Greatness Declared

A great nation does not deserve great art.

A great nation produces great art.

If a great nation does not produce great art

It does not deserve great art.

Nor is it a great nation.

The above is based on a public radio announcement I repeatedly hear. I found it odd that a great nation (meaning us) were not to create great art because we are great but rather we are entitled to great art because we are great. If we are great our art should be a sign of it. If we don’t have great art that should say something about our greatness. And the fact that we feel entitled to something we aren’t doing says even more.

And who decides what is great art? Maybe we have it and the people running the ad aren’t great enough to see it. If we are a great nation there should be great art out there already and these people need to come down from their ivory tower and find it instead of telling us we are entitled to what we don’t have when we in fact already have it. Or admit we don’t have it and then rethink what it means to be a great nation and whether or not we are one.