originally published for nextNC
To me culture means life. Art is life. It feeds the soul. It feeds hope. The greatest movements begin with art. And so I ask, here in 2006, the age of terror, is culture still alive? Way back in 2001 when paranoia reached an all time high, the dominators had free reign. I still feel the ramifications. Scaredy cats steam rolled "liberation" under the guise of protection and artists of every medium have suffered on account. Truthfully if you say "one wrong thing" heads roll, your job is lost, and all those bills go unpayed.

I, however, cannot sit idle. I'm not a leftist or a rightist or any of it. I am a man of heart. I steadfastly believe in my vision of truth, of love, that man need not suffer in a cest pool of greed and corruption. And I don't have some radical plan for change. And I don't hate the current administration. I just live for culture and art and life. I can't help but wonder how long it will take before the rest of the world notices, "Few rise. Most balk." -kEith 2006