Just a portion of the sculptures Downtown -- there until the thaw
Winners: Jeff Shawhan, left, 2nd Place;and Fred Gardner, center, 1st and Sculptors' Choice
His 19 co-competitors -- with many state and regional carving champions among them -- voted his "Blind Date" carving, right, the Sculptors' Prize. It carried only $100 with it, but much prestige for the long-time carver (and a champion himself, see our earlier story).As if that wasn't enough, Gardner, a retired engineer from Caledonia, IL, also won the People's Choice vote conducted among visitors to the Monument Square display. This prize carried a heftier $500 check. His winning sculpture was entitled "Blind Date," a lovable troll with a bouquet of flowers (and a pig, for dinner) in his backpack. "It's big and bold," Gardner said, "something people enjoy." The pig, he added, clearly makes the event "a dinner date."
The vote for second prize turned out to be a tie, so DRC came up with two awards: One went to Jeff Shawhan of Racine, last year's lone snowcarver in Monument Square. , and last year's Chicago and Wisconsin state champion. He won for "Feed me, Seymour."
The other second prize went to Jeff Olson for his "Kiss" sculpture, a re-creation of the iconic end-of-World-War-II Times Square smooch. Both second prize winners received checks for $400 from Devin Sutherland, DRC executive director.
Jeff Olson's 'Kiss' becomes the backdrop for a couple's photo
Jeff Shawhan's 'Feed me, Seymour'
What a wonderful event and what talent. This certainly brought smiles to people's faces. Another fun, "free" activity for Racine residents!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope that it brought (and will continue to bring) customers plus cash to our downtown merchants. After all, that was the point of the event.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'd like to know how much this event cost and who paid for it. (Although this is NOT an attack on art and artists, there's something bizarre about such an event in a town with an obscenely high unemployment rate and a minority infant mortality rate worse than similar rates in some Third World countries.)
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my Iowan relatives about this crazy thing, they didn't believe me. Since Racine is notorious out there as a poverty pit and a gang mecca, they were sure I was joking.
ReplyDeleteEven so, it would be great if the snow sculptures could attract visitors who'd drop dollars in our moribund "Lakeside Business District."
ReplyDeleteYou posters are so sad. There is absolutely nothing that will please you. You complain about Racine, gangs etc. and when there is a fun, free event you find a way was distroying it also. It's no wonder that people outside of Racine have ill feelings about Racine - all they have to do is read your fuel for negativity.
ReplyDeleteWhat will please us is government social programs which will lift our people out of poverty. Until we get those programs, we don't need coy snow sculptures and other non-essentials. To people who have to worry about rent, utility bills and groceries, money blown on snow sculptures is money thrown out the window. For our elderly--who are being taxed out of their homes--this nonsense is an obscenity. We know which powerful people want these frills while neglecting our basic needs. After we've elected a common man's government, common sense--and confiscatory taxes on dollar-sign dynasties' fortunes--will prevail.
ReplyDelete8:45 - So sad, sad, sad - so what are you doing specifically to help these individuals? I volunteer monthly to help those in need and I also enjoy such events at the same time. Let's here what you do rather than whine, whine, whine. I know you do nothing because I have asked you this before and you had nothing to respond.
ReplyDeleteMost of us (who can barely survive in this toadpit town) want to find out who fomented and funded such a farce. If it had been held to benefit the Food Bank or HALO, there might have been some justification for it. As it is, it's only a sick joke or a slap in the face to our impoverished majority. (Reputedly, Queen Marie Antoinette doted on ice sculptures while the French peasants froze. We all know what a Revolutionary tribunal and the guillotine did to that coldhearted dame in 1793.)
ReplyDeleteWe need social programs, jobs which pay a living wage and other practical help here in Racine. Snow sculptures--however charming they may be--don't aid anyone except the arty oligarchs and six-figure lackeys in the adjacent corporate ego monument.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - lighten up for a change. You say the same thing day after day after day. Come up with some original comments or get the hell of this site. Just because you are depressed is no reason to try and bring the rest of us down. You won't succeed with me because my life is great and I would not change a thing. As a matter of fact, I'm going to buy myself a new car for the holidays. I just can't decide on a Mercedes, Lexus or an Audi.
