The Arts

"The leisure class cultivated the arts and discovered sciences; it wrote the books, invented the philosophies, and refined social relations [...] without the leisure class, man would never have emerged from barbarism"

-Bertrand Russell

I grew up going to a Russian Arts School every Saturday morning, and the related summer camp every year. We painted, read, wrote, acted, sculpted, and played. The most creative times of my life- perhaps the times in which I contributed most to the people around me- I was making no money (except that one summer they paid me $800- that was awesome.)

As work evolves and opportunities for low skill labor disappear behind barriers of expensive education and experience, I have a hopeful dream that people will turn to the arts.

Sure, we might just end up playing video games. But someone needs to design them. We may smoke pot and listen to music. But someone needs to pick up the guitar. And we might while away the days walking in parks and going to the beach. And is that so bad?

With the free time granted to those who for so long have been suffocating under busy-ness, opportunities for expression of passions may finally emerge. Music, painting, theater, fiction- these are all luxuries normally afforded to those wealthy enough to have the basics.

So here is a nice thought. The people who currently drive trucks for a living- they do it for a living. Not for fulfillment, or because they love it. What they really want to be doing is making music, or learning to cook, or performing local theater. And, with the right support from society (still figuring out the details here...) they'll finally be able to do so. And this will bring mankind into its next Rennaissance.