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To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (3236)	10/29/2002 8:36:32 PM
From: Solon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7689

"it has been because their economic base has evaporated, not because the local opera house closed" They never had an opera house! They had a hand operated flour mill! The opera house was in the city...DUH! ...But it is true that the economic base was eroded as well <g> It is an analogy, Lazarus. The modern counterpart is (as I have repeatedly tried to emphasize)--where there is economic potential and affluence, people set their sights on a higher level of value (sort of like Maslow, eh?) and they exercise their choice. Again, people have mobility now that they did not have previously; and technology has taken over many laborious and unrewarding tasks. We are entering into the age of city-states (IMO). I don't mean political states...I mean economic ones. "If the economic base is their those mobile ands cultured people will pay for that culture and it will appear." There is the rub. Sometimes people do not know what is in their own best interests. Sometimes people develop an either/or mentality. A (rightful) distaste for communism keeps some people from agreeing to voluntarily share anything on a group basis. The only weapon a decent society may use against such fear is persuasion. And when persuasion fails, those who have the economic ability to go anywhere in the world....well--they just might! Those who are poor and dependent will stay to watch the paint peel off the buildings. "This whole thread of discussion was about federal support of the arts" That is fine; but my specific comment intentionally made the point that it was the culture which mattered--not where it came from. I think that is important. If the benefits of democracy are being impeded by lowbrows <g>, then private individuals need not eschew creative alternatives.

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (3236)	10/29/2002 8:45:22 PM
From: Original Mad Dog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 7689

One of the reasons a town's economic base can evaporate is because the town lacks the cultural amenities to draw the sorts of people Solon is talking about. I'll give you one real world example (there are many similar ones): Gateway was started in a town in South Dakota. It grew and flourished there, for awhile. But eventually, its transformation from upstart PC assembler to major international PC supplier hit a snag.....they couldn't get sufficient management talent to move there, even though the cost of living was low, because it is in the middle of friggin' nowhere and there is "nothing to do there". (Its climate sux too, but so does Chicago's, and Chicago does just fine in attracting businesses). Eventually Gateway threw in the towel and moved to California. To a city with a baseball team and an opera and a beautiful municipally run and funded beach. <g>