While politicians celebrate the reduction of the cultural VAT for galleries and exhibitions, bread, milk, or diapers continue to pay the reduced rate without anyone proposing its elimination. It is a gesture applauded by artists, but it highlights a scale of priorities where daily survival weighs less than a painting.
The logic of algorithms vs. political logic 🖥️
In software development, when a system has a fundamental error, the source is corrected, not a peripheral function patched. However, in fiscal policy, the opposite is chosen: the VAT on culture is tweaked while the tax on basic foods and sanitary products remains intact. It is like optimizing a video game's rendering without having first solved the crash on startup. The real problem is not that art is expensive, but that eating is a luxury.
And meanwhile, bread still pays a toll 🍞
A politician lowering the VAT on galleries before that on milk is like putting wifi on a bus while its wheels are falling off. The move is perfect: they get their photo op with artists, some nice headline, and people applaud. Then, at home, when doing the shopping, you realize that bread is still almost as expensive as a museum ticket. Good thing art feeds the soul, because the body is already getting by on air.