“Art is political in the most profound sense, not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding of the futility of struggle between those who share man’s faith.” -JFK
Everything about American politics is bizarre right now, and I have to wonder if we won't see enormous efforts in legislation to close the gaps in clearly illegal activity by the executive branch, eventually. But one of the most bizarre things is the commandeering of the Kennedy Center by Trump. Putting his name on it is not only illegal without an act of congress, but the institution is a living memorial to a dead president. It's horribly inappropriate and frankly disgusting. In a normal world, if you want your name on something at an arts venue, outside of the name itself, you write a check, or many checks.
But in thinking about art venues, art leaders, and frankly just the subject of so many art works, the focus is always on the human condition. Love, loss, struggle, hope, dread... it's all there. What is generally not there is hate and hostility toward others. Even comedy, which is an underrated art form, lands entirely in the realm of people who are advocates and lovers of humans. People call this "liberal," or worse, "woke," but I think they're just describing basic human respect and empathy. That hardly strikes me as negative.
The funny thing though is that people who want to lead are often the people most interested in power. Artists are often the last people interested in leadership. I'm not saying that there aren't people with relatively good intentions that seek public office, especially at more local levels, but history is definitely riddled with some of the worst people who seized power.
I'm sure that artists would get a lot of things wrong, but the funny thing is that they'd likely own up to it and correct for it. "Power people" probably think of that as weakness instead of maturation.
I know what isn't going well is the constant cycle of old men running things. We're losing all of our advantages as a nation. It's bad enough we don't have healthcare, but now the government has stopped funding all of the things that made us competitive, in science, technology, medicine, and yes, even the arts. It's an imperfect system, but historically it has made a world of difference. If you doubt that, look at where China spends its money, and then ponder why they're so dominant in everything on the world stage.
It's crazy how politicians get so wrapped up in ideologies instead of honest discourse that would lead to fiscal success. Even the lovers, romantics and idealists get it.
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