A Stitch in Haste

One of the few areas in which I am about as radical a libertarian as possible is when it comes to taxpayer subsidization of the arts. I am, to be succinct, unswervingly against it in any and all forms. Art is simply not a public good. The supposed positive externalities the arts provide are counterintuitive, hypothetical and minuscule at best. The bureaucratic apparatuses that administer arts funding provide some of the most obnoxious examples of the Politics of Pull imaginable. The reason there are so many "starving artists" is, quite frankly, because most artists suck.

On the other hand, at least we're not as bad as Australia:

Circus Monoxide, the grant-funded tumbling troupe that by last year had drained $653,349 in clown taxes from the Australian public (who were then asked to pay up to $30 each to see a show they’d already financed) is heading towards the $1 million mark.

This is not some "haute couture" Cirque du Soleil sort of troupe -- that would be bad enough. This is a run-of-the-mill circus: trapeze artists, gymnasts, clowns, people catapulted around, etc. Strictly entertainment, not at all "art."

And they've received almost a million dollars of Australian taxpayer money over the years.

If the government gave me a million dollars, I bet I could put together a pretty good circus. I already have the performing dog (and, some might argue, the clown).

Even Circus Monoxide admits it can't make an honest go at it:

Circus Monoxide would like to acknowledge and thank all our generous sponsors and supporters without whom our company would not survive.

Enough said.