Tennyson to Twitter: Finding Yourself in Art

During the 18th century, the leaders and thinkers of the day tended to focus their research and ideologies on what was best for society. During the turn of the century, the Romantics swung the opposite direction. After all the talk of utility and the community, these radicals and revolutionaries lifted the individual. They used art in the forms of novels, poems, and paintings as the vehicle to glorify uniqueness and empower the one. In a similar way, the digital age has centered itself on the individual by affording new ways for people to discover and express themselves. Social media, blogs, and constant connectivity are all modern tools used towards this end. “You do you” was the call of the Romantics, and its echo is heard once again today.

editing by Cassidy Crosby, girl's photo by Sharbat Gula, background by Thomas Cole

Art was and is the perfect medium for celebrating the self. Oscar Wilde said, “Art is the most intense form of individualism that the world has known.” This intense individualism can be seen in William Wordsworth’s poem “Tintern Abbey.” The poem is written in first person perspective about the narrator’s thoughts. “To me was all in all,” Wordsworth writes. “I cannot paint what then I was.” Instead of telling a story of a group of people, Wordsworth attempts to discover and describe himself. The romantic vision of the beauty of the world in the self was indeed shared by Wordsworth. Although he declares himself unable to “paint what then [he] was”, he exemplifies the romantic tendency to use art to showcase that beauty to the viewer. 

The Threats to Minority Public Broadcasting

Portrait of Sioux Indian in 1908

The current issue with the Trump Administration budget cuts of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and the National Endowment for the Arts will affect culturally diverse broadcasting. Such public broadcasting stations include Native American radio and television channels that are used for cultural events like tribal meetings.

The argument regarding this hot spot is split two ways: the budget given to CPB helps spread cultural and other diverse media that otherwise would not receive substantial funding. It is also a preservation method for important Native American traditions and history. However, others argue that the government should not be involved in public broadcasting to the extent that it now is.

Ideologies in Tension

In a historical perspective, these opposing viewpoints mirror the ideologies in tension of the 18^th and 19^th centuries, specifically the implications of liberalism vs. conservatism.

Liberalism

From an 18^th century liberalism view, funding for Native American media is part of universal human rights, that the Native Americans have a right to receive funding for reasons of cultural media sharing. 

Utilitarianism 

However, in the 19^th century viewpoint of liberalism, a utilitarian society would deem that funding for Native American broadcasting does not benefit the majority, solely the minority group of Native Americans, and therefore funding should be pulled.

Conservatism 

Conservatism of the same time period would argue that if the Native Americans were part of the lower social hierarchy as Social Darwinism advocates, then they would be “naturally selected” out of the funding for their broadcasting; this would be their failure of social survival and therefore it would be unnecessary to provide them funding.

Digital Culture Sharing

In a digital civilization, the importance of connectivity in ethnic cultures is incredibly important. Where imperialism essentially separated the Native Americans from their home lands, the digital age allows for the connection of Native American culture and increases their sphere of influence. Almost all political, ethic, or religious groups thrive on the media that they produce and the Native American groups who receive federal funding for public broadcasting are no different.

Image Credit: Portrait of Red Bird (Public Domain Image via Wikimedia Commons)

Accounting: Past, Present,...but Future?

The first records of accounting were taxes recorded on clay tablets in Egypt and Mesopotamia.  As the economy adopted a monetary system years later, accounting was also used to record transactions.  One of the most significant events in the history of accounting is the development of the double-entry method in 1458 which consists of recording transactions with both a debit and credit value.

Evolution of Accountants

An Italian mathematician named Luca Pacioli published this idea using the Gutenberg press in 1494, and because his twenty-seven page lecture on double-entry bookkeeping was accessible to many, Pacioli’s book was a frequent reference for accounting for several hundred years.

The industrial revolution created a greater need for more efficient and accurate bookkeeping.  As companies grew and became more competitive, they needed to communicate who were the shareholders in the corporation.  During the information age, many accounting organizations were created to create general principles that would establish constituency across the board regarding how values were to be reported on financial statements.

And the digital age would change it even more.  The rapid progress of technology has enabled the invention of computerized accounting systems that contain the transactions of a business—they even comply with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) required by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  So if the computers can run the numbers, then what’s our job?  While accounting is clearly useful and necessary, do we still need the accountants? 

Image Credit: Evolution of Accountants (via i Edu Note)