Hi Bob,

On Sat 2039-Apr-02 20:00, BOB KLAHN (1:123/140) wrote to RICHARD WEBB:



 RW> Reading an article, yeah I know, NY times, not some folks'
 RW> favorite rag, but talking about how much more we spend than
 RW> many other countries on education, and how much less we get
 RW> for it.  AS they said, put the money in cultural programs,
 RW> teachers, the real basics, less on hauling kids by bus, and
 RW> athletics, and ... you know the drill.

BK>  Actually, I see the athletics and arts and all the rest right in 
BK> there. Used to do that. We still could if we stopped trying to  do
BK> everything on the cheap. There is an occasional time to be 
BK> reactionary. In this case, go back to doing it all.

Would be nice, because *all* of it is part of creating a
well rounded person ready to take his/her place as a
citizen, including the athletics.



 RW> Depends on how you save money whether you're actually
 RW> robbing from your own future or not though.

BK>  Uh...yeah... and I say that's exactly what's happening. Or our 
BK> grandchildren's.

That's exactly where it is, rob your grandchildren.



 RW> That's my problem with them exactly.  I understand the
 RW> house has to win the majority of the time to stand in
 RW> business, but when the house wins no matter what, and
 RW> you've not got a choice but to play ...

BK>  Thing is, in an honest game we can all win. They like to say  it's
BK> not a zero sum game, but it actually is. At least the way  they play
BK> it.

OF course it is, and imho the game has been rigged for a
long time.

BK>>  Fifty seven? More like a hundred and fifty seven, and still
BK>> nothing on.

 RW> YEah I know, but that Springsteen song came to mind, so I
 RW> used Bruce's number .

BK>  Aha! Was that Bruce Heinz? With the E-street ketchup company? 

something like that .



 RW> YEah I know, but if you can still everything you need or
 RW> want who in his right mind would want to be king?  THen you
 RW> get the responsibility for all of it too.

BK>  That's just it, it doesn't make sense. It can be good for all of 
BK> us, but some do want to be king.

A true indicator of insanity imho.  I'd rather not thank
you.

 RW>> But, to make sure that hope and freedom go by the boards we
 RW>> have to discount and marginalize true culture as well.
 RW>> Music and art, screw them too.  WE've caused there to be a
 RW>> fight between the ignorant "we want it all for free" folks
 RW>> and the creators who should expect to get paid for their
 RW>> work.

BK>>  Well, the Wall Street types want it all for free too, just in  much
BK>> bigger measure.

 RW> OF course they do, and they've set up the creative arts
 RW> types and the true creators of the intellectual property
 RW> that is now being fought over to lose no matter how it
 RW> goes. When as a young man reading sci fi I thought of
 RW> something like the internet I expected to see it become a
 RW> true cultural renaissance, but these days I'm not so sure.

BK>  Oh how I know what you mean. The internet does have so much 
BK> potential, and so little delivered.

IT does, but we have there some real big problems.  IF the
content is good enough to transcend the poor production its
creator can't profit from it.

 RW> But, the creative artists who use it to get their art out
 RW> there don't have the budget or the expert knowledge to
 RW> create listenable or viewable product oftentimes.
 RW> Acquiring the facilities and the expertise using them costs
 RW> money, and in today's markets that isn't available.

BK>  The Vietnam war era was a cultural renaisance period, IMO, but 
BK> this is a time of decline. So much opportunity, and so hard to 
BK> actually make something of it.

OF course it is, our young people were still learning actual science then. 
The creative artists wanted to explore those
new technologies and techniques in the making of their art.
NOw we just demand cheaper tools, preferrably free.  We
don't want to learn about the tools and techniques that go
along with them though.
THat's the biggest difference between the vw era and now.

BK>  Try to steal intelectual property from the big guys and you will 
BK> get nailed. But the little guy has so many barriers to get past. 

RIght, and the trouble is, the corporates can protect their
intellectual property and even virtually steal it from its
true creators, often for payment of a pittance.  ONe can
understand the music pirates and their anger against the
corporates, but they end up harming the very people who
create the content they want.  The demand for free content
has driven the business I'm in to the edge of the cliff.
THe live entertainment end of things was always the race to
the bottom, but the truly high end providers of these
services who own a warehouse full of gear can still survive. But, in the
production end i.e. recording, mastering, post
production, etc. that part of the business has taken a real
beating in the last two decades.
I could tell you some stories there.



BK>  I'm tired of this battle, I'm looking forward to the chance to
BK> actually go after the true bad guys.

DOn't I wish.  THey're well insulated.



BK>  I have a feeling it's going to get a lot worse before it gets 
BK> better.

Looks that way from here as well.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin:  (1:116/901)