To all future philanthropists.

 

This is where I'm suppose to say good things about the welfare of other men, and how it's important that somewhere in the world, kind, benevolent care takers find it in their hearts to actually open their wallets and give.  Frankly, I’ve never seen this in action, and I doubt, really, that any one person can say, “A kind soul set me up for life and now I’m a great artist!”  That’s highly ridiculous, and unbelievable. 

 

The truth is must more benign and un-interesting.  There are groups of rich people that sit around at their tea, thinking what a shame it was that Picasso was poor and that Charles Bukowski seemed to suffer most needlessly throughout his life.  So they say, “Hey, Reg, old buddy, I’ve got to give some more of my money away to avoid having the government rape my tax return this year.  I was thinking that we could start a club that helped needy artist types.”

Reg replies, “Artist Types?”

“Yes, yes, you know, painters and poets…those kinds of people”

“Oh yes…Ever notice that they have so much talent but can’t even keep their landlords from…what’s that word for being thrown out?”

“Evicted”.

“Oh yes, they should all find jobs, like poets should become novelists or screenplay writers.  And painters…well every house needs a good coat of paint”

“Sure, sure, but Reg, wouldn’t it be better if we could help them, you know, pay for their addictions and help us beat the over 50% tax rate?”

“Hum, I don’t know?”

“Think about how it would look around the yacht club if you were known as Reg, the Philanthropist.”

“Well, when you put IT THAT WAY”

 

And off they go out to help the needy little people with their cute talents.  The problem is simply that they never give the gifted enough.  They spread their wealth like the last of the butter, spreading it thin and across to much toast.  To bad, in some ways.  But hey, we’re writers, and we’re nuts, and what does it matter if we’re rich.  Yeah, right! 

 

I can’t plan on dying wealthy, no one can who spends so much time beating himself up with the inside of a bottle, or women, or just plain emotional insanity.  We know the score.  Business men who ‘like’ our work 1, our work 0.  It seems that the system likes it that way.

 

Hell, the baseball players were going to strike because they were afraid that the owners would mandate a self controlling salary cap.  And, jesus H, those brainless anti-barbarians (being that the sport doesn’t require to much beyond a few well placed muscles and conflagration of wild luck! At least in football the player is required to risk his own health for the sport.) make millions of dollars a year!  Screw pity for that.  I would have rather seen the players walk and the end of baseball.  Hell, maybe when it was reborn in 2006 or 07 it would be filled with players who actually loved the game and didn’t care so much about whether or not they could afford the 350 acre estate in Pacific Palisades.

 

So what do we do?  Nothing, I guess.

 

You could send me money.  I’ll take it.  Even if you think I’m an idiot, and talent less, there’s nothing wrong with that either.  Not to much real talent out in the West anyway, so it won’t affect much (Notice, that I’ve got enough sense to use affect instead of confusing it with effect, that’s got to be worth 10 cents alone).  But if you don’t think I’m worth the effort, then screw you.  At least give sometime to some real artists somewhere, like www.anti-heroart.com.