The barriers to a true artistic renaissance are time and money. People have to work too hard to leave time for creativity, Mayes says, and it s getting worse. Still, she knows well-off people in the tech industry have become patrons to the arts. But is it enough, especially in a country where the government doesn t support the arts, she asks. The work ethic spread west in the 1980s and it s just getting worse and worse, Mayes says.
People work like crazy here.
People fall in love with their work. It means something to the self. What I found in Italy is that people take time to enjoy life. It s not all making many appointments. It s, Let s cook together tonight.