ReplyDeleteI'm not your Mister Angry. Nonetheless, I'd advise you to enjoy your pricey toys while they and your ownership of them remain legal. It's very clear that the corporate class hasn't a clue about the misery which it and its capitalist system inflict on the rest of humanity.
ReplyDeleteWhile this stuff is fun for some, we don't need it during a depression. It's just another slap in the face for anyone who can scarcely survive in our callous community.
ReplyDeleteNeeded: extra-steep taxes for the top five percent NOW.
ReplyDeleteWe need a flat tax - let's not penalize those that have made something of themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the idea that the rich make something of themselves? All they do is make the rest of the people miserable for their own selfish fun and profit. I know lots of people who've played by the rules, earned degrees, won awards in their fields of endeavor, worked hard--and received zippo for their efforts. I also know some lucky cruds who've inherited a bundle, do drugs, loaf, sire out-of-wedlock offspring and laugh at the toilers who've been ground into the muck for their benefit.
ReplyDeleteIf the truth were told, the only thing the rich make is TROUBLE. They and their obscene fortunes must be reduced to size. Unfortunately, since the sole entity capable of shrinking and regulating them is big government, that's what we'll have to use to teach them that they aren't God.
ReplyDeleteOnce we build an equitable socio-economic system and knock the elitism and snobbery out of the art world, art will be just fine. You'd be amazed at how many ordinary Western Europeans like art and how well the regimes over there support the arts and artists.
ReplyDeleteIn the interim, we know who wants art in Racine and why they promote it--status plus PR and tax deductions. Getting back to our snow sculptures, let's rejoice if they lure a few customers and greenbacks into our downtown stores. Our merchants and their businesses require all the help they can get. Also, bright blessings and best wishes to all the artists!
ReplyDeleteLong live elitism and snobbery. you guys are pathetic!
ReplyDeleteYou wouldn't like snobbery if you knew the origins of the word. Originally, "snob" was an insulting abbreviation written next to the names of rich but coarse or common students at Oxford and Cambridge. It signified "sine nobilitate," which meant "lacking nobility."
ReplyDeleteAnd i thought it was just a bit of winter time fun.
ReplyDeleteEtymology lessons aside, snobbery is a nasty thing which offends the snob's victims while corrupting him to the core. The same applies to elitism, which does nobody any good. Whether we like it or not, America is entering a populist and anti-elitist era. During the next few years, resentment against the rich may make life interesting for elitist snobs. (Way back in Andrew Jackson's days, the common ordinary American white man enjoyed such a pleasant--for him--time called the "Era of Good Feeling." During that period, he snubbed the snobs, routinely crashed White House parties and punched foreign Poobahs. European aristocrats visited our land at their peril because Jacksonian Joe Average would tell them exactly what he thought of them, their titles and their pretensions. Even Jane Average would give genteel, usually-British guests a piece of her mind.)
ReplyDeleteI love it - I have it, you don't and you are jealous. Give up on the history lessons - they are boring and irrelevant. Live for today !
ReplyDeleteDear 11:04 AM, If it weren't for the current depression and two utterly-unnecessary foreign wars, this event would be good wintertime fun. However, when so many Racine residents are suffering from poverty with no relief in sight, snow sculpture contests are ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the Kiss. Great event.
ReplyDeleteDear 11:26 AM, Live for today, if you must--but don't forget to plan for tomorrow. Assuming that the past is any guide to future events, we're on the verge of a populist, anti-elitist era which will eclipse anything Andrew Jackson's fans ever imagined. The common man has had it with smarmy corporate criminals and their bought-and-paid-for crooks in the current regime. There've been cushy deals and bailouts for everyone but the common man and he's tired of the sick, slick status quo. Have fun with your toys while you may. Pretty soon the fellows who were forced to work too hard for too little will elect men who'll lock up the bourgeois toy shop and throw the key away.
