Reply #6: 'EU ministers have called for culture to be put at the "heart" of the bloc's new economic plan'

[muriel_volestrangler]

It's the first quoted paragraph.

The OP does indeed specify a percentage of GDP - 2.6%. It's not much, is it? Do you think the world is in a good position to spend a lot more on things that aren't necessities?

"the idea that cloths are simply 'to flaut wealth' flies in the face of necessity, we all wear clothes, rich or poor"

Neither I nor the article said clothing; we both said 'fashion'. Which is about creating new looks on a regular basis, and that is largely about showing you are wealthy enough to buy clothes for looks and newness, not necessity. It wouldn't be a creative industry otherwise, would it? It would just be a staple industry, producing goods that fit an unchanging need. The designers of fridges aren't called 'fashion designers'. They aren't creating a market that follows fashion.

"Is the EU incorrect? Should they purge those millions of jobs?"

Yes, and no. Yes, it's incorrect that these creative industries should be the heart of the EU economy. The heart should be agriculture, energy, housing, transport, manufacturing - the kinds of things that most people have to spend most of their money on. Should they purge the millions of jobs already in the creative industry? No. But they shouldn't think that they will be the centre of the EU's economy. The future isn't a shining utopia where the whole world gets are rich as suburban Americans and can spend a lot of its wealth on optional extras. Either we cut back on our energy use, or global warming takes off in a catastrophic way.