It is believed that the money spent on aspects such as music and theatre, is wasteful. Therefore, the Government should allocate their funds toward public services instead. While this can be beneficial to some extent, I disagree with this approach.
Admittedly, funding public services can have many merits that we should not overlook. The first benefit would be the improvement in people’s health. Nowadays, hospitals or medical stations in rural areas with limited finances do not meet the standard in not only their infrastructure but also lack skillful doctors. Subsequently, investing in these places will help to secure the local civilians’ health, and ultimately, save lives. Another advantage involves education. The growing popularity of many technologies such as AI have created many career’s opportunities for people across the world. However, many schools nowadays do not appear to include AI-related subjects in their curriculum. Therefore, making investments to foster the use of AI in school help students to find their opportunities.
In my view, the detrimental effects can be far more significant. The first problem would involves the loss in cultural value. Investing in arts isn’t just merely about preservation, but many arts themselves are in the central point of many countries’ culture, which it gives us a strong sense of identity and psychological resilience. As a result, placing less priorities on arts will make many people dissolve into the globalized world. The second issue is the negative effects on the economy. Many places such as museums are in the central point of the tourism industry, which the annual revenue it generates can be significantly high. Afterward, cutting the funds for arts can also mean cutting their own sustainable source of income in many countries.
In conclusion, while it is clear that the advantages associated with this tendency can be significant to some extent, I am convinced that the negative effects toward cultural value as well as the economy are a lot more concerning.