Modern Renaissance

Over the last few months, I have been studying the Renaissance period (14th-16th centuries) primarily focusing on the more well-known Italian renaissance but also culturally significant events that unfolded around Europe during that time. This includes the great artists of the time (Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Botticelli) the writers (Shakespeare, Dante, Machiavelli), and other culturally significant figures. My interest in this era stems from wanting to understand why this 200 year period in history provided us with some of the greatest artists, writers, thinkers, scientists and politicians of all time. I wanted to use that understanding to think about how we currently should focus on recreating something similar in the modern era.

The Art of Patronage

The Renaissance was largely funded via patronage. This included private funds from prominent families of the era such as the Medici, and also institutional funding from the catholic church and different monarchies across Europe. Lorenzo de Medici was one of the first patrons of the great sculptor, Michelangelo. But what is patronage? Essentially patronage is investing in different artists or civic projects. It is different than investing however as there is no inherent return on said capital at least not in the capitalistic sense of Increasing net worth. It was more of a charitable donation where the return is the advancement and innovation in different fields including art, philosophy, science, and civic works.

In today’s time, I think it is imperative to start focusing our objectives on similar undertakings. Our buildings have become soulless, our art has lost meaning (look at the banana that sold for millions at auction), our movies and entertainment have gotten worse, there is a lack of thinkers searching for the actual truth, and the list could continue. The argument could be made that charities and universities that engage in research are filling the void, but these methods dont allow for creativity and curiosity. In fact, they hinder it. Many a university research project has not published studies because the results were not in congruence with a certain cultural narrative. The closest thing to modern patronage is venture capital, investors provide capital to new, innovative companies. but this is in pursuit of increasing the company’s value and not increasing the value provided to society or a field of study as a whole. We need to start funding public works projects to allow for creative individuals to solve problems and let curiosity guide our compass instead of the endless pursuit of money.

What we could and should do

I can only think in terms of the United States as I am very familiar with our problems and it falls within my scope of understanding and observation. I think all of this starts with the government. As much as I dislike the concept of relying on the government, if you look throughout history you will see that many governments were involved in the art of patronage. I think the government could do a few things that could set the foundation for a new renaissance. On a federal level, I believe they should slash regulations that are imposed on businesses. While also allowing a more free market to exist. This will allow businesses to really innovate and also allow for businesses that don't fail. Think of the potential advancements in medicine if the FDA was not the mismanaged and systematically inefficient regulatory body it is today. I also think the governement needs to be investing in both large and small-scale public works projects. This includes museums, parks, infrastructure, and research. There are multiple ways this can be done. the first would be to allocate a portion of the budget to these types of projects this could and should be open for competition. Meaning project proposals would be presented to the governing body to secure a contract to allow a project to happen. Another way to do this would be to allow citizens to reduce their tax obligation by “donating” to public works efforts and therefore many of these projects would be funded directly by the people. An example would be you could pay $5000 for a local park to be built and it would reduce your taxes.

Another thing we need to do is change our mindset. Many people are ideologically captured and unable to see the big picture. It clouds perception in terms of good and bad and has enabled (with the help of mainstream media) for devisive narratives to take root and pin Americans against each other. If we want to achieve another renaissance period and sustain it we need to come together. We need to unite on the idea that we are endlessly in pursuit of the truth, innovation, and discovery. That we are willing to invest in ourselves and our future. That we are the best and serve as an example to the rest of the world. This means that we accept factually based truths regardless of how that impacts a narrative or beliefs of one group or another. This means we need to allow for solutions to be debated openly and arrive on conclusions based on evidence. This also means people must liberate themselves from the shackles of political tribalism. I think there are many bad people in government because of the people’s unwillingness to question why they vote for who they vote for. the “blue no matter who” and “red till I’m dead” people are the main reason why the left has gone more left and the right has gone more right.

What a modern Renaissance would look like?

In my ideal world, the modern Renaissance would advance our society exponentially. I think this because considering how much society and culture were advanced during the 14th-16th centuries without our current technology and understanding we could outperform those results significantly. Every city will have beautiful and functional buildings that capture the essence of that city and something people are proud of being part of the skyline. Universities would begin to truly be hotbeds for open debate and ideas without repercussions for having a “wrong” opinion. The news would tell the unbiased truth. Advancements in health and medicine could result in cures for common diseases and life expectancy would increase. Cities across America would have the best roads and infrastructure along with great parks, monuments, museums, and other cultural centers. A more free market economy would reward consumers and businesses would be forced to innovate or die. Citizens would no longer be divided ideologically but united.

This is just a brief post about this topic. I have considered writing a book that goes into greater detail on these ideas and what we should do. I have thought through many of these ideas and concepts and believe that a book could illustrate more vividly what we must do and what the results could be.