It’s too expensive to be an artist in this country. Used to be able to work a few shifts somewhere to earn enough for food, rent, art and a drink from time to time. Now a full time job barely pays enough to rent a shoebox. The soul crushing boot of neolibralism strikes again.
It’s too expensive to do anything in this country. Took my daughter and wife to Breaky the other day. A meal each. A drink each. $120
FFS It’s insanity.
A Breaky for 3 should maybe be $60 or so.
I get that it’s not all on the store but I can buy a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread for $10, making 6-12 breakfasts. Sure they’re not as fancy as a cafe but it’s $10+minimal effort vs $150. Getting to the cafe is more effort than cooking the breakfast, cos I live in the dull outer suburbs.
You’re not factoring your rent/mortgage into that cost though, like stores have to, nor are you having to pay a minimum of what - 3-4 staff at all times a fair wage.
It’s not the cost of the food that is making everything expensive, it’s the cost of everything around the food - power to cook it and light the place, wages, lease, insurance, etc.
Yeah the only people who can afford it now are wealthy kids, trust fund kids.
There was once a time our decent social services underwrote the development of performing arts but that’s squeezed out now by housing and life costs.
It’s pretty obvious why it’s dying; the same reasons birth rates are falling. The major parties aren’t hearing it though.
Being a starving artist living on the safety net is more difficult with cost of living increases.
Lots of music came from countries like England, Sweden, Australia which were reasonably wealthy and had some minimum level of social welfare. We lost affordable tertiary education and it is one less place for people to meet and form bands or experiment.
Young people looking at creative careers are seeing management everywhere turn to AI slop and looking elsewhere. Everyone is hoping to find work that can’t be outsourced, can’t be automated, has fair labour practices, won’t put them in massive student debt and will still be around in 20 years. The choices seem to be narrowing.
Just one thing - student debt in Australia generally isn’t a problem like it is overseas. HECS/HELP repayments are a tiny percentage of your wage, and only kick in after you’re earning above a certain amount. Student debt would affect artists the least because the likely wouldn’t have to even repay it until they’re not struggling.
“Peasants do not deserve idle time, and art is only for the rich that can afford it.”
