Danielle Levy

–We ought never to be inured to the hunger of others–I turned on the TV, it was on CNN, I don’t know what program, but I know the head of a village in Afghanistan was talking to a young woman apparently making a documentary. He said that he thought 40% of the villagers just had enough to eat. My heart sank, only 40% with just enough to eat. And then he went on saying that this meant 60% did not have enough food. I couldn’t help it, tears came. Like the people around me I monitor what I eat because I don’t want to gain weight. As many times as I am exposed to hunger in the world, I can’t find it a cliché, I can’t get used to the injustice of some not having food, I can’t forget some must know hunger hour after hour, day after day, I can’t help wondering what never ending hunger pangs mean, like the stories I’ve read or heard of people in concentration camps and during wars. Truth is I hope I continue to react to those who do not have life’s basic necessity, who unjustly—and unnecessarily—suffer, I hope I remember and in whatever way open to me fire up those around me that one day hunger be history.

–It’s easy to be against taxes and against government, but Somalia can be a lesson—Now that we’ve paid our federal taxes, getting reading for the next round of property taxes, and in a state like California are being subjected to an increase in sales tax, it’s easy to be angry and question the whole principle. Since it’s logical to associate taxes with government the anger extends to both, government and taxes. It’s politically expedient for some to try to capitalize on this anger whether or not they participated in the April 15th tea parties, and try to fight both the idea of taxes and that of government. And yet, at the same time that we read about those angry taxpayers we can also read about Somalia, a totally failed state, ruled by anarchy and breeding pirates, terrorists and several generations who have never known civil order of any kind. Despite the fact that it is and extreme and dire instance, it is nevertheless an example of what happens when there is no government and no taxes to make sure the government does what it is supposed to.
Let’s hope we can learn from the lesson Somalia represents and apply it to our next round of protest against government and taxes.

–The monetary value of certain artists may have gone down, but the value of their art remains–The economic crisis has hit the art world. Art prices have decreased by about 35%, particularly the work of postwar artists whose price tags had previously gone up along with the stock market. Andy Warhol is in that category. His portrait of Mick Jagger recently sold for $1.1 million. The seller had bought it in 2006 for $1.5 million. The work of old masters has, however, not gone down quite as steeply.
Does the value of art really depend on its price tag? Is Warhol less Warhol because his portrait of Mick Jagger sold for less? Is the painting less striking, interesting or unique? The price tag may make a collector feel good, even feed his or her ego. It may contribute to the investment potential of the art world, but it does not reflect the true value of art. Monetary value may be expedient in a world which no longer knows how to get along without money, but those of us who try to see to the core of things need to remember that monetary value and true value travel along different trajectories.