The Cultural Divide Just Got A Little Wider
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 06:49PM One of the reasons I left New Mexico and moved back home, aside from missing my friends and family, was because I missed all the culture that Philadelphia had to offer. However, upon moving back and living on an entry level social worker’s salary, I soon discovered all that culture was beyond my reach.
I remember those days all too well. Which is why, when I got my last bonus check, I bought season tickets to the Pennsylvania Ballet. Not only did I want to ensure that I got out there and enjoyed part of this city’s culture which I had missed for so long, but also, I wanted to support the ballet because now I could do just that.
My tickets arrived yesterday, which is quite fitting because I had just read an article in the paper about how Pennsylvania is about to extend it’s 6% sales tax on all entertainment to include the ballet, museums, zoos, theater and orchestra events.
When I read the article, I wasn’t sure how I felt about all that. Pennsylvania has always had what is considered a luxury sales tax. Only items deemed luxuries are taxed. Thus, food is not taxed, but your meal at a restaurant is taxed. Clothes are not taxed, but jewelry is taxed. Likewise, entertainment is taxed because it is considered a luxury. There has always been a tax on movies and sports events, considered entertainment and a luxury.
On the one hand, I can agree with the whole idea of a luxury tax, including entertainment. During those days of balancing my paycheck against rent, student loans, utilities, etc., my left over cash was used towards eating and surviving and not entertainment. I never went to the movies or out to dinner, yet alone the ballet.
But on the other hand, something about it just didn’t sit right with me. While cultural events are indeed entertaining, I still don’t believe that is their main function or purpose. To me, the main benefit of such institutions is to educate, open our minds, enrich our lives and elevate us to a new level of being. Cultural institutions are what bring a community to a better place, a higher standard. Philadelphia is a magnet for travelers because of these organizations and their renown status for what they do so well. To suddenly lump them under the umbrella of entertainment, is to suddenly lump them under the umbrella of luxury by default.
As I sat there holding my season tickets in my hand, I wanted to scream. Years ago, when I could not afford these tickets, I would have stomped my feet in frustration. But now, I just wanted to shake my fists in fury. Poverty is a fact, but it is also a state of mind. As poor as I was in those days, I could live with the fact that I couldn’t afford that ticket price or that entrance fee or that nominal donation, the price it took to keep these institutions functioning. It never occurred to me that those were things my government thought of as a “luxury I couldn’t afford.”
Will adding a 6% sales tax (roughly $36) stop me from buying seasonal tickets next year? No, probably not.
But there before the grace of God go I.
Because 15 years ago, $36 was the difference between whether or not I could afford to eat dinner that week.
These cultural events should be free. Every one should be entitled to enrich their lives, better themselves, open their minds, educate themselves about the arts and music and culture around us. Believe me, I understand why they are not. Believe me, I understand why the prices for such events go up every year as these non-profit organizations struggle to survive, barely making it day to day. But what I don’t understand is my government making it even harder for them to survive. What I don’t understand or accept is my government suddenly turning around and labelling them as frivolous entertainment. And by default, as luxuries for the privileged.
Arts, culture, entertainment, pennsylvaia ballet in Yadda, Yadda, Yadda
Reader Comments (4)
((wildly clapping & whistling)) you are RIGHT ON, sister.
(which moves me to say that at least in Washington, DC, all of the museums and yes even the zoo is FREE. much to my still-poor-ass delight!)
Here's an idea. Why don't you share your tickets with someone who cannot afford to go to the ballet? Enrich someone's life, because you can.
@Mama P: That's great! We have some museums which are free, but for the most part, it seems everything here is so overpriced because they have to be. We went to see the Dali exhibit and for the entire family it cost almost 80 bucks! That was four years ago and we haven't been back to the Art Museum since. Lack of funding is what drives up the cost, which I suppose is what the new tax is suppose to offset. Putting some of the financial responsibility back on the community. It's just a shame because those venues are out of reach for too many.
@Christy: I will be sharing the tickets with others, mostly my girls, other family and friends (probably not quite what you meant). But overall, I waited too long to be able to do this. It may be selfish of me, but I can live with that. This wasn't an easy decision for us to make. It was a lot of money that we agonized over whether or not we could afford such an expense, so in a way it did feel like a luxury to suddenly have those tickets in my hand, which is why reading that article right then hit me so hard.
they should raise the sin taxes instead........
many cultural venues provide some type of low cost last minute opportunity for tickets or a 'free' day each week. you have already made your contribution by buying the extra tickets.