While re-reading the article “Is Art a Waste of Time?” I continued to express frustration with the article but also found myself agreeing. I still believe that money may be the best way to help those in need, but I disagree with the fact that artists are useless. While reading the article for the first time I could see that Rhys Southan was back and forth between whether or not art was a waste of time, most likely because that is his passion. What I did not realize when reading the first time or at least did not think much about was that while he was trying to understand how artists may not be valuable, Robert Wiblin, who is the executive director of the Centre for Effective Altruism, claimed that he “would really love to have some artists” (Page 437).  He also stated that they need visual designers and would like to see how they could promote art. It showed me that not only are the artists hesitant on how to react about the debatable subject but so are people who are committed and work for the group.  I was also more disappointed by the fact that the group “wants everyone to be happy and fulfilled” (Page 436), yet they encourage that artists stop wasting their time doing what they love and donate money. This is a reasonable argument when taking in account the lives of people in need, but may be hypocritical for them to say in the first place.

Glossing over the text once more gives your mind and eyes another chance to analyze the text. When first reading the article I was confused by Southan’s wording when he stated: “We were already halfway there when my second reasoning for going threatened to undermine my first” (Page 435). I did not understand the arrangement of his words and decided to move on rather than refer back to his point before. By refreshing my mind on the word undermine (http://www.dictionary.com/browse/undermine) and giving myself another chance to read it again, I realized what he was saying. His second reason for going, which was to learn more about the EA goals and do something else with his life, threatened his first reasoning for going which was to work on finishing his script. This is due to the fact that the EA believes art is not the right way to give to the needy and defeats the purpose of the group’s mission.