This past weekend, my wife and I attended the St. James Court Art Festival here in Old Louisville. For those of you who aren't locals, the St. James Court Art Festival is an annual event held in the portion of Old Louisville known (remarkably) as St. James Court. Old Louisville is that part of the downtown area that is dominated by Victorian architecture -- blokcs and blocks of three-story brownstones. The festival showcases various arts and crafts from all over the United States and Canada -- photography, paintings, jewelry, crafts, etc.

As I walked around St. James Court, I couldn't help but notice the vast numbers of people sporting Kerry-Edwards stockers on their clothing. I would guess that the Kerry-Edwards stockers outnumbered the Bush-Chenney stickers by as much as three-to-one. I began thinking about why the arts community is so predominantly liberal, even leftist. Many liberals feel (and that's a significant word -- "feel") that the arts are their exclusive domain. That, somehow, familiarity with the arts makes them superior to others. I started wondering what this says about liberals.

The liberal's love of the arts belies their desire for a level of sophistication that raises them above the average masses. Sophistication is another interesting word. It's root is "Sophist" -- relating to the mode of thought offered by early Greek philosphers and teachers. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates, all universally considered masters of reason and logic, held that the Sophists'' logic was flaw and specious. They all suggested and then proved that the Sophists made arguments that were based on false assumptions and faulty reasoning, and did so for personal gain. So why should liberals want to pursue flawed and faulty thinking? For the same reason the Sophists did -- to "feel" superior to others and for personal gain.

Another reason for the liberal's pursuit of the arts is that, due to his/her new-found "sophistication," it holds the liberal apart from society. This separation, this eliteness, puts the liberal in a position (in his/her own mind) to make "informed" decisions about how society should conform to this new enlightened ideal. Frank Herbert (author of the Dune series of novels) said in his novel, and I'm paraphrasing, that Liberals are an aspiring aristocracy. While some would cast aspersion on Mr. Herbert because he predominantly wrote in the Science Fiction genre, but his works (especially the Dune series of novels) are an extremely complex consideration of all of the dynamics of society. And while I think he completely missed the mark in regard to religion, he was nearly spot-on in the realm of politics and social dynamics.

If liberals claim political power as a result of their social aristocracy, they become a political aristocracy who feel entitled to their position. They then will begin to reshape society "in their own image." Suddenly, the forces that drive society and economics are artificially changed to conform to the new ideal. What has previously been established through impirical method (business and economics) is being replaced by "what should be," what is "fair and just," as determined by the new elites.

I'm a conservative. I love art. I am a graphic designer, a photographer -- an artist. But I known that my understanding and appreciation of the arts is just another collection of personal knowledge and preferences. The politics of art is a murky field. Some say the arts exalt the soul, they better mankind. But this is sophistry. Richard Wagner revolutionized modern opera, but he was also one of Adolph Hitler's greatest supporters. I don't see his advanced knowledged of music and art enlightening his soul. Syndicated radio personality Dennis Prager has spoken (and written?) on several ocassions about the relationships between art and politics. If I can find his writings on this subject, I will link to them.

I guess my point is this. The arts are one of those jewels of humanity. Like the changing leaves of Fall. They make the world a wonderful place to live but, in the end, that's all the arts are -- a cultural decoration.

Just my two cents.