ReplyDeleteReturning to the snow sculptures, it's too bad our artists didn't work in a more durable medium. Seeing cleverly-crafted statues melt into piles of glop is a sad sight.
ReplyDelete12:55 - not to worry, I've got myself well covered for the future as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I love the Racine Post. There are even Snow Sculpture haters. lol.
ReplyDeleteNobody I know hates snow sculptures. What most of my friends despise is the elitist mentality of civic and corporate leaders who can find cash for non-essentials but can't help our ordinary citizens. We all know which clans and classes prefer genteel art to gentle hearts. After we elect a people's government, the taxmen will teach the Waxmen respect for the common man.
ReplyDeleteSnow Sculptures are politically incorrect - Ha!
ReplyDeleteWhen many of our citizens are going without the basics, snow sculptures ARE out of line. At the risk of repeating another person's comment, we know who wants this stuff here and why the privileged class promotes it--prestige and PR. However, after we've elected officials who care about our needs instead of richmen's desire for high-status eye candy, we'll tax the class responsible for such follies.
ReplyDeleteIn themselves, snow sculptures aren't bad. The trouble starts when the corporate elite's love of nonsense over rules common sense. (All of us know which corporate crime clan wanted the BUS and its low-income riders out of Moneymutt Square. Someday, once we've installed a people's government, mass transit and the folks who use it will return to the center of town. If the Bugspray Bank Baroness, her cash-cadging kin and her Cornell flunkeys would rather look at art than the people they've exploited, too bad. The square and our streets are public places. Let the loot lady and her tribe take their art out to "Whitebread" and enjoy it there.)
ReplyDeleteThen future batches of snow sculptures can adorn Miz Moolah's fragment of the Berlin Wall or go over to her Mom's faux prairie to amuse the fiber glass cow.
ReplyDeleteDon't forget Dr. Risk and Mr. Hurt-Us. I'm sure they'd like snow sculptures too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm certain that the big-buck boys and girls at Precious Airy Academy will appreciate snow sculptures.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, as long as Racine ranks as a poverty pit, snow sculptures and other art projects are a silly waste of time and money. With a double-digit unemployment rate and one of America's worst infant mortality rates, Racine has no business playing with art.
ReplyDeleteWe love that eye candy - too bad for you losers, these type of events will continue, so crawl back into your depressing hole.
ReplyDeleteHistory will decide who wins and who loses. Right now, with anti-elitist sentiment on the verge of sweeping nonsense out of our impoverished country, the common man with common sense could emerge victorious. Public art projects (which pander to the oligarchy and its bourgeois admirers) don't have to be here. Candidly speaking, most victims of capitalism wonder why plutocrats are so ga-ga over flubdubs while the rest of us worry about utility bills, property taxes or rent, letters from UNIT and other woes.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - don't you get tired of these words - oligarchy, bourgeois admirers, plutocrats and anti-elitist? We certainly are - come up with some new material or please move on.
ReplyDeleteWow
ReplyDeleteA free event that did not come from any public money, and they can complain. Enjoy life and for those few get out of your mom's basement and get a life!!!
TRUTH is more important than originality.
ReplyDeleteDear 12:26 PM. Assuming that you're addressing me, my place doesn't possess a cellar and my Mom passed away long ago. Now as to the snow sculptures, they're not intrinsically bad. What's wrong here in Racine is the elite's fixation on art to the detriment of philanthropy.
ReplyDeleteIf we had a law requiring patrons of the arts to match every dollar blown on their hobby with a dollar donated to charity, the elite's craving for eye candy wouldn't be a total moral disaster.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - Truth is one word and verbiage you never use.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm not Mr Angry and I don't agree with many of his comments, I have to give him credit for sincerity. Like quite a few reformers and peaceful revolutionaries, Mr. Angry tells the truth as he sees it. In addition, his historical information has been accurate. All in all, to the best of his ability, Mr. Angry has been honest and truthful.
