To Those Who Govern: Why We Must Fund the Creative Class
#CreativeFreedomAct #CultureShiftAct #CreativeSocietyAct
This is an essay addressed to the non-creative majority—especially those in political, economic, and administrative roles—making the case for public investment in the creative class as a civic necessity, not a luxury.
To Those Who Govern: Why We Must Fund the Creative Class
An open letter to policymakers, economists, administrators, and the stewards of public trust
Let’s speak plainly.
We are moving rapidly into an age where automation, AI, and algorithmic systems will handle more and more of what we once called "work." Not just factory labor, but transportation, logistics, analysis, content generation, even governance.
The machines are coming—not as enemies, but as replacements. As partners. As competitors.
This leaves us with a serious question:
What will people do when there is no longer work as we’ve known it?
And more urgently:
What kind of society do you want to live in when survival is no longer the primary organizing force?
The Collapse of the Labor Economy Is Not a Crisis—It’s a Turning Point
If we cling to the old frameworks—where value is only tied to market productivity—we will create a dystopia of purposelessness, addiction, distraction, and despair.
But there is another path:
A society organized not around extraction, but expression.
Not survival, but meaning.
Not GDP, but human flourishing.
This future will not be invented by economists.
It will be imagined by creatives.
The Creatives Are Not Extraneous—They Are the Architects of Meaning
We’ve been taught that artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, designers, and philosophers are side characters in the real story of progress. They are treated as luxury items. Optional. Bohemian.
But history tells another tale.
It is the myths, symbols, songs, and stories of a people that hold them together through war, collapse, and rebirth.
It is the imagined worlds that drive innovation—sci-fi shaping science, speculative fiction shaping public policy, murals shaping memory.
It is the arts that teach empathy, transmit values, and restore coherence when institutions falter.
If the body politic is in crisis, the artist is its immune system.
What If We Paid Creatives Like We Pay Engineers?
This is not a utopian fantasy. It is an economic strategy for a post-work society.
Imagine what could be unlocked if every serious creative in this country were granted a living income—say, $100,000 annually—to dedicate themselves fully to the work of cultural invention, community repair, creative risk, and public imagination.
It would be the New Deal for the Creative Age.
Would some abuse it? Perhaps.
But would it also result in:
New art movements
Transformational education methods
Visionary film, literature, and music
Deepened social fabric
Rituals of healing, memory, and belonging
Entirely new models of local governance and kinship?
Yes. It already does—on scraps. Imagine what could happen with support.
To Those in Power: Your Legacy Is Not Efficiency. It Is Meaning.
This message is especially for those who hold the levers of power in policy, finance, infrastructure, and education.
If you want a livable, stable, and humane future—not just functional, but thriving—you will need the creatives.
Not to entertain.
Not to decorate.
But to reimagine the foundations.
Creatives are your allies in this. But they are exhausted.
They have done so much for so little, for so long.
If you want to seed the future, fund the gardeners.
What You Can Do
Propose a Creative Freedom Fund in your city, district, or nation.
Introduce legislation for a Universal Creative Income pilot.
Appoint artists and cultural workers to civic advisory boards.
Include creative thinkers in policy design, urban planning, education reform.
Host listening sessions with local artists—not to consult them, but to be guided.
The Time Is Now
Automation is already changing everything. If we don't change with it, we will spiral into fragmentation and fear.
But if we support those whose very calling is to hold, imagine, and regenerate the human story—then we just might rediscover who we are.
Do not wait until the machines write our future.
Empower those who still remember how to dream it.
—C.T.
📣 Call to Action:
If you're in a position of influence, Spread this post, reply to this post or reach out.
Let’s connect cultural stewards with civic stewards.
Let’s start building the Creative Society—together.
Myself, I am just a studio artist. My job is to start the conversation and seed the imagination. It is up to others in the right places to make it into a reality.
Hashtags to use: #CreativeFreedomAct #CultureShiftAct #CreativeSocietyAct
web address: https://www.touchonian.com/s/creative-freedom-act
For me, the world without "the arts" - in whatever form one imagines (visual, musical, performance, multi media and more) - would be depressing. Art is a universal language with no words needed. I so believe that the arts should be taught in all public schools, not just private. But, it all boils down to money and what people consider important to make you a functioning human being that contributes to society. What I would have given to have art in school as a mandatory class, not an elective.
Such important words, thank you for writing. If creativity and imagination were valued more, seen as a core part of our humanity, then maybe more people would look at the world and think, "not this." As Ani DiFranco sings, "these are not my laws / there are not my rules." More people imagining new realities, more creative collaboration and solutions and community building.
It's easy for all of this to feel impossible, but this made me feel a little more hopeful about the future.