Editor’s note: This commentary is by Bob Stannard, an author and musician, who is a former lobbyist. This piece first appeared in the Bennington Banner.
[T]here is a man named Christo, who with his wife Jeanne-Claude, created some of the most amazing displays of installation art in the history of the world. Their remarkable works include the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin, the Running Fence — a 24-mile long display in Sonoma, and the famous “Gates” in Central Park. A Google search of Christo will yield a display of a life spent creating one masterpiece after another for the sole purpose of dazzling people. Their pieces are not designed to be bought by some billionaire and held captive from the public eye. No, their work was intended to be on display in high-profile places so that everyone, rich and poor alike, could enjoy the beauty they created.
Jeanne-Claude passed, but Christo has persevered. Since 1992 he has been working on an extraordinary project that would involve six miles of the Arkansas River being draped in a silver cloth creating an illusion of shimmering water above the river. This project, scheduled to last only two weeks, has not been without controversy. Environmentalists were concerned that the construction might negatively impact the river. Legal fights weren’t enough to deter this grand master from doing his work, but the 2016 elections were.
“After pursuing ‘Over the River’ for 20 years and going through five years of legal arguments I no longer wish to wait on the outcome,” Christo announced recently. It was not the legal fights that caused him to quit, but the new landlord of our federal lands, President Donald Trump.
In the eyes of the president we are made a better country if we eliminate the arts in exchange for a stronger military.
In Trump’s budget “blueprint” last week, we learned what it means to “Make America Great Again.” In the eyes of the president we are made a better country if we eliminate the arts in exchange for a stronger military. The most recent data shows that we spend more on our military then the next seven highest spending countries COMBINED, but it’s not enough. We need more nukes that we can never use. We need more billion dollar planes to fight snipers wearing rags.
Apparently, our nation now believes that it is in our best interest to cut taxes for those who don’t need the money; increasing military spending by 10 percent with no clear justification for doing so and eliminating the arts and Meals on Wheels.
Budget officer Mick Mulvaney, complete with a most sorrowful expression, said that we just can’t expect a single mother of two to pay taxes to support the arts. Ironically, the concern from this administration for a single mom is virtually nonexistent, but that didn’t stop Mulvaney from making his case.
Meals on Wheels costs roughly $3 billion. The National Endowment for the Arts is less that $150 million. Depending upon your source, we are spending a minimum of $50 million per year so that one 10-year-old boy can continue attending his private school in NYC. In addition, we are spending approximately $3 million per trip to Mar-a-Lago so that our president can maintain his faux tan, play golf and of course promote his hotel. Thus far in nine weeks he’s made seven trips to his hotel for a total of $21 million.
Yes, we spend too much. Yes, this budget blueprint offered by a new president is a budget in deficit that tosses us further into debt. While those representing us appear to be all-consumed with reducing taxes for the top 0.01 percent; a.k.a. their donors, and adding tens of billions to an already over-bloated military complex, we risk losing sight of who we are.
Are we a nation that cherishes bombs, planes, tanks and guns (items that offer little in the way inspiration) over art and creativity? Do we care more about killing each other than finding ways to enlighten us all? These are interesting times. Apparently we’re being asked to find ways to kill or ways to create beauty. Which option defines you?
