Amos,

You gave examples of private endowment. (In the history of art this has always compared favorably to public funding in result).

It would be foolish to contend that NO good works have ever been publicly financed. That's not even my point.

My point is two-fold (basically). 1. You cannot FAIRLY fund the arts with public money--you aren't even aware of the myriad unfunded artists that get stomped by having their tax money taken to redistribute to "deserving" artists, while going un-recognized. The government has become one hell of a good advertising agency for the endowed--You do realize that THAT TOO IS MORE AKIN TO CENSORSHIP than is this equal non-funding I would like to see?

2. Not funding something is not the same as censorship.

JH