The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible - Bastiat Institute

90 Chapter 16 • Nothing To It
There is absolutely
no ground for saying
that the market
economy fosters
either material or
immaterial goods;
it simply leaves every
man free to choose
his own pattern of
spending.
Murray Rothbard
ballet school and theatre. It is now a successful
enterprise run without any taxpayer subsidies.
Background
Ken: During a radio debate I once had with the
head of the state art academy, he confessed that
the vast bulk of the state owned art was buried
away in warehouses and no one was allowed to
see it. Nevertheless, favoured artists made quite
a living from the sales to the state.
This chapter was derived from the debates
over public funding of art, specifi cally the “Piss
Christ” art that was a crucifi x in a fl ask of the
artist’s urine. This artist, Andres Serrano, caused
an uproar from taxpayers who were forced to
fund his exhibit.
References
Irving Wallace, in his delightful The Square
Pegs, writes of a book called Nothing, written in
the 17th century by a Frenchman called Mathel.
The book comprised 200 blank pages.
A more informative book is The Incredible
Bread Machine by R.W. Grant.
For more information on the ballet company
see: http://www.saballettheathre.co.za.