It’s no secret (among my friends, anyway) that I’m a laissez-faire kinda guy. Good chunks of me, anyway. So it’s no surprise that this announcement annoyed me:
Calgary– and Alberta — will finally get a permanent, state-of-the-art studio, setting the stage for a revitalized film industry. Culture Minister Lindsay Blackett announced Friday a land deal has been reached to build a permanent production facility on the west side of Canada Olympic Park. (link)
Why is it government’s job to ensure that workers in film have jobs? Why is it government’s job to create venues for industry to…well…be industrious? If this is such a good thing, why not just have them fund new projects like, say, Crossiron Mills. That way, it encourages employment among the retail ranks. Why not have them build office buildings so that oil companies have a place to do business.
I suppose a deeper question would be, why does “art” (if that’s what you want to call big Hollywood productions, and the mostly pointless crap they put out) get a free pass? You wouldn’t see standing ovations for government paying for new infrastructure for oil companies.
(Spare me the obvious retort to this: “They do!!!” The whole point here is, “I don’t care. They shouldn’t; it’s not their job.”
According to Hagen Schulze, author of States, Nations, and Nationalism, the primary role of government is maintenance of basic security and public order. I tend to agree. Participating in activity such as funding infrastructure for a profitable industry is, in my opinion, so far beyond their mandate as to be ridiculous.
