essay - GMAT: Issue 23

Clearly, government has a responsibility to support the arts. However, if that support is going to produce anything of value, government must place no restrictions on the art that is produced.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above? Develop your position by giving specific reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Answer:
The statement says that government should not restrict any arts that are supported by the government and have certain value. Although it is understandable to some extent, the statement is apparently exaggerated and ignores several important aspects that the government needs to consider.

First of all, if the art that is produced by government is contradicting public order and standards of decency, the government should not support it or should place some restriction on it. For instance, there's an art that has value from an artistic point of view but at the same time has a disastrous aspect for public, such as a war film containing atrocious scenes or a paint showing woman's nude. Therefore, if the art has some negative impact, the government needs to take any action on it.

Then, government also needs to take a close look at who is the stakeholder of the art. That is, suppose a painting is produced under a support from government, and then a member of some mafia obtains the art. In the case, the government must be blamed for the overlook of the affair. The same thing can be applied for the creator. That is, if government supports an artist, and the artist has an intention to harm somebody else, I must say that the support of the government failed to produce value. For instance, several years ago, satires depicting Mohammed were hugely criticized from Middle East countries in terms of the insult. It should not happen at least in arts supported by government.

To sum up, I believe the value of government support and the art itself, but the government needs to focus on the contents and the stakeholders in order to prevent malice of the stakeholders and misuse of taxpayer's money.