To Ronnie Bridgett:
Good day,
I realize that different nations have different traditions governing free speech. However, I would urge that you reconsider your opinion on the licensing of folk music in public houses. In both our nations folk music has provided government a picture of the common perception of important issues, and as the songs in the folk tradition pass into history, our cultures are enriched.
Of late there is a trend towards totalitarian capitalism, where in the free enterprise of our parents day is replaced with a "make profit on everything that moves" trend, which has, in the United States, resulted in irreparable damage to culture from theater, museums to entertainment.
The troubadour tradition, which predates all our traditions of government, has always been a seeding process for culture, classical and popular. In the US, Bob Dylan, for example, was one of the many performers who began his career as a busker. My wife and I visit England and Ireland frequently, and we do, to a great extent, to enjoy the traditional culture of your nation. I have seen how, in Quebec, the licensing of busking led to a decline in folk music, and with the realization of licensing, there is again a flowering of folk performers. England has given the English language world such a great gift in traditional music. I hope you decide to cultivate it, rather than attempting to reap the profit before the crop flourishes. Allow Bob Dylans to flourish, and when they are rich and successful, you will do much better to tax them at that point, not when they are struggling in the pub... Now I realize you will point out the tax is against the pub, but the decline of available venues is a tax on the performer.
All the best, and respectfully yours
Larry and Genie Otway, New York City