"The Arts" a contrarian view

September 1, 2012

This essay could be seen as being about a controversial issue called "Pacific View" in the small wealthy southern California city of Encinitas where I happen to live.  This is the name of the 1950s era rusting elementary school on a three acre plot near the sea shore, that after a ten year battle over arcane laws on the rights of a city to purchase unused schools property, is now under contract to be purchased at the current market value of ten million dollars.

This article is really a vehicle to look at meta-issues, those going beyond specific examples to show larger issues, such as how "Pacific View" ultimately was reduced to the "sound bites/ buzz words"  that have come to define all political speech.  Expanding on this, I will explore how several local policies have become impossible to address by the political (electoral system.)   Among these are one about our "Mayor," who under a new law will have less actual authority than the other members of the city council, yet this reality is impossible to convey to an electorate who filters out all but their visceral understanding of simplistic concepts, IE: Mayor is the chief, Politicians are bad, Control by the voters is good. These set of simplistic truisms prevailed in this initiative in another California city over a reasoned argument among 80% of the voters.

Understanding the dynamics of the new elected mayor law requires the voter first suspending the investment he has in such "buzz word/sound bites" in organizing his world,  to explore the actual law being proposed along with the interpersonal dynamics within the city council, something that deprives the average voter of a personal cognitive structure that leaves him vulnerable.

"Majority rules" is the simplest explanation of democracy, which because it is our system we rarely subject to incisive critical analysis.  I couldn't ignore this since my participation in a new city commission that was given oversight over major life and death issues placed me in a position where I had to at least try to address these functions of government.  This lead to my considering running for this odd position of mayor as a sounding board for discussions such as this essay;  but I eventually realized that electoral politics at every level in this country has become a highly regimented activity often controlled by handlers who are masters of these operating rules.  The major challenge is following standards that resonate with the increasing "sound bite/buzzword" voters, so it's not what you say that gets you elected, but what you don't get caught saying that will lose the election.  The covert recording of Mitt Romney's "47% are takers" presentation illustrates this, as he suspended the above rules and committed the ultimate mistake, being candid about his views."  Having a political system that requires its elected officials to obfuscate and dissemble creates a whole host of problems, that for now I'll just take as a given without further exploration.

Purchase of Pacific View was achieved by a single vote majority of the city council after an email-based campaign that mobilized about two percent of the voters of the city.  The melodrama created by the sponsor was that of "saving this land from developers" which was energized, given more legitimacy, by it's ultimate use being to enhance "the Arts."  This concept was accepted as an all encompassing "good" to such a degree that details of the center became superfluous, implying that any activity under this rubric was worth taxpayer support.

The historic juxtaposition of hundreds of children only miles away being turned away from an immigration center, barred from escaping a high risk of death,  did not cause the city authorities to consider how this land could be used to provide sanctuary for these desperate children.   "The Arts" had become something so internalized as to be exalted, an identifier of cultural sensitivity that transcended providing succor to these unwashed masses.

My two extensive presentation to the city council first on the impossibility of building a performance space on this land, and the other of the liabilities of city ownership,  were mentioned, although mis-characterized by the "Save Pacific Beach" sponsor.  The actual two videos, in one case was never was sent to his mailing list and the other it was to a link that was inactive.  All of the arguments made during public sessions, other than mine, were against the purchase because the cost wast too high, with no others made against the principle of municipal ownership of this property. My attempt to use the deeply flawed "communications/ propaganda" product Open City Hall to get wider feedback was squelched by the dominating city manager, even when the request came from the "mayor."

Political life in this city, more importantly, in this country, has been reduced to this.  The term political correctness is a part of this dynamic, but that phrase has taken on a triviality that negates the damage that is done whenever the unfettered addressing of difficult issues is stigmatized.  To understand the effect of our restriction of acceptable language, it's useful to look at the other side, how not only is language stripped of precision by condemning, often to the point of criminalization, language relating to harsh realities of existence,  there is a promotion of what is defined as "a positive outlook" such as promotion of the "the arts."  Mandated happy-talk is probably a more pernicious type of social control than censorship.

What is not discussed is "the arts" has an element that can be understood as a vehicle of conspicuous consumption Thorstein Veblen's sociological concept that certainly applies to those whose accumulation of billions of dollars worth of paintings enhance their status among the world's elite.  To some degree I would suggest that part of the enthusiasm of those who were so passionate about the arts can be explained by this dynamic.  While they will never own a Manet, they can be part of the group that admire those that do.

This is strong enough, and so unconscious, that those  who never entertained any doubts about the city prioritizing this Pacific View purchase over helping desperate refugees, never thought about how these funds could have been used to upgrade dangerous city intersections.  This enthusiasm for this purchase of an arts center allows them to feel a part of the culture that values, that validates a system where the very wealthiest purchase the rarest, the finest, the most valued of objet d'art.  This grassroots support was so strong that those who opposed it were accused by the then mayor of attempting to sabotage this movement, it being so sublime that those who opposed it deserved to be treated as an alien force.

Another major issue that was addressed during my period of activity in city affairs was the adoption and implementation of a product sold by Peak Democracy company.  I fought it with every resource at my command, that once again was thwarted by a single vote on the city council.  This article, Peak Democracy Company, a fatal virus for democracy, goes into the details. 

Among voters under forty, only a small fraction has ever even taken a high school level civics course,  and for this generation Veblen's conceptualization, or other theories of government and human dynamics are simply courses to get over with as soon as possible to get back to the comfort of a less challenging world.  No politician (defined by one who needs to win a majority of votes) would dare to attempt to transcend this by insulting his voters by suggesting they need to revise their way of thinking to judge the merits of policy.  Rabid liberal-conservative politics does allow the illusion of such dialogue, but that's all it is.  On a national level the enemy will always be the other party, more concentrated if the President is a member.  The focus can be on other objects of condemnation,  like developers, or  "takers" or any out-group susceptible of being despised. All it takes is a critical mass  of like minded people  to agree on whom to vilify.    

It looks like the city will purchase Pacific View, which comes complete with a concept of an arts center even if the restrictions of the location will prohibit an actual one.  It will provide a group identification so rewarding that no argument against it shall be allowed to be promulgated to those taxpayers who will be footing the bill.  We will have an election in a few months that will include a choice for Mayor, who will be seen by the voters as the most powerful person in city government; and they will feel good that it is the voter who gets to decide rather than other "politicians." The refugee children who passed so close to us will probably be sent back home, many to die or to be forced into tragic lives. 

If you have finished this article, you should know you are among the very few who have. It was long, convoluted and took a bit of concentration.  Since you've gone this far, why not leave your comment so we and the other few can start a conversation.
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Addenda

From this interview with a conceptual artist in the New York Times

Art is not only physical pollution, it’s intellectual pollution. Spiritual pollution. I belong to the down-the-drain generation. We were promised salvation by art. I was a passionate believer, until I realized it was one of those allegiances, like spiritualism or theosophy. All of this kind of semi-religious teaching, like Mary Baker Eddy or Madame Blavatsky.
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