, so that makes it right? I assume this means you are happy with all the decisions these other people make for you and would not think of complaining.

As I said, I don't agree with the Iraq war. If those folks want democracy, let them fight for it, not us. But no one asked me. And there are millions of decisions this government makes every day that the people aren't asked what they think. I've often said that if slavery was put to a vote, a big chunk of this country would reinstitute it. Which is why it won't be put to a vote. And why a lot of decisions aren't put to a vote. We don't live in a real democracy. And from what I've read in this thread, you don't understand that. Or you're being purposely argumentative.