Keep your hands off my tax dollars

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has been on strike since October 4, 2010. The strike was originated from the renewal/negotiation of the collective bargaining agreement between the Musicians Union and the DSO management. Since the strike, the negotiation tensions have spread to the press, especially the Detroit Free Press. Every part of this strike has been well (if not overly) publicized across the entire country.

Without going into much detail re the strike, I will say the most fascinating part has been reading the Freep.com comment section of the DSO articles. What makes it interesting is not the people's support (or lack or support) for their orchestra, but how they view the financial situation. They are viewing the Musicians as elists, Management as inept, views on labor unions, and (most importantly) the effect on their tax dollars.




Did I just mention tax dollars? Yes, a surprising amount of comments are surrounding the idea of musicians pay=their tax dollars. Below are some quotes of commentators on the article.


"And if they never play again, on my dime.....its ok.....I will be alright!!! Let those that attend pay to show their appriciation. Just don't ask any money from taxpayers that are struggling"

"Unless the proposed contract puts the DSO 'in the black', and the public is NOT expected to contribute tax dollars......NO DEAL !!!"

"Carl Levin 100% supported the Chicago air traffic controllers when they were doing their slowdowns prior to being fired by President Reagan. I still have the letter from Levin to prove it. I'm certain that Levin, who is totally owned by the Unions, and Jenny, who was mostly owned by the Unions, brokered a really FAIR compromise -- ya right. All I can say to DSO management is, GOOD LUCK! Don't expect that very many of the musician's "union brothers and sisters" will buy concert tickets or otherwise support the DSO -- it ain't gonna happen."


"Some say there is no tax dollars spent on the DSO. HOWEVER, if, as stated, after the contributions they are still $19,000,000 in the hole.....Where does it come from ???"


This entire situation is a HOT MESS. Not only has this strained strike wreaked havoc upon the musicians, staff, and patrons, but has also incited the anger of the "Average Joe" People in general, in my honest opinion, are generally under-educated on how the world works. Because of this, we see a large majority, such as those on the Freep's comment section, spouting this about public policy (such as taxes), which in no way have any truth to them.


Is it the DSO's fault for not confronting the 1,000's of "concerned citizens" over their tax worries? One commentator believes that since the orchestra will be in the hole that the government will provide the DSO a bailout! Apparently people's realities of what the government will bail out--the arts--is vastly different from what the government will actually bail out--their friend's corporations. Should the DSO's management confront such hideous lies? Yes.


The people of Detroit are ignorant of the revenues an Orchestra receives. By looking at the balance sheet of the DSO, we can see that the smallest percentage of revenue is from "The Government", especially the local government. The DSO should educate and reframe the public's perception of how a Not-For-Profit is actually funded. Until then, the People of Detroit will still believe that the survival of the DSO is a tax dollar issue.


My hunch is that the plethora of commentators on the Freep.com website are not supporters of the arts (obviously), or the DSO (even more obvious), but over zealous extremists. The issue is the extremist have been the most vocal about the strike, which is changing the way the news is reported. Therefore, I wish that the comment sections on Freep.com either be screened or blocked, as to prevent the evolution of imaginary public policy issues.


Justin