ReplyDeleteThat's more than most of us can say for and about the corporate class.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, what's that yellow crime scene tape doing near the snow sculptures?
ReplyDeleteThe tape is up to create a barrier which protects the sculptures, as well as the viewers. Nothing more nothing less. I'm amazed at the ability and ignorance of those who take something that has been so overwhemly enjoyable for everyone and turn it into class warfair and political injustice. Please move on and keep your negativity and ugliness to yourself. No one in the world can make you happy except yourself so, this should be your starting point.
ReplyDeleteThe negativity and ugliness are in the minds of our oppressors, who dote on art while gloating over our misery.
ReplyDeleteYou really need some help. It is certainly calming to realize that the oppressed faction that you are, make up only a miniscue fraction of our society. Go out and do something constructive or creative, and stop obsessing with what others have and have not. It must truely bother you that outside of this minor blog most people believe you to be the lunatic fringe or conspericey wacko with no redeming value to society. Best of luck to you on that whole elitist, oligrarchy and classwarfare bs.
ReplyDeleteDear 10:54 PM, You'd be astonished if you knew how many people feel oppressed and marginalized. There are many more of them than a privileged person would care to think. (Right before the French Revolution erupted in 1789, Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI felt that everything would be fine for them because most of their subjects loved them. Later on, in 1910, the Mexican dictator Porfirio Diaz maintained that his regime would last forever due to widespread support for his policies. By the end of that year, Diaz' government was out of office thanks to the Mexican Revolution. The examples of oligarchic regimes and rulers incapable of seeing the proverbial handwriting on the wall are well-nigh endless.)
ReplyDeleteWhether or not the rich like it, America is perilously close to a class war. (Pray that the coming conflict may occur in the noisy but peaceful political arena only.)
ReplyDeleteGetting back to snow sculptures and other ephemeral non-essentials, most of the people I know would rather have practical help than access to public art. A bigger, better fuel assistance program would trump snow sculptures any day.
ReplyDeleteThe same is true of a certain art museum-cum-tax shelter. To ordinary citizens (who've never visited the establishment and have no plans to do so), the place is a gigantic farce. I have friends who call it RAT--Really Atrocious Trash. For people who need the basics, art and the elite's obsession with pretty objects are incomprehensible. (None of the above should be taken as an attack on the good people who work at that museum. By and large, they sincerely believe that they're contributing to society. The problem stems from the way our socio-economic system is rigidly divided into haves and have-nots who neither like nor understand each other. To the arty eliteniks, the non-arty poor are lazy bums or mental cases in need of meds. Conversely, to the non-arty poor, the arty eliteniks are a pack of hardhearted twits who worship the pretty toys which their excessive wealth has enabled them to acquire.)
ReplyDeleteIn such a climate, civil language and civilized respect for the opinions of others fly out the window while acrimony holds sway.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, the socio-economic problems continue to grow exponentially. Contemporary America reminds me of an apparently-dormant super-volcano. Although the volcano seems tranquil, in actuality, it's preparing for a major eruption. (Oddly enough, our land has such a super-volcano smack dab under Yellowstone National Park. The last time it blew its lid, it sent debris and dust as far away as the Midwest.) Like a peaceful-looking old volcano, our socio-economic system could explode and, possibly, self-destruct.
ReplyDeleteReturning to our oligarchy's appetite for eye candy, that trait is all-too-characteristic of elites which are headed for history's landfill. Right before the Revolution of 1789, France's uppercrust and bourgeoisie blew fortunes on must-have paintings and decorative objects. During the years leading up to the Revolution of 1910, Mexico's solvent classes splurged on European art and built lavish museums to display their acquisitions. And, of course, everyone with surplus rubles in late Czarist Russia purchased the exquisite creations of Faberge and his numerous competitors. Although art in and of itself isn't bad, excesessive artiness on the part of a ruling class is a sure sign that its members are destined for decadence, defeat and destruction.
