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Strange how the more technology we acquire the more civilized we perceive ourselves to be, but are we? What does civilized really mean? Free from war? Free to pursue our passions? More effective in our government and judicial systems? Greater technology? yes, maybe, no! We are bound to evolve and progress and create greater machines to ease our burdens, but does this denigrate us as humans as artists? I have found that art is now a disposable commodity, how long does the background stay on your computer? a week, a month, a year? How long do the songs stay on your IPod? What is the oldest song on there? When was the last time you went to a brick and mortar museum instead of a virtual one on the Internet. when was the last time you looked at a real painting? As humans are we not defined by our art? by our wars? are these not the things that show the true span and compassion of humanity? Is it not possible to be civilized and still be involved in a war, a war for the right reasons and the right causes, were we not right to fight against Hitler? So how does war define us a humans? Is it different than our art? Up until the fifties or so (when we came into the enlightened morally and politically correct self righteous, overtly and covertly religious America) we taught poetry and art in school, now we do not teach so much as give a brief and highly prostate overview of the arts. We should look and judge humanity not by what we achieve in technology and how we work so much as what we do in our free time, in our leisure. I wonder if as humans we need to reconnect with our art, it has become intangible and we need to feel and touch it. Maybe that is why I have such an affinity for vinyl records, you have this large piece of visual art in your hands to start, you can see the passion that went into most cover art, then you slide that record out of it's sleeve and wipe the surface clean of anything that static electricity or hands might have left, and place it on the turntable, turn the turntable on letting it come to speed, then gently setting the needle on the vinyl. and when those first songs are done you have to turn it over and start again, is it easy, convenient, no it isn't but it makes you appreciate the music and the artistry, you can't ever touch an MP3 in any way. So let art return to you, or if you are a child of the digital age discover the beauty of art from the past, the past decade, the past century and savor it for longer than a week. Just as all wars since WWII have become intangible to us, we see it on TV and hear about it, but as a country as a whole we see nothing of the pain and suffering, we feel nothing, we only delight and strive to get more technology, so we can get our art faster. When was the last time you walked up to a soldier, a policeman, a fireman, a musician, a painter, a sculpture, and said thank you? When was the last time you looked at these people and admired them? If we as Americans do not get a grip on the reality of our surroundings, on what it use to mean to be an American, we are going to end up a fracture country just like the remnants of the Soviet Union. (OH Blasphemy comparing America to the Soviet Union) We were once the ones in the world who were the peace makers, the ones who accepted the poor, the hungry, the meek, the tired, the downtrodden, and the persecuted. Now we are the bullies in the global community. We no longer have hero's (I bet you are saying yes I do, well think about it, who do you admire? are they from this century? Are they a fictitious character?) So you ask where does all of this fit in with art? Well isn't that an expression of who we are, where we have been, and what we see and fear in our own hearts? Conflict is part of human nature, artistic expression is part of human nature, when we deny the free expression of these we end up at extremes. As we become more civilized and repress those basic animal instincts inside of us, we become what we are. We grasp at anything and we end up doing the extreme to make our point of view everyone else's. Look at Intelligent Design, such a cowardly thing, Just say I am a christian and I believe "God" created us, don't try to sneak and scam to teach your children this. If you believe in freedom of speech and the bill of rights quit trying to take away those rights because you don't like guns. As a whole those rights protect us, when we start changing those and revamping what we think they mean we are going to lose those freedoms that make us uniquely American. So I guess just once in a while let that artist and that animal inside you roar or you will never be civilized, just an angry bitter person behind a facade of civility.