Uncategorized | June 30, 2004

I hate election years! Now don’t misunderstand, I don’t hate elections per se, after all we should have the ability to choose who will be acting on our behalf in the government. No what I find distasteful is that our ability to have an open exchange of ideas, stories and thought seems, at least to me, to be lessened during election years. We seem to be losing the ability to accept that it is alright for someone else to disagree with our ideas and still like or respect that person.

In many families there may exist an unspoken agreement that politics shall not be an issue of discussion at the dinner table for fear of the possible harm to family relationships that might result. There are some things that are just not discussed in some venues.

But what should be the relationship between art and politics? In my own opinion political comment in stories, essays and poetry are fine but does there come a time or place where a “line in the sand” is crossed? A line where we are moved from a form of art to a political rant against current or previous government administrations.

Have you ever read a work of fiction, a poem or an essay that contained political thought that greatly opposed your own personal views or values? If so, how did the politics of the piece affect your own view of the work as a piece of art?