Should I be forced to pay money for junk some people call art?

Question

OK .. here's the way it works:
1. Steve learns to weld.
2. Steve would rather be an artist than working in a machine shop
3. Steve obtains some scrap metal and starts welding it together in odd shapes which he declares to be art.
4. Steve can't find anyone who will voluntarily pay for the piles of scrap metal he has welded together.
5. Steve changes his name to Stephano and drops his last name.
6. Still nobody will buy Stephano's art, though there is one Buckhead matron who has taken a rather prurient interest in some of Stephan's other talents.
7. The Buckhead matron allows Stephano to place a pile of scrap metal in her garden and begins to refer to it as a sculpture.
8. Buckhead socialites, after encountering Stephano's "sculpture", and desiring to pander to the matron's artistic tastes, decide that Stephan is being greatly wronged because nobody will pay him for his artistic efforts.

10. A sense of anger builds that we have yet another artist in our midst who simply cannot manage to find a willing buyer in a free market environment.
11. Stephano and his backers become increasingly frustrated with the lack of respect the great unwashed have for his artistic talents.
12. The arts community -- which, by the way, won't buy any of Stephano's art either -- tells Atlanta's political leaders that Atlanta simply cannot survive or be considered a world class international city unless Stephano's "art" is displayed citywide.
13. A plan is hatched to use the police power of the Atlanta city government to fun the purchase of Stephano's piles of junk.
14. The city seizes money from residents and writes some fat checks to Stephano for more artwork.
15. Stephano, no longer needing to service the needs of the Buckhead matron, tells her to find another cabana boy.

16. Atlanta residents wake up one morning wondering when someone is going to come along and remove those piles of scrap metal someone left in their neighborhood overnight.

This scenario, or something very close to it, is playing out in Atlanta right now. A task force appointed by the Mayor has determined that Atlanta needs a cultural investment fund in the amount of at least $10 million that will provide money to artists, arts organizations and what it refers to as "cultural organizations." The suggestion is that there should be a tax on businesses operating in Atlanta to provide the funds. The story in this morning's Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that "Many of those who work in the arts in Atlanta said they hope to see some progress on arts funding soon."

Answer 1

No body should be forced to buy anything, especially with tax dollars. Officials are elected to public offices to serves all who voted for them. No the few who think they know art, the rest of the world don't, and we have to tolerate what ever junk they call art

Answer 2

cool, I'm going to become an artist.
How do I get on the list for funding?
If I can't be an artist, can I be the decider of what art is?

(I have an arc welder in the garage, so I am undoubtedly an expert)

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I think the money would be better spent on cleaning the crime out of the underground.

Answer 3

LOL!

You might ask Chicago, Stephano's cousin tried it there, first. And no, I think trees are universally supported, but 'art' should be donated or absent.

Answer 4

Thats a lot of info. All I have to say is something needs to done in that city, its going to hell. I am not saying this is the right thing to do, but it could be.

Answer 5

Good God. Vote libertarian. Seriously, if you can't find a buyer in a free market, you might want to apply for a job at a grocery store....