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Perhaps the gravest disservice The Left performed to philosophical thought occurred when Vladamir Lenin remarked 'Art is a weapon' and then proceeded to bawlderize the humane arts into soul dead tools of propaganda and distortion.

The arts and humanities should serve to heal, uplift and enlighten the spirit. The Ancient Greek Poli did not lavishly support the arts out of perversity or whim.

Perhaps we all look at modern Western Civilization as missing something and failing. Perhaps what has gone afield can be measured by the distance between Mozart and Snoop Dogg. Perhaps it finds a hideously eloquent expression when one ponders the difference in the works of WIlliam Shakespeare and the works of Stephen King. (I personally like some Stephen King, I just hate to think that he's the apex of our modern, literary talent.)

Art has been deracinated, devalued and dragged down to the lowest common denominator with malicious intent. The small-minded think small-minded thoughts. They succumb more easily to big lies.

The left has succeeded in using art as a weapon. They've used it to poison our society by coarsening our tastes and disparaging our virtues. The masters are not the only ones getting raped.

All of this but reinforces the obvious dichotomy between the American tradition--the cultural ethos which holds with George Washington, that "honesty is always the best policy"--and the warped rationalizations of Socialism and the Socialists (Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Hitler & Mao) which justify any lie that suits their collectivist aims, their perverse and despicable vision of the human future.

See The Lies Of Socialism, and contrast that demonic vision with the honest, humble love of George Washington for his people (Farewell Address).

William Flax

Excellent find!

In my work in the theatre world of L.A. I find that there are simply no liberals with whom I work willing to recognize that politicization is killing L.A. Theatre. Witness the overt imbecility of The Actor's Gang's (Tim Robbin's outfit) latest offering.

I continually recieve blank stares and outright hostility from fellow theatre professionals to the question "why would you continually and intentionally alienate over half of your potential audience (conservatives) by insulting their upbringing, their morals and their beliefs?"

Audience levels are dropping, and will continue to drop (in 99 seat waiver and small Equity houses) until and unless there is a renaissance of thought about how to use art to serve humanity; not in pet causes and outright attack, but in celebration of universality. Those academics whose rantings give third-rate artists like Robbins the fig leaf they need to cover their posturings are, in my view, much to blame for this debasement.

The answer is not a swing of the political pendulum to the right in art criticism - the answer is to shatter the pendulum altogether.

Thanks again for a good read.

Last time I visited the Smithsonian they had a huge, square canvas hanging on the wall that was painted solid white. A professor had gathered her students around it and was giving them a lecture on its nuances. The scene made me laugh out loud, much to her annoyance. I couldn't help myself; it was a joke.