ReplyDeleteA prime example would be late-seventeenth century Spain and its art-obsessed oligarchy. Both the royal court in Madrid and the grandees' households throughout the realm and the colonies grooved on art. Murillo, Valdes-Leal, Antolines and Escalante as well as their epigones made out like bandits. Even women (e.g. Josefa de Ayala and Luisa Roldan/La Roldana) painted and sculpted commercially to cash in on the art boom.At Spanish colonial Mexico's viceregal court, a nun (Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz) ground out baroque poetry and plays for fun and profit. But while the elite played with art and supported artists galore, the common people starved. Though serious money flew out the window to compensate women sculptors, the king (Carlos II) couldn't pay his troops. When His Majesty died in 1700, Spain collapsed in chaos. Between 1701 and 1713, many other nations were dragged into the mess known as the War of the Spanish Succession. After the dust cleared, Spain had a French ruler (Philippe V/ Felipe V), a French royal dynasty (the Bourbons), a bureaucracy staffed with Frenchmen and Italians, a weak economy dominated by foreigners and next to zero clout as a world power. Pretty soon, Spain's colonies--which were often governed by French or Italian-descended viceroys--became increasingly difficult to control. By the early eighteen-hundreds, they were ripe for revolution and independence from Spain. Although art as such doesn't destroy empires and their elites, too much interest in it can distract the rulers from their duties and responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteAs a Downtown Business owner, and lifelong Racine resident.. I really enjoyed this sculpture event.. even if they did melt a few days later..
ReplyDeleteAs far as art being unnecessary during times of strife.. seriously?. some of the greatest art was produced during really hard times in human history. Art is human emotion, and without emotion and positive outlets, times of strife become really scary!
Thanks for covering this story.
Dear 2:50 PM, Although art in and of itself isn't evil, it can distract its devotees from their duties to humanity in general and the less-fortunate in particular. A good example of an art-obsessed aristocracy's neglect of its obligations to the poor is the Chinese Ming Dynasty's fixation on exquisite porcelain while the peasants starved and the Manchurians invaded the realm. Any time a ruling class grows too interested in art and aesthetics, the well-being of the rank-and-file suffers.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opinion based history lesson . Try to sell that on wikipedia. The truth is art was not the cause of the collapse of these cultures. Poor economic desicions were to blame. Please look into the WPA projects and see how art was used to lift our country out of the depression. Much closer to home and more relevant than 16th century Spain. Please stop spueing your hate for art and get a life and enjoy it for a time!
ReplyDeleteIn its proper place, art can be great. However, when an oligarchy values aesthetics more than ethics, that ruling class and its victims are headed for trouble galore. Because an arty Song/Sung Dynasty Chinese emperor loved toe-dancing concubines and enjoyed watching them totter around his palace, generations of Chinese women wound up with bound and crippled feet. Have fun with art if you must, but NEVER let it trump morality and ethics.
ReplyDeleteJesus Christ Mr. Angry give this f...ing thing up. You are a loser, this was a fun event - end of story. Keep all your f...ing history or supposed history to yourself - no one gives a rip what you have to say over and over and over - and over again -oligarchy. say this once more and it's going to make me puke! You unhappy SOB.
ReplyDeleteNo, I am NOT Mr. Angry. Believe it or not, there are lots of irate men in this sorry city who've had it with an arty elite and its warped priorities. Once we elect non-arty public officials, the Cornell carpetbaggers and their moolah masters will learn respect for the common man.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - you are sad, sad, sad. I am done with you. You are dismissed.
ReplyDeleteHistory will decide whether or not Mr. Angry, as you call him, is dismissed.
ReplyDeleteThank god for some common sense! Enough with mr angry and mr semi-angry! Live in the now!
