Should the government support artists or should artists support themselves?
Artists are very special people who do not seem to fit the norm of any other main stream professionals. Many people feel that they cannot fully understand how or even whether they contribute to the society. Some people even claim that there is no need for the government to waste money on supporting them. I, however, believe this is huge misconception. Actually, the government should budgets for supporting artists for many reasons.
Artists and their works are what make a nation popular and adored. Throughout history, achievements of art and music have always been seen as the soft power of a nation and they, to some extend, determine the nation's status in the international society. People admire France because of its Palace decorated with master's paintings; people travel to Italy to see statues created by geniuses; my friends and I choose to attend universities in the US for we have been influenced by American movies and music ever since we could remember. If governments refuse to support artists, it is no different from deciding to cut a country's most powerful non-political influence.
Since artists cannot always support themselves, they need the help from governments at times. Unlike other professionals, artists do not always get paid for their work. It seems that average people might never be able to understand or appreciate what artists do before they get famous, which led to countless tragedies in history: musicians and artists starved to death without enjoying the glory and wealth they deserved for creating wonderful pieces of art. If the government is as shortsighted as most average citizens and do not support artistic talents, some artists would have no choice but giving up their dreams and goals on order to survive.
Some people may wonder why it should be the government, not others, to support artists. Of course it is always welcomed that other private sources of funding are willing to support such a cause. The government, however, is still in the best position and has the biggest capacity and possibility to assist them in a sustainable way. A musician or movie maker may be lucky enough to have a wealthy businessman as a sponsor, but what about many other his or her colleagues? It is for sure that no individual or company will be able to provide all of them with the necessary assets and resources, and most importantly--policies. From this perspective, the government seems to be the only one that artists can rely on for sustainable support.
From what have been discovered above, it is easy to conclude that artists need their governments as their supporters and governments also need their artists as their contributors to soft power. Any government that is blind to this fact will miss out on huge benefits and countless opportunities.
