1) Re. Specter's party switcheroo, what about Joe Sestak? He was widely considered to be a great challenger for Specter in the general election, and he has a TON of support around here. I haven't heard a single thing about him or his chances. Where does he fit in the party, and what should I be thinking about?
2) Support for the Arts: So far, except for a little bit with the National Foundation, I haven't heard a big deal coming from the Obama administration supporting the arts. Should there be more concern with the Arts funding-wise coming from Washington?
3) Bohemia - I want it to exist now, but I don't think it does. In the age of Obama, is there a leftist counter-cultural movement anymore? If I want one, is it possible to find one? Or am i too much of a square to be comfortable with what I might find? Just so people know, I am not talking about a rural nudist utopian type of community. More of a La Boheme-ish thinkers community. Are Hipsters the modern equivalent?
Aria, as always you have interesting ideas. In the interest of discussion, here are some thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThere will always be a vein of liberal counter-culture, though it will wax and wane with the times. As you suggest above, in times of strong liberalism that vein may become too strange to stomach for most. But worry not, because our culture is by no means liberal yet, and I believe there are plenty of cultures within america to counter before things get out of hand. Though yes, counterculture is harder when one's political leader is not the enemy.
As for bohemia, I once heard the sixties described as an american version of bohemia, as well as the beat movement. But bohemia's existence as a place in time is necessarily brief, don't you think? That kind of lifestyle is killed by attention and stasis; when romanticized it's sought out and made into popular culture. Such is the grim fate of the hipster movement, in my estimation. Though I must ask, how would one find a place or community that was anything like the romantic images of bohemia we so adore? Wouldn't such a culture be fluid and in constant flux (geographically, politically, socially) by virtue of its own nature?
As for the arts, well, people are mighty sensitive about government spending right now. Though in principle I agree - artists need government funding badly. And hey, FDR treated the arts especially well even in a time of severe economic crisis. At the very least, it couldn't possibly be worse than handing out free money to banks, right?
-A
Did a little research on Sestak and it turns out there's a possibility that he'd be an even more conservative senator than Specter but it's unclear where he stands on healthcare which is THE issue that the Obama Administration wanted Specter to be for.
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