ReplyDeleteSomehow we have to get the two depressing Mr. Angr's off tghis site and have positive constructive comments. We all know they are not happy, will never be happy and those things they appose too will "never" happen except in their own mind. The two of them need psychiatric help which apparently they refused to get. Maybe the best thing would be to just ignore their comments - then hopefully we won't need to read the same thing over and over.
ReplyDeleteI know I should have taken that keyboard class.
ReplyDeleteDear 9:01 AM, When will you wake up and realize that there aren't just two fellows whom you call "Mr. Angry"? Sad to say, this evil little company town is full of irate men who despise the corrupt corporate elite, hate capitalism and are prepared to build a socialist America through legal, political and non-violent methods only. (Be glad that they aren't like other would-be revolutionaries who follow a different ethical code.)
ReplyDeleteNow that Porter's of Racine is closing, our civic Poobahs should realize that the Dumbbell City has major problems which snow sculpture contests and other big-buck ballyhoo can't solve. (Although I don't know who Mister Angry is--or even if there is a Mister Angry--his insights anent this town's tribulations are right on target. Get real, folks. Racine is dying by inches while the billionaires gloat and buy up property cheap, cheap, cheap!)
ReplyDelete12:50 - no you are the one that is cheap, cheap, cheap!
ReplyDeleteNope, we're poor because somebody exploited us. Since we're poor, we have to be thrifty. However, the billionaire skinflints who grind us into the muck for a few extra pennies while dodging their property taxes deserve to be called cheapskates.
ReplyDelete3:18 - if you are poor, it's because you want to be. No one has to be poor if they are willing to do something about it. Take responsibility for your own life and quit blaming others.
ReplyDeleteBlaming the poor for their poverty is an obscenity. Since capitalism is designed to impoverish everyone except the elite, no one who fails here in capitalist AmeriKKK should be held responsible for his plight.
ReplyDeleteOnly those who wield power possess responsibility. In this evil system, money equals power. Therefore those who lack money lack responsibility and must not be blamed for their unfortunate lot in life.
ReplyDeleteSomeday, when we elect progressive public officials, the kleptoplutocrats will be tried for their crimes against humanity. If the corporate cruds are convicted, the people's government will incarcerate them after seizing their assets.
ReplyDeleteDear 12/28/2009 8:41 AM, I'm glad that you mentioned the WPA, which kept plenty of artists constructively occupied and gainfully employed. By and large, the WPA art projects were worthwhile. However, the goal of the WPA was helping unemployed Americans survive. Although art was involved, the WPA didn't promote art for art's sake. By contrast, the corrupt regime of seventeenth century Spain's King Carlos II DID value art above everything except the Catholic religion. During his calamitous reign, Carlos II blew fortunes on the works of obscure female sculptors (eg. Luisa Roldan). Sad to say, although he could remunerate the artists, His Majesty couldn't--or wouldn't--pay his soldiers. The result was a major multi-national conflict called the War of the Spanish Succession and the end of Spain as a world power.
ReplyDeleteConsidering their arty-tarty mentality and high degree of degeneracy, I'd give our aesthetically-obsessed oligarchs another twenty years of power--at most. Anyone who thinks that our long-suffering poor and working class citizens won't elect populist public officials is living in La-La Land. As more of our lower- middle class people slide down from penury into poverty, they'll dump the much-vaunted American dream in the cosmic commode and start voting for reformers instead of conservatives and libertarians. Memo to the big-buck buccaneers: The age of legalized private sector privateering is ending. Soon the prancing and preening corporate pirates will be made to relinquish the bulk of their ill-gotten booty. If the free enterprise freebooters wish to retain their art objects and other pricey toys, they'd be wise to enjoy them discreetly while voluntarily sharing their wealth with their victims.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry no gives a f$$$ what you have to say. It's the same damn thing every time - we don't like you or what you have to say - you are just a cheap, depressed loser. Get the hell of this site.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Arrogance, Although I am not Mr. Angry, I find your verbal abuse of this unfortunate person offensive and gratuitously mean. If you don't like Mr. Angry's comments, please ignore them instead of indulging in invective which no decent man would inflict on a stray dog. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry is no better than a stray dog.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Arrogant, Despite your low opinion of him, Mr. Angry is a human being. Please treat him with the dignity and respect which you'd like to receive from others. Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry deserves no respect - he is a depressed, sad old mut who is down on everthing..
