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Gotta back WTF on this one, SOTF. Michelangelo is a poor example because he lived and worked in a theocracy. Even though he was paid (the money coming from the tithes of every day people) for his work in the Sistine Chapel, he was also subjected to a certain amount of Papal coercion to do it.
http://historylessons.net/michelange...sistine-chapel
Originally Posted by I B Hankering
Thank you both WTF and IB, yes I do actually know exactly what I was talking about. My point was very simple. Human nature is and has always been very creative. Socialists would like us to believe that by creating some Utopian society, the creative energies of that society can then be expressed. The problem is, we don't need socialism for that to happen. Cave men drew on cave walls, carved images out of stone and ivory, learned to bake clay figurines, invented the wheel, learned to use fire, and so on.
From the days when we lived in caves, all the way to modern times, human kind has been creative, inventive, and curious. While government can encourage or stifle creativity and inventiveness, no governmental structure is needed to unlock the creative potential of humans. We do pretty well at that all on our own, under any and all systems of government.
That is the point I was making. You have confused political structure - theocracy, with economic structure, but that is ok. Pick any structure you like - monarchy, oligarchy, plutocracy, democracy - creativity and art will flourish in all forms. The idea that socialism is a magical panacea that is especially conducive to creativity where other forms of government are not is ridiculous.