As you will be aware (if you live in the UK or you keep on top of UK affairs) our new government is deciding to cut EVERYTHING. ... pretty much. They want to destroy our country, why?
At the moment, I am in my second year of 6th form and I had planned to take a 'Gap Yah' to travel back to Malawi, the place I love so much. However, the government has proposed a raise in University Tuition Fees. It will go from £3,290 to a whopping £9,000 (although may I point out that this will be the MAXIMUM). Therefore I will not be able to go on my 'Gap Yah' anymore, instead I have had to contact all my Universities and ask to be considered for 2011 entry, of which most have OK-ed it. I didn't WANT to go, but my family has forced me into it.
I have bee taking part in the nationwide protests against the proposed increase in fees, because I do not agree with it at all. I can safely say that I am incredibly proud of everyone who has taken part so far, we have done so well. I was really impressed with the way everyone acted last Tuesday when we launched a spontaneous sit-in at the College. We managed to grab the attention of our SU, who are now fully backing us and supporting a further protest this coming Wednesday (of which I hope to lead somewhat :D, just for LOLs). We are being associated with the Exeter Anti-Cuts Alliance who are based at the Uni, and Rob Edwards (one of the leaders) has told us to stay separate from the SU, yet the SU told us to separate from the EACA! Oh dear, maybe we should just do what we want?
I got into a massive argument yesterday with a supposed friend and her boyfriend who put up a shit argument as to why the government is OK to cut the Arts and Media. I completely oppose the idea, of course, because art is an integral part of our society and without the ability to express ourselves freely it seems that we would no longer be living in a democracy, instead more a dictatorship. Arts and the media are important for many reasons:
- Without them we would not have the internet, television, games, newspapers, films, clothes, buildings, appliances, photography, cars, ANYTHING
- It's not just about art as in paintings, it's museums, theatres, Universities and more that will be affected
- The Arts and the Media are things that earn billions of pounds for our country each year, without them we would be in an even bigger recession.
- People ENJOY them, for many reasons. They enable a freedom that cannot be gained through things such as science.
- If we don't have the arts and the media, we may as well cut EVERYTHING ELSE, because everything has some aspect of these two subjects. For example, English Literature is a subject based on the arts, History relies heavily on them, as does philosophy and even psychology. If we cut Arts and Media, it would appear that we should cut these other subjects, despite them being among the most popular university degree courses for the country.
- EVERYONE is creative in some way, and they should be encouraged to express that creativity in whatever way they can. We should not, as my friend said, let them "find it out for themselves" because that is ridiculous.
- Artists don't do it for money, they do it because they love it. If they make lots of money, that is an added bonus.
- There are so many arts and media based degrees, if we cut them many Uni's will have to close.
- Art and media is a way of communicating stories, opinions etc. It has been an important part of our world since cavemen began drawing on the walls, and since humans began to communicate.
Art and media brings so much more to our culture than the above points, but I would be here all night if I listed them all. I am still shocked that my friend felt that way, and that she let her boyfriend insult me in that cruel and degrading manner. That's not very friend-like to me :( And their arguments were not very good, so I have no idea why they shot me down so much. What is funny is that as soon as I mentioned films, he agreed with me. Funny that! YES, people are entitled to their own opinions, but it does NOT make it ok to call someone a 'stupid cow' for fighting for what they believe in, especially when they cannot present a good argument!.... Anyhoo, anyone who thinks that arts and media should be cut should go and live somewhere where humans have not affected the landscape, or even visited, because that way they will not be around ANYTHING that has any link to arts or media.
Rant over..... HAHA
