Whistling in the Dark

Colin Dabkowski who writes the excellent Arts Beat column over at the Buffalo News highly recommends a recent New York Times article that has been making the rounds.

In The Boom Is Over. Long Live the Art! NY Times writer Holland Carter, suggests that economic malaise might be a good thing for American art.

Mr. Dabkowski seems to agree, writing:

"Anyone fearing for the future of the arts ought to give Cotter a look. He argues that the art-crash now in progress, like those that came before, is an opportunity to reach down into the muck that is the current art world and produce an entirely new vision. Which, after all, is what art is supposed to be about."

It's a nice line of thinking, but I refuse to get overly excited about the creative opportunities that are the inevitable by products of poverty.

You only get one life.

You might as well live it with health insurance, a living wage and a pension plan.

Meta-text: The New York Times reports on uninsured young adults and Do-It-Yourself Health Care.

Meta-music: An ancient Johnny Cash covers Trent Reznor's Hurt @ youtube. If you know anything about Johnny Cash you will flip over this video.