Tuesday, February 15, 2011

As if the federal government doesn't do enough harm, now it wants to stop funding the NEA.

Americans for the Arts has an online letter in which you can make your own comments before sending it to your representative. Here's the url:


http://www.capwiz.com/artsusa/mailapp/


Here is my letter to my representative:

As your constituent, I urge you to vote against the completely insane and barbaric amendments to H.R. 1 (Full-Year CR) offered by Rep. Walberg (MI) and Rep. Garrett (NJ) that seek to reduce funds or terminate funding to the National Endowment for the Arts.

It's hard enough to survive in this toxic, patriarchal, destructive society that values destruction, greed, and cruelty and doesn't value artistic creativity, spirituality, and healing, without the government taking away funding for the arts. The federal government should take away funding for its evil wars--stop wasting 60% of the national budget on the military and war--and start using it on meaningful and important things: education, healthcare (including women's reproductive healthcare, NOT excluding it), and the arts.

As someone who is absolutely brimming with artistic creativity and has many ideas for novels and stories, I know too well what it's like to be cornered into meaningless, thankless, and humiliating jobs that I hate--all because I have to pay the bills. Yes, artists exist and need to thrive by creating art, not by being frustrated by an evil toxic society that doesn't acknowledge our existence.