ballet and burglary

"has a ballerina ever responded to burglary?"

apparently, just like every city, san jose wants to hire more cops. the police department wants more cops than the mayor says they can afford. this is not new. of course, whenever and wherever this discussion is had, someone suggests that other services be cut... primarily public support of the arts.

"has a ballerina ever responded to burglary?"

maybe yes, maybe no. i get the point. the cop will respond. the cop is paid to respond. the ballerina performs. blah, blah, blah. what frustrates me with this kind of conversation is that there is no public consideration of the function of the arts outside of entertainment. i guess i should no longer be surprised by the shallow level of public discourse, particularly around the arts. but i am still sad about it.

no one mentions that ballet may not respond to crime, but it can sure prevent it. arts (done well) are a part of a healthy community and nurtures healthy individuals who do not rob each other. to deal with the problem of crime, we can no longer just deal with the most obvious level of consequences of a whole system that grows people to be a certain way.

art responds to crime.