ReplyDeleteWho are you to decide if a person does (or doesn't) deserve respect? Calling a man a "mutt" doesn't solve any problems. Please be more considerate and compassionate toward your fellow-man. Thank you very much.
ReplyDelete5:15 - not a chance when it comes to this negative, depressed individual who trys to damage anything good in Racine. He is so sad - he's never seen anything good in his live. People like this are muts and should get off this site and get out of this town if they are soooo unhappy!
ReplyDeleteFor the poor, the course of action which you recommend to Mr. Angry is extremely difficult. Depressed low-income people often believe that their current environment, however unpleasant it may be, beats any new, unfamiliar place. By and large, less-fortunate folks tend to be risk-aversive and stick with locales which they know. Please understand this and stop needling him. (With your privileged position in this system, you should be able to find other, better things to do than tormenting one of capitalism's victims.) Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteIf Mr. Angry didn't keep spewing his negativity daily, there would no reason to address his sad, depressing comments on all of us. Furthermore how do you know he is poor. He just needs anti-depressents rich or poor.
ReplyDeleteI know that he's poor because a month ago or so he said that he was a low-income person. (Since I don't know who Mr. Angry really is, I can't verify the accuracy of his statement.) Please show some compassion toward Mr. Angry and the rest of our system's rejects. Be glad that he vents his rage verbally instead of finding violent ways to eliminate those whom he views as his oppressors.Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteGetting back to the subject of art, although art has its place, that place isn't Racine--the poverty capital of the Badger State. Out of respect for our poor citizens, let's skip the community art project this year. With a depression and two foreign wars, we don't need anymore Wax-ladies' whims and caprices. If the Carnauba queens and their Cornell court want to do something constructive, they can stop foreclosing on poor residents' homes, cease exploiting cheap temp labor and ramp up their charity work.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm not sure as to Mr. Angry's identity (and I can't tell you whether or not there actually is a Mr. Angry out there), he knows all-too-well what's wrong with Racine. Like the rest of the country, Racine suffers from serious maldistribution of assets and resources. Here in Racine, a few ultra-wealthy families and their equally-avaricious emulators hog the loot and deny the rest of us a chance to live in comfort and dignity. We're fed up with a system which rewards greed while punishing most of us for being poor. Whoever he may be, Mr. Angry speaks for the marginalized majority. For everyone's sake, the rich should listen to him and give the rest of us a break instead of breaking our spirits.
ReplyDeleteRegarding art and heart, they're like two buckets in an oldfashioned well. Whenever one rises, the other one falls. By and large, societies misgoverned by arty elitists neglect the basic needs of rank-and-file people while splurging on what Mister Angry calls eye candy. Conversely, societies ruled by people who value social justice aren't all that interested in aesthetics while providing ordinary folks with the necessities. Right now, an out-of-control corporate oligarchy and its epigones worship art to the detriment of the less-solvent classes. Unless our elitists start caring about the disenfranchised populace, the common man will find ways and means of curing their art addiction. Let's hope that the working Joe may use non-violent methods only.
ReplyDeleteKept in a secondary place and subordinated to ethics, art can be good. However, when art becomes what it is in America--a richman's toy which the elite cherishes at the expense of the suffering poor-- art (and addiction to it) can cause serious problems.
ReplyDelete11:13 - you are Mr. Angry. And as far as Racine I'm not going to take a miserable attitude as Mr. Angry - my life is great and I'm looking forward to 2010. Enjoy life to its fullest.
ReplyDeleteNo, I'm not Mr. Angry. For your information, there are scads of people in Racine who are fed up with our ruling class and its warped priorities. If you think that there's only one irate man who denounces the elite's corrupt aestheticism, you're very much in error.
