Government investment in the arts, such as music and theatre, is a waste of money. Governments must invest this money in public services. To what extent do you agree with this statement ?

The allocation of and judicious expenditure of public funds is a lingering topical issue for governments around the world today.

Although

I agree that it is important to spend

money

on public services, I do not think

money

spent on the arts is a useless venture. There are several reasons for spending government funds on social amenities

such

as roads, hospitals and schools.

Firstly

, the provision of good roads, top

quality

hospitals and sound schools (amongst many others) makes for a good standard of living. Good roads that enable quick delivery of perishable food items from rural areas, sound hospitals that provide top

quality

and affordable tertiary

healthcare

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health care

and nice schools for proper education of the populace are just a few

contributory

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contributing

factors to a high

quality

of life.

Furthermore

, proper allocation of public funds in an equitable manner towards public services in areas that were once deprived discourages the rising of social conflicts. If any part of a society feels left out, it could lead to internal wrangling and major conflicts, if not civil wars.

However

, despite the overt importance of spending public funds on providing public services, there are still some benefits of spending on the arts. The need to preserve cultural heritage is one major reason.

This

could be achieved by sponsoring festivals that display works of

arts indigenous

Accept comma addition

arts, indigenous

to a

people

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person

, and it

go

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goes

some way in promoting tourism and

consequently

improving the GDP. The Cannes Film Festival,

for instance

, is a popular annual event held in France to promote their local movie productions and it is one that attracts a large number of tourists.

Moreover

, music festivals and theatre shows are a huge source of social relief from stress for most youths. Spending some government

money

to keep these shows going on would contribute a lot to the mental and social aspects of their health, keeping them productive rather than destructive. To sum up, there are obvious benefits of ensuring a greater portion of public funds go into providing public services as

this

influences the

quality

of our lives. Having said that, I do not

believe spending

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believe in spending money on

money

on the arts is a waste of valuable resources

as

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at

this

too provides necessary benefits.