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Excerpts from internet.cypherpunks: 8-Mar-96 Re: U.S. State Dept critici.. by JFA T. QC, Canada@citene
There is no such thing as "self-censorship". Either you stick to your values, and then it is *not* censorship, or then you do not, and then, it is neither.
Self-censorship does happen, and it's a growing problem in the arts community. (I'm not a commercial artist, so this is my understanding from other panelists and speakers at a conference I spoke at last month.)
Making art more palatable or less "extreme" to curry favor with corporate patrons, or to get that NEA grant, or to get that faculty position is self-censorship, and it does happen.
No, it does not. Making art more palatable is simply the process of free trade between two uncoerced entities. If the artist does not offer what the corporate purchaser wants he will not sell. He thus adapt his style out to his customer. Nobody is threatening to use force to have the artist conform to the client. Nobody is forcing the client to buy what he does not like. The artist does not have to compromise, he simply have to refuse the contract. Anybody using the term "censorship" to describe that is in the following situation : he *wants* the advantages of the contract (money) without respecting the customer, therefore. He deplores the fact that somebody (the customer) can act to his best judgment. The fact that the artist calls that censorship shows that he have the same thought process as the true censorers, i.e. the conviction that the end justify the means, and more specifically, the feeling that *his* ends justify *any* means. The artist may not act on his feelings but nevertheless, they are, in essence, of this nature. And unfortunately, too many artists think that way. JFA Accepting a grant is accepting stolen money. The collectivists and their free-lunchers be DAMNED! Restore an objective monetary standard such as gold! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2i iQEVAwUBMUDVbsiycyXFit0NAQHG0gf+P1rmX5xQiRo5sHpvYBlvvclVdGxJaJ6c E+n35ln3/FFMGiguk5TEr6tOG+vj6UNBW2VibggQ9HkMkQ+6yTeJRrWQVje+YxxY pygYrY6wfDB8F9aemkVIiypZqvo+UrG+IZwKSsuqZuFmyxu5VsnAzFB/NQS6z/fq WPnm23t51kj2d6e+1PDVJRmv1Gpjaj34xt9YIif7S7fXdMI8vRbopRkoFfbXcFsE +I+fzeIPINXde44duW/tUmVbPZcrwxNgL0xo7AZ3fwzYGqOw2cR3zNFH9iPWs6O5 iV+fNIx2f1sKl1MbkydEHtPVctLT3cqX0Bvi5f0k6XKdzmCMGSOr9g== =qWzV -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- Public Key at http://w3.citenet.net/users/jf_avon Jean-Francois Avon <jf_avon@citenet.net> 2048 bits key ID:C58ADD0D 1996/03/01 fingerprint=52 96 45 E8 20 5A 8A 5E F8 7C C8 6F AE FE F8 91