A reporter called the other day to ask what I thought about the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) giving subsidies to the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada. The government appears to have given the cowboy poets hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars over the years.
As the symbol of rugged individualism in the American West, I’m surprised cowboys aren’t embarrassed to take government hand‐outs. The amount of money is not large, but when private groups get hooked on subsidies they become tools of the state. They lose their independence and may self‐censor.
From the government’s perspective, subsidies placate dissent and encourage subservience. I’m not just talking about cowboys, but recipients of all the federal government’s more than 2,000 subsidy programs.
The NEA launched the poetry subsidies in 1985 to fix the negative image of cowboys as “strong, silent types.” Bikers and gun owners also have image problems, