Even amazing writers and musicians can barely scrape a living. Being an artist is mostly unpaid labor that enriches Irish culture. Why wouldn’t we incentivize artists for some pitiful sum of money if they’re willing?

No matter how much capitalists pretend that artistic talent falls from the sky like mana for the rest of us to enjoy, it isn’t actually free. It takes thousands of hours of effort to become something resembling an artist. And this program is a cheap way to make that happen.

Good news, thank the heavens.

Amazing, I love it. Good job Ireland!

"Fuck my life!", said factory workers throughout the land.

That's honestly pretty neat, assuming these artists are more useful to society than my idiotic "artist" sister. I'm interested to see how it plays out over the long term, and what it could mean for other places considering a universal basic income.

Didn’t they already do this like a year ago? And the year before that?

that's cool. UBI next!

I'd love that in France...

So anyone who has been close to musicians is aware of how little they get for what they do and how much time they put in. Sometimes they’re lucky to get drinks for what they do.

In the meantime, we have arseholes with at least enough money in their pockets to go out telling the door person ‘we’re with the band’, hitting bands up for entry or trying to get in the back entrance with them. For 10 or 15 entry fee.

That’s just a perspective of someone who has been close to local level musicians and isn’t an artist themselves. I can imagine what other performing and producing artists have to put up with.

Good on Ireland for this. I don’t think they’ll struggle screening it. Social payments underwrite artistic creativity because if artists have it, they can at least eat and live while they produce for the entertainment of others.