It’s no joke that those of us who work in ‘creative’ fields are seriously undervalued in society. Hey, you like that album! Don’t you think that took some work? I’m convinced that most Americans if asked what is the place in society for artists would answer ‘In a boat headed away from here’, or ‘training for a useful job’. Anyway, the far more patient and articulate Peter Kirn reallly digs into it:
To many policy makers, the “arts” don’t count as the economy. If you’re employed as an artist, (and by extension in creative fields), you’re not a worker.
Never mind that in the US alone, nearly 6 million people are employed in the arts – or that that figure itself is probably wildly conservative, compared to the many more creative freelancers and the economies around them. (Ask companies like Yamaha, Roland, Korg, Avid, and Apple, who then sell products to musicians, many of them pros.)
It’s not just a US problem, either. The Dutch government – just the kind of liberal European government decried by American conservatives – had to be convinced of the value of its music technology research center in 2008.
UPDATE: Follow up articles:
Feb 12: Democrats, Republicans Join to Ban Arts Stimulus, Declare Arts Worker Jobs Not “Real”
Feb 13: Congress Restores Arts Funding, Drops Arts Stimulus Ban, After Public Outcry
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