Patronage

Every day as I watch the depressing events in the news, I can’t help but feeling a little angry. Every other story seems to be pointing out the greed of the corporate fat cats, huge bonuses, corporate retreats in Las Vegas, and private jets. Maybe this is just a media slant, but how can I know. Meanwhile businesses are closing and people are losing their jobs. This however is only the backdrop for my concerns. A magazine called Realms of Fantasy is closing and along with many others. I do not regularly read Realms of Fantasy, but I was happy knowing it was out there and alive and well. As these magazines close because of a decrease in sales, it means that there are fewer venues for writers to publish their works.

Now it has been a long held that the arts do not receive enough support. I often wonder who is supposed to provide this support. I don’t necessarily think that the government should provide this support except at schools. So, who should support the arts? I like to look backward for some answers. Artists used to have patrons in old Europe. The extremely wealthy often supported artists and commissioned works. They also supported musicians. If we return to our time, the extremely wealthy comparable to the European aristocracy are rock stars and actors. Here we stumble into another cesspool of excess and—dare I say it—hedonism. Just watch shows like “The fabulous life of…” and it will almost make you sick with disgust at their spending. In addition to the profits they make from their acting skills, they are now adding to that by becoming “moguls” and branding everything they possibly can. They ask for more and more money from the little people; watch my movie, listen to my music, bye the product that I say are cool. So we have two branches of art: poor artists and writers and wealthy actors and rockstars. Of course there are more people that fit into these categories, but very general will do for this essay.

Since there is such a disparity between these two groups, it almost seems as if support of the arts should come from the arts. Take the magazine Realms of Fantasy. It has been supporting writers as they begin their careers, develop their voice and become the writer that will pen a fantastic novel. Many times these novels will be made into movies, such as the Golden Compass, Twilight, and Tarzan. If one Hollywood megastar who owes their career or even a portion of their wealth to a fantastical plotline were to become a patron of this magazine, it would not have to close. But I guess they have better things to do with their money like start an namebrand empire or buy a Lamborghini. I don’t want to come off as bitter about their spending because I am not. There is a part of me that enjoys that such a lifestyle is possible in the same way that I like knowing there are still tribes in South America who have no knowledge of the industrial world. The ridiculous wealth and spending keep an element of wonder in the world. On the other hand, it makes me sad to see that these uber wealthy are so focused on increasing and enjoying their wealth that they cannot support the roots of their craft, such as Realms of Fantasy. It would take one patron to keep the magazine alive. I just feel that it is time to revive the tradition of adopting artists and becoming their patron. I think that the worthy in our society should be supported by the undeservedly wealthy.

Relatedly, I think that it is time we had a shift our business world away from the “all about me” attitude to more humanitarian goals. What happened to the days where people would start a business to give their neighbors jobs? What happened to the altruistic nature of our country? I feel that if we are to change the direction of our country’s economics, it will have to come from the ground up. Everyone will have to change their attitude from “What can I get?” to “What can I do?”

In the words of Rumi, “You are searching the world for treasures but the real treasure is yourself. If you are tempted by bread, you will find only bread. What you seek for you become.”

What is it that our country is seeking?