Humanity Also Needs Dreamers

But it's tough to dream when you're stuck in a day job

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“Humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit. Without doubt, these dreamers do not deserve wealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, a well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecrated to research.”

-Marie Curie, scientist, Nobel laureate (1867-1934)

[A dreamer in his element.]

An enterprise so captivating that it becomes impossible for me to devote my care to my own material profit? Hello?!? My 20’s were spent in abject squalor, a movable feast of famine and drunkenness. Ever in motion, walking leases and outrunning utility bills, I never stopped to think about the future — I barely spared a thought for the present. But the future showed up all right, asking after the careful planning with which it expected to be met.

Um, yeah, about that…

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"We're in a capitalistic society where you still have to pay your rent even if youre an artist.”

-Mark Mothersbaugh, musician, DEVO (1950-)

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Our late-stage capitalism dictates a certain ruthlessness when it comes to artists and dreamers. We are expected to “figure it out” or get a real job. The thing is, art is a real job.

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THE EARTH WITHOUT ART IS JUST EH. [I totally just made that up, it wasn’t on a bumper sticker I saw.] And I don’t want to live on a planet named EH.

The Irish government has decided to do something to help its artists out and I’m here to tell you that this is a terrific idea.

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Ian Fay had toiled for years to make it as a comic book artist and illustrator, and last fall, he was ready to call it a day.

Fay, 32, who lives in Kilkenny in southern Ireland and specializes in drawing muscly superheroes, was only earning enough money to pay his bills, he recalled recently. He couldn’t afford vacations. He was considering boxing up his art supplies and getting a job in a grocery store.

Then, in September, a lifeline appeared in his email inbox. A message from Ireland’s government said that Fay had been selected for a program guaranteeing 2,000 artists a basic income. For three years, participants — including musicians, novelists and circus performers — would be paid 16,900 euros a year, about $18,200, no strings attached.

Fay stared at the email in disbelief. The payments — in weekly installments of €325 — would cover his rent, and lower his anxiety about making ends meet, he said. For the first time in years, he added, he would have “time to practice and develop my craft.”

-Ireland Asks: What if Artists Could Ditch Their Day Jobs?, NYT March 23, 2023

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I don’t mean to sound ungrateful for the success I’ve had, or bitter for the success I haven’t, but I’m talking about the creative class as a whole, losing all revenue streams thanks to the economic dams built by YouTube, Spotify et al. We do not necessarily deserve wealth, though we wouldn’t turn it down I’d imagine. The pursuit of wealth is not why we do what we do. But if we can’t make a living wage, none of us will be able to do what the culture needs us to do, which is to amplify the beating heart at the center of our collective humanity.

I don’t see Ireland’s program being copied by the US government, but I can dream. I am, after all, a dreamer. And humanity needs dreamers.

yrs,

Rhett

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