An excellent argument for UBI: "Every moment we don’t spend chasing income [...] can feel like an unnecessary distraction."
If we had a proper, liveable UBI, we'd be able to write without feeling like we have to devote every second to it in order to stave off starvation. We'd be able to do all the background research and, y'know, general living that makes a good writer great.
I am a great advocate for UBI...but will not deny I wonder what kind of "struggles" we will write about when income and surviving capitalism aren't part of our lives. Not advocating for struggle in any way, but only musing about what would come after that.
I'd be pretty depressed if that was my reading (and writing) future myself. Even my favorite love stories were contextualized by struggle of some kind. Jane Austen's novels could only exist within the British class system of the time. There are exceptions, but I fear those exceptions would be just as rare in a world of UBI. I'm not saying that's not something to aspire to all the same. I just wonder what would make an art form largely predicated on external struggles as important in a world with UBI. Hopefully, we will find out. More likely, we'll be writing about surviving the end of the world instead.
I think as humans we have evolved to struggle, so if UBI took away existential struggle, we'd still find something else to strive for. UBI wouldn't get rid of sexism or racism, or the challenges faced by disabled or neurodivergent people. It wouldn't take away the class system or socioeconomic issues. Cultural clashes and concomitance would still be here. I think people would still find very rich veins to mine, whether internal or external. If anything, I think the quality of art created would increase, as more people could spend more time honing their skills and taking everything they create up a notch. I'd have written a lot more during my life if I'd not had to scrimp and scrape for every penny (no matter how seemingly middle-class my life looks).
The general public only talk or hear about the sacrifices artists make when it comes to the “and it all paid off” moment. But it mostly sucks! It’s why they’re called sacrifices! And it’s why they say “If you can go without doing it, don’t do it.”
Sadly, most of us can't go without doing it, at least not the ones who were called to it. I honestly think I would've thrown myself off a bridge without writing. It's a terrible alternative for me, but the struggle to balance my art with living is equally real.
I relate to this so much. This is actually a similar kind of question to one I've been asking myself recently too - but luckily, I could just think it over on my own.
So much respect to you for the courage to still answering so honestly at the festival.
I struggle to give insincere answers about art, for better or worse. I constantly worry others are struggling as I might be, and to give them a false answer would be to cheat them out of the existential support they need at that moment. It's great to hear it spoke to you at all, because that confirms I wasn't wrong in giving my real answer.
'Living takes real effort' it really does. Trying to be a good parent while also trying stretch yourself creatively takes a ton of energy.
Yes, yes it does.
An excellent argument for UBI: "Every moment we don’t spend chasing income [...] can feel like an unnecessary distraction."
If we had a proper, liveable UBI, we'd be able to write without feeling like we have to devote every second to it in order to stave off starvation. We'd be able to do all the background research and, y'know, general living that makes a good writer great.
I am a great advocate for UBI...but will not deny I wonder what kind of "struggles" we will write about when income and surviving capitalism aren't part of our lives. Not advocating for struggle in any way, but only musing about what would come after that.
The greatest struggles of all: Understanding ourselves and finding love.
I'd be pretty depressed if that was my reading (and writing) future myself. Even my favorite love stories were contextualized by struggle of some kind. Jane Austen's novels could only exist within the British class system of the time. There are exceptions, but I fear those exceptions would be just as rare in a world of UBI. I'm not saying that's not something to aspire to all the same. I just wonder what would make an art form largely predicated on external struggles as important in a world with UBI. Hopefully, we will find out. More likely, we'll be writing about surviving the end of the world instead.
I think as humans we have evolved to struggle, so if UBI took away existential struggle, we'd still find something else to strive for. UBI wouldn't get rid of sexism or racism, or the challenges faced by disabled or neurodivergent people. It wouldn't take away the class system or socioeconomic issues. Cultural clashes and concomitance would still be here. I think people would still find very rich veins to mine, whether internal or external. If anything, I think the quality of art created would increase, as more people could spend more time honing their skills and taking everything they create up a notch. I'd have written a lot more during my life if I'd not had to scrimp and scrape for every penny (no matter how seemingly middle-class my life looks).
The general public only talk or hear about the sacrifices artists make when it comes to the “and it all paid off” moment. But it mostly sucks! It’s why they’re called sacrifices! And it’s why they say “If you can go without doing it, don’t do it.”
Sadly, most of us can't go without doing it, at least not the ones who were called to it. I honestly think I would've thrown myself off a bridge without writing. It's a terrible alternative for me, but the struggle to balance my art with living is equally real.
It would be nice to give up writing, step outside of my imagination, and just live.
I could never give it up. It's why I exist, I think. But I'd like to be better at balancing writing with living.
I relate to this so much. This is actually a similar kind of question to one I've been asking myself recently too - but luckily, I could just think it over on my own.
So much respect to you for the courage to still answering so honestly at the festival.
I struggle to give insincere answers about art, for better or worse. I constantly worry others are struggling as I might be, and to give them a false answer would be to cheat them out of the existential support they need at that moment. It's great to hear it spoke to you at all, because that confirms I wasn't wrong in giving my real answer.