ReplyDeleteEven so, enjoy your privileges and goodies. Sooner than the elite may care to think, a common man's government will close the bourgeois carnival and help the ordinary citizen for a change. Outrage over the bank bailouts will lead to the election of populist public officials who'll enact wealth cap and taxation legislation beyond the plutocracy's worst nightmares.
ReplyDeleteIf you remember back a few weeks ago, I said there were two Mr. Angry's and you two boys did not let me down. The rich will always prevail because you down trodden will never do anything to improve your life. And don't come back with that B.S. history crap.
ReplyDeleteWhether you like it or not, history will decide who wins and who loses. If you look at the rest of the developed post-industrial world, you'll see that history isn't on the side of unfettered capitalism. The age of the robber barons and entrepreneurial criminals is coming to a well-deserved end.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Mr. Arrogant, I'm not Mr. Angry. Indeed, I don't know his true identity. However, I can reassure you that this sorry city is loaded with angry men who work day and night for the destruction of the corrupt corporate system which brought our people the current economic crisis. Rejoice that the reformers and progressives in my group eschew violent methods.
ReplyDelete8:52 - Yor are Mr. Angry number 2, so give it up. You live in the past I'll live in the present and future. I will continue to live life to its fullest - You can be down, sad, depressed and not take responsibility for your life because as you know - it's much easier to blame someone else than to take responsibility of yourself.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Arrogant, Please save the self-reliance spiel for your right-wing cronies. The ordinary people of Racine are fed up with Emersonian exhortations and Transcendentalist trash. They want practical help and they want it now.
ReplyDeleteI kind of like that name Mr. Arrogant, Thanks. Once again and lastly don't put the blame on others. People need to take responsibility for their own lives.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Arrogant, Responsibility and power are inseperably linked. Since the poor possess very little power (i.e. money), telling them to take responsibility for their lives is ridiculous. Blaming victims of capitalism for their plight won't solve any problems. Until our system gives every citizen a cradle-to-grave social safety net,hectoring people will remain counterproductive.
ReplyDeleteEmerson and his misguided message have been dead for more than a century. The age of individualism is over. Collective problems require collective solutions, not Victorian lectures on self-reliance.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Arrogant, If you derive pleasure from bullying the less-fortunate, move to the Third World where your class may continue to abuse the poor for the next thirty years. However, please stop taunting the American toiler. Sooner than you and your peers may care to think, our common men will elect populist officials who'll pass laws which entrepreneurs and other elitists won't like. (On second thought, you may be wiser to cease tormenting ANY workers. Even Third World wage-slaves can wise up and rise up against their oppressors. Since Third World cultures are infamous for the low value which they place on human life, their revolutions will be more revolting than our homegrown transitions of power.)
ReplyDeleteBlah blah oligarchy blah blah elitism, for Christ sake get off your dead complaining a$& and get a job. I have three of them and have nver had a paid vaction in my life. Everything i have comes from my hard work. I had only .65 in my pocket at one time. I bought a candy bar and that was dinner for a whole week. So I don't want to hear about your cell phone toting poor in line to get the next hand out or 16 th century monarchies. If you were so concerned about those who are truely in need, sell that computer of yours and give your money to them, practice what you preach! I donate a considerable amount of my money each year to area food pantries. Put up or shut up!
ReplyDeleteIf you're addressing me, I'd like you to know that I give whatever I can to our Food Bank. As for your lack of paid vacations, that makes you worse off than every Danish toiler who receives five to six weeks of paid vacation each year.(Believe it or not, some Dutch workers get up to eight weeks of paid vacation per annum.) Anyone who's had to hold three jobs without any paid vacation deserves a better deal. Right now, I don't know any Western Europeans who'd put up with that abuse.
ReplyDeleteWell then Mr. Angry get out of the U.S. if you think it is so great elsewhere.
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