Friday, January 20, 2017
Trump Administration Plans to Eliminate National Endowment For The Arts
www.broadwayworld.com: According to The Hill, members of Donald Trump's transition team have been meeting ahead of tomorrow's inauguration to outline plans for the "Heritage blueprint" to reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over the next 10 years.
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Okay, this article is even MORE terrifying than the one reviewing Trump’s first one hundred days of office. The quote in the article: “Said Brian Darling, a former staffer at the Heritage Foundation, "The Trump Administration needs to reform and cut spending dramatically, and targeting waste like the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be a good first step in showing that the Trump Administration is serious about radically reforming the federal budget” is actually revolting. Considering the arts and other humanities as waste is not only insulting but also demeaning to anyone working in those fields. And, being a person in the arts I’m personally insulted, especially since every person working in the arts have heard at least once that their profession isn’t a poor investment, or useless. In fact, the arts are some of the more crucial aspects to society; the arts help us tell stories, retain information and share culture with one another. Regardless of if I have funding I will continue to make art, as more an act of defiance than anything else.
Though the article links to a fuller-length one, the longer article does not say too much more about the Trump Administration’s plans with eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, which was pretty disappointing. However, this fact does not take away from the seriousness and the gravity of what the Trump Administration is trying to do. Though I am not an arts major, I am offended by the concept that arts programs constitute “waste” in this country. This country would not be anything without arts – so many different industries, including computer science, are heavily reliant on art. Art not only provides us with designers, it gives us the entertainment that keeps a smile on our faces and boredom at bay throughout our days. Perhaps Trump is unhappy with the fact that he never won an Emmy, but he himself used to be an entertainer with his show, The Apprentice. Trump has had some pretty disagreeable policy decisions, but this is arguably one of the worst and most offensive ones.
Hearing this article right on the heels of hearing that the Trump white house website has scrubbed the LGBTQ+ content and history it is hard not to feel like Donald Trump is systematically attacking who I am as a person. The fact that this administration seems intent on cutting funding to the arts and humanities reminds me of a discussion I was having with my sister over Christmas break. She is (through no fault of her own) a science person and was talking about how she got a full-ride to college and making me feel guilty for the fact that I did not. I explained to her that while there may be lots of reasons why she may have gotten those kinds of scholarships while I did not, one of them certainly is the fact that scholarship funding for arts programs is notoriously much worse than STEM fields. The eliminate of the National Endowment of the Arts will only serve to bolster the idea that the arts is not something we need to invest in or encourage people to pursue. But our societies need art, it is not just a luxury. We especially need theatre right now, an art form which asks both the audience and the performers to enter the world of other people, often people very different from themselves. Theatre is one way of learning how to empathize and understand those who are different from ourselves and right now there is nothing our country needs more.
Only a couple hours after the inauguration, a good friend told me that in hours after assuming the presidency, the Trump white house had removed all mention of any LGBTQ+ rights, history, or anything really from the white house website. And soon after, they had removed any mentions of climate change and the impact it is having on our planet. Now I find out that Trump has decided to get rid of the National Endowment for the Arts. In less than a day, this administration has demonstrated a lack of respect and downright biased against the values and concerns of a large number of its constituents. On a personal note, I have witnessed schools all throughout my district back home cutting the funds for their arts and theater departments, and this was before the new administration’s backhanded move against the arts. What many people just seem not to understand, and this is calling back to the Wells Fargo fiasco, is that in our society, the arts are not just some superficial waste of time. Art is a way to connect with others, as well as express yourself, and is necessary for all kinds of business and economy, and is integral to the stability of our culture and country.
Well thank god. The arts were getting WAY too much funding to begin with. Hey Mr. Trump, ignoring for a second the fact that you just formally told millions of people that their entire career is completely useless, can I just inquire as to why this is what we're worried about right now? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that Donald Trump was all about making America great again. So of course the first order of business has to be getting rid of dirty rotten musical theatre. You have bigger fish to fry, Donald. Maybe attack the arts a little further down the road when you're feeling bored and have nothing better to do.
Okay now let's go back to how the Trump administration just called an industry that employs millions and brings entertainment to the entire country a waste. What the hell. Thanks dude. Good to know that I am wasting thousands of dollars on wastefully studying for my wasteful career in the wasteful arts. It's not like art can change lives or anything like that.
In times like this, we need art more than ever. Theatre is not and never will be a waste, but I'm always thrilled to have another reason to loathe Donald Trump.
This new administration is going to be all kinds of scary, and this is just one example of why. When compared to the defunding of Planned Parenthood, or the repeal of Obamacare, defunding the NEA and NEH may not seem like our biggest problem, but after thinking it over, I’ve realized it might be. See, my gut reaction when I heard this plan was to assume this was an action based around having no appreciation for the arts, and a poor effort to cut federal programming to appease the right (with out cutting the fun stuff, you know, like military spending). Ignoring the fact that the NEA accounts for less than half a percent of federal spending, I think there’s another underlying issue here. Censorship. I have a suspicion that those in the white house know just how powerful the arts can be in times like this, and they are trying to stop it.
As hard as I try, I cannot see a single positive thing that could come from this new administration (except fuel for some great art by amazing, passionate people). Something like this does not surprise me. Trump's entire campaign, and now what we can tell will be his undefined time in office, caters to a very specific type of ideology that does not understand or respect the other people in the world that do not speak, act, think, look, or apparently work like them. I decided to read the full article just to get a fuller understanding of what Trump's intentions are, and I am ashamed at the words and ideas of some of our government officials. Though I don't know the scope of what the National Endowment for the Arts pays for, I do know that no matter what, it's elimination will have an effect on the industry in some way. Outside of recognizing the significance that art has in our society, which I doubt he will ever have the competence to understand, I wonder if our new "jobs" president realizes the number of people working in this industry. Does employment only matter for those who work in offices and factories, pumping more cash into CEOs' pockets? Not to mention the fact that he also plans to eliminate significant environmental programs and agencies since the environment is apparently something that isn't important either. I could go on and on about the impracticality, selfishness, and ignorance behind Trump's proposed changes, but me preaching to the choir in this blog isn't going to help much. Hopefully we can all be loud and active in public, and encourage open and honest conversations with the people who disagree with us outside of the Purnell bubble.
Congratulations, President Trump, have been elected to the highest office in the free world. Based on your behavior the last two years this terrifies me. You have rallied up a strong, vocal support system: some of which are fair individuals who passionately agree with your policies. However, I fear, most of which have been empowered and encouraged by your rhetoric of hate, misogyny and racism. You see, Mr. Trump, your promises to “Make America Great Again” would insinuate that we, as a nation, have declined- and I am not sure how that is possible seeing that not 100 years ago women were not permitted to vote and my fellow friends and classmates were systematically and legal oppressed because of the color of their skin.There are so many things I am scared about within your administration, but your claims of cutting the national endowment for the arts is one of the most horrific (in my opinion). Arts programs change lives. I am at fault for taking my training for granted sometimes---however,, there are so many young teens that are dependent on these art programs to keep them focused and engaged in school. With the sign of your signature, President Trump you could eliminate "the last hope" for many of america's youth. Do you want THAT to be your legacy?
Even though Donald Trump had officially entered the White House as president only a couple days ago, he was quick to begin completely disgracing the presidency that came before him, countless amounts of Americans, and fulfilling his racist, sexist prophecies that he'd preached of during his campaign. When promising to fix America's infrastructure and to "Make America Great Again," I wasn't expecting huge cuts from departments that lead to this goal. But, cutting the ENTIRETY of the National Endowment for the Arts & Humanities ?! How is a country, that already has its economic hiccups when it comes to art & entertainment, supposed to function without something so fruitful, so amazing, so passionate & moving, and something that has millions of Americans working in. Like Zak says, art IS something that changes lives and is one of the most important things a country has to offer. These programs make people push through the bad times; art is an outlet for happiness, passion, and surviving. Art was my motivation for coming to school everyday, even when times were bad, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who would say the same thing. I don't understand his thinking when it comes to this since this seems like the most immature, chaotic, and impulsive decision any normal human being could make. All I could hope for now is that there's SOMETHING left for us if any quarrels ever strike us and that the Trump snake doesn't suck the arts completely dry.
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