Our society is becoming so money oriented it’s almost as if you can’t do anything without it. You can HAVE if you can pay. You can LEARN if you can pay. You can EAT if you can pay. You can WATCH TV if you can pay (see previous post). Are we doing anything to change this or are we adding to it? If we are artists, musicians, teachers, computer programmers or developers are we charging too much for our art, music, lessons or software? Are we providing free content to our communities? As I’ve said before, “What are we sharing?”
The South Australian government’s current budget may mean that school music and swimming lessons may no longer be subsidised by the government. Parents will have to pay the full amount for their children to have these lessons. Music and swimming may only be available to those who can afford them. Will we loose our future musicians and swimming stars? What if Ian Thorpe’s parents couldn’t afford swimming lessons for him? And the same for parents of musicians and singers?
If you can help at a school or community centre, do it! If you can provide free or low cost programs to schools maybe during school time or in an after school program then the schools can put money into areas which are lacking in funding. Are we helping to fix this or are we part of the problem?
The big problem is that others are deciding for us. We pay taxes and duties, giving others that money to spend for us.
Those others might be fine people, but it’s unlikely that they’ll have the same ideas and goals as us, so they’ll spend the money differently.
This can be a good thing, as money will get spent on services which people need but don’t overtly care about, but it can be nasty when it’s spent on things which we care against, instead.
There are two main answers which I see; to become involved in the politics behind the decisions, or to arrange to not pay the taxes & to spend the money directly. Both answers are fraught with distractions.