In reply to:

Well put. I don't think capitalism is bad, either, but crass commercialism for the sake of itself (and the revenue) always makes me retch. The good thing is, you can usually see it when it's happening.


It seems to me if you /can't/ tell that it's happening, then the product is good enough to be "worth" the money and thus who cares about the original intentions surrounding its creation. If you can tell it's happening, then it probably means that the quality isn't good, so it's not worth buying. Basically what I'm saying is capitalism will work itself out.

This reminds me of a discussion I was having with a friend a few years ago. He said the intentions behind art matter to him. I said if it's good art, it's good art, regardless of why it was made. His example was if the Oklahoma City Bomber guys wrote a beautiful symphony work about killing children, he would refuse to listen to it. I disagreed saying that if it's beautiful music, it's beautiful music, and that it can stand independently from its creator and the events surrounding its creation.

ms