Day Eleven of My 500 Words
My 500 Words - Day 11: Persuade me...
The challenge for day eleven of #My500Words is to use writing to persuade. To attempt to bring someone around to your way of thinking using your words.
This is a tricky one for me because the whole point of this challenge is to write freely, without stopping to check spelling, grammar etc. However, I am not the kind of person to heatedly give my opinion without good consideration of the arguments from both sides. It's not in my nature. Well, that and having spent so much time in academia over the years and some time working as an analytical chemist, I find it difficult to make claims without having evidence to back them up. Ask me what I think about something and I could express my opinionated waffle until the cows came home, but put me on the spot and ask me to argue from a position of ignorance and I am instantly uneasy, elusive and evasive. I like to, at least, think things through. I have been told that I think too much, but I am wholly convinced that much of the world thinks too little.
So with the usual disclaimer that the point of these daily challenges is to write freely and to flow creatively without self censure, without pausing to check grammar, spelling or punctuation. So there may be horrific examples of both.
Taking inspiration from a post on Facebook that I saw yesterday on why the arts are important...
We don't need the arts taught in school. There is no value in that, surely. Why waste time and get into huge debt to the student loans company in studying art? How many rich painters have you heard of? (who are actually still alive). How many millionaire poets can you name? What on earth is the point of drama? Acting is a hobby, not a real job. Technology! Isn't that where the money is? Almost everyone has heard of Steve Jobs. The Elon Musks of the world are billionaires and are working hard to make the world a better place. You will never get a job with a GCSE in film studies. You will never cure cancer, create a mobile app or save the large organisation, you will undoubtedly end up working for, money. If you study the arts and humanities, you are a burden on the society that will be forced to compensate you with welfare for your bad life choices, a misfit, an outsider, a flake, a wanderer...
So, it's Monday, a bright morning in the world in which sense has prevailed. No more time and money wasted on pointless and frivolous, arty farty courses. No more pandering to the creatives. That stupid waste of time and money has been dispensed with. People are sensible now. They take sensible degrees like Business Management, Computer Science, Engineering or Medicine.
It's difficult to discern the boxes of cereal in the cupboard. They are all bland. Packaging is standardised. It's cheaper you see. What's the point of having things stand out when it literally says what it is on the box.
So much time saved in the morning now that there is no music. There are no radio plays. It's all talk. Politics and news. I sometimes don't even listen to it any more. I don't always want to hear about all the horrific things going on,on the streets. Crime is up. It's not safe on the streets. No one knows what happened or why. People just don't seem happy anymore. Some have just snapped.
We have plenty of doctors and nurses, now that we have so much more money to spare. We used to waste it all on the arts. We have a much better curriculum now. Schools focus on real subjects that prepare children for success and employment. Now all the money can be allocated to worthy causes like mental health. The growth of the mental health facilities has been fantastic. We have a mental health centre in most communities now. Our society sincerely cares about the well being of our people. We have also put millions into research to find out why people, especially children, are suffering so much from mental illnesses. But thanks to the fantastic savings, we have made cutting back on unnecessary costs we can now invest in screening for early diagnosis and pharmaceutical treatment.
It's easy to get dressed this morning. We have just swapped everything over to the winter wardrobe. There's no difference in aesthetics between the spring, summer, autumn or winter clothing. Everything and everyone looks the same. There is absolutely no time wasted in the morning deciding on colour, pattern, design, the thickness or feel of the fabric against the skin any more. The fabric, design and single colour is efficient and the material designed to maintain the body at the optimum temperature throughout the day. Manufacturing is extremely economical when all cut from the same cloth so it's environmentally sustainable. You can tell. It has the little giraffe of sustainability on the logo. Unfortunately Giraffes became officially extinct three years ago.
As I wipe my hand across the hand chip reader and sit on the community bus. Oh yes, we have much more public transport now we've saved money on the arts. It comes from lottery funding that used to be wasted on community projects and touring theatre productions. We also save millions not having to give up taxpayers money to the Arts Council. It does mean that we don't have theatres any more but we have invested all the savings into cheap public transport. The bus is clean and minimalist and quiet. Now there is no music, we don't have to sit next to the tinny sound of someone's music on their phone on the bus. No radio jingles. No infernal in-store music everywhere you go. Everything is quiet. Buses are also no longer cluttered with bright, garish colours, advertisements and promotions for movies.
There are no movies now because we don't have the screenwriters, filmmakers, sound people, editors, directors, production staff, marketing and distribution teams any more. With no movies, we don't need to waste large areas of real estate on cinemas. The land has been freed up for community apartment blocks for single people. The population has spiralled out of control. The younger generations don't seem to be able to find anything to do with their time other than work and procreate. Supply of employees has already exceeded demand and may be contributing to the rise in crime. We may have to introduce a chemically induced contraceptive policy to help control numbers. But apart from that, things are so much better now, since we focused on the real work that needed to be done.
Word count = 1128
Taking inspiration from a post on Facebook that I saw yesterday on why the arts are important...
Don't study Art, Get a Real Job
We don't need the arts taught in school. There is no value in that, surely. Why waste time and get into huge debt to the student loans company in studying art? How many rich painters have you heard of? (who are actually still alive). How many millionaire poets can you name? What on earth is the point of drama? Acting is a hobby, not a real job. Technology! Isn't that where the money is? Almost everyone has heard of Steve Jobs. The Elon Musks of the world are billionaires and are working hard to make the world a better place. You will never get a job with a GCSE in film studies. You will never cure cancer, create a mobile app or save the large organisation, you will undoubtedly end up working for, money. If you study the arts and humanities, you are a burden on the society that will be forced to compensate you with welfare for your bad life choices, a misfit, an outsider, a flake, a wanderer...
So, it's Monday, a bright morning in the world in which sense has prevailed. No more time and money wasted on pointless and frivolous, arty farty courses. No more pandering to the creatives. That stupid waste of time and money has been dispensed with. People are sensible now. They take sensible degrees like Business Management, Computer Science, Engineering or Medicine.
It's difficult to discern the boxes of cereal in the cupboard. They are all bland. Packaging is standardised. It's cheaper you see. What's the point of having things stand out when it literally says what it is on the box.
So much time saved in the morning now that there is no music. There are no radio plays. It's all talk. Politics and news. I sometimes don't even listen to it any more. I don't always want to hear about all the horrific things going on,on the streets. Crime is up. It's not safe on the streets. No one knows what happened or why. People just don't seem happy anymore. Some have just snapped.
We have plenty of doctors and nurses, now that we have so much more money to spare. We used to waste it all on the arts. We have a much better curriculum now. Schools focus on real subjects that prepare children for success and employment. Now all the money can be allocated to worthy causes like mental health. The growth of the mental health facilities has been fantastic. We have a mental health centre in most communities now. Our society sincerely cares about the well being of our people. We have also put millions into research to find out why people, especially children, are suffering so much from mental illnesses. But thanks to the fantastic savings, we have made cutting back on unnecessary costs we can now invest in screening for early diagnosis and pharmaceutical treatment.
It's easy to get dressed this morning. We have just swapped everything over to the winter wardrobe. There's no difference in aesthetics between the spring, summer, autumn or winter clothing. Everything and everyone looks the same. There is absolutely no time wasted in the morning deciding on colour, pattern, design, the thickness or feel of the fabric against the skin any more. The fabric, design and single colour is efficient and the material designed to maintain the body at the optimum temperature throughout the day. Manufacturing is extremely economical when all cut from the same cloth so it's environmentally sustainable. You can tell. It has the little giraffe of sustainability on the logo. Unfortunately Giraffes became officially extinct three years ago.
As I wipe my hand across the hand chip reader and sit on the community bus. Oh yes, we have much more public transport now we've saved money on the arts. It comes from lottery funding that used to be wasted on community projects and touring theatre productions. We also save millions not having to give up taxpayers money to the Arts Council. It does mean that we don't have theatres any more but we have invested all the savings into cheap public transport. The bus is clean and minimalist and quiet. Now there is no music, we don't have to sit next to the tinny sound of someone's music on their phone on the bus. No radio jingles. No infernal in-store music everywhere you go. Everything is quiet. Buses are also no longer cluttered with bright, garish colours, advertisements and promotions for movies.
There are no movies now because we don't have the screenwriters, filmmakers, sound people, editors, directors, production staff, marketing and distribution teams any more. With no movies, we don't need to waste large areas of real estate on cinemas. The land has been freed up for community apartment blocks for single people. The population has spiralled out of control. The younger generations don't seem to be able to find anything to do with their time other than work and procreate. Supply of employees has already exceeded demand and may be contributing to the rise in crime. We may have to introduce a chemically induced contraceptive policy to help control numbers. But apart from that, things are so much better now, since we focused on the real work that needed to be done.
Word count = 1128
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