There's Not Enough in Our Headlines

Thursday, July 16, 2026

Good morning, Twfw. O/

Back to business.

Smoke from wildfires from Canada change the stage lighting. The Sun rises in a smoky Blue's Bar. Sparrows, robins, and wrens trade riffs to announce the dawn.

It's point of view; it's perspective. There simply isn't enough of an Artist's viewpoint easily accessible in our current popular culture. Sure, there's pop songs, but most are set on entertaining first.

Self-reflection, consideration of the world and other people, are necessary for a civilization to survive and sorely lacking from our popular media.

Music, Art, and Literature make a culture. The way wildfire smoke changes the feel of a whole day, so The Arts set the stage.

Art is more than spectacle; it's what's worth looking at for reasons forgotten or never known.

Every work of art reminds us what it means to be alive.

There's not enough in our headlines.

Van Gogh's Starry Night wasn't even worth the cost of the paint to most of the populace at the time he painted it. And so the state of The Arts in America right now.

We could blame our country's youth, but that makes us defensive. And it's not true.

The reason why Art isn't valued more in America is a matter of accessibility and value.

Advertising and our relationship with the dollar limit our culture's growth.

Think of the difference between a dining room table built by your great-grandfather versus one you just bought at Wal-Mart.

Technically great-grandpa's is worth less to America right now even though the whole country feels that's not true.

We could monetize great-grandpa's table and afford hundreds of Wal-Mart editions.

But do we sell the man's act of love for his family and craft when we sell the table?

Most American's agree we do.

If you're of the small percentage who could easily sell the table, I (and most of America) wish you'd find another country to terrorize.

The more we focus on artistic value the more our relationship to the dollar matures.

See... Wonder Fell may be free to read, but it does have economic value.

Thanks for reading. Turns out writing an Epic takes an Epic amount of effort... Back to it.