The main idea of the passage was that helping less fortunate people should be our top priority. The EA felt that art is useless and a waste of time when there are people in the world that need help. Overall, I agree with the EA’s opinion that people in first world countries could do much to help those who are suffering, but I believe they took this point too far. They believe that art is selfish and people spend too much time doing leisure activities. It implied that everyone should dedicate their lives and effort to helping others in need instead of focusing on ourselves. I found several pieces of this text interesting. One from an Oscar acceptance speech thanked all the different types of artists in the world. The text quoted, “I think this world would be unlivable without art”. Although I am not an artist myself or necessarily take an interest in it, I agree with this statement. I have an appreciation for different types of art because they all depict different stories and emotion personal to who created them. Art is much more than painting and images. Movies are considered art and they are the most popular form of art. If the world did not have any form of art, much like the EA thinks the world should be, everything would be very bland. There would be no images, no designs, no tv, and no decorations. It would be like living in a black and white world. Another part I found interesting was when it said “people in rich countries who care more about making cool art than helping needy people, yet feel good about themselves because it’s better than nothing”. I do agree that everyone can do something to help others, the mindset of the EA’s is very disrespectful to others. In other points in the text, they imply that people should donate large chunks of their salaries to people who aren’t as fortunate. This idea is not realistic. By saying “rich countries”, it is assumed that they are referring to developed countries. Although people in first world countries are much more well off that those in third world countries, most people don’t have a significant amount of money to spare. In my opinion, donating as little as your spare change is enough to help; anything counts.