The Chronicle of Artistic Failure in America

Australian libertarian commentator Eric Fry, on his website The Daily Reckoning, recently compared the Fed’s recent bailout of reckless mortgage loan speculators to how American educators have taken to coddling burgeoning young art students.

“…Modern American-style capitalism is more like ‘arts and crafts’ time in one of Manhattan’s pricey nursery schools. Every coddled kiddy’s ‘artistic’ creation – no matter how inept or ghastly it may be – elicits praise from the nursery school instructors. Indeed, every grunt elicits praise…and every boo-boo finds a Band-aid.”

This is revealing in two ways. First, that the cushy manner of the American education system, and the entitlement culture it engenders, is becoming increasingly known around the world. Second, that this entitlement culture may not only be a factor in American art and education, but it may have become entrenched far and wide, in the money system, the federal government, and the supposedly “free” economic market.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 at 9:21 pm and is filed under Commerce and the failure of art, Entitlement in art and education, Author's quote, Art in America, Artistic failure in America, Art skepticism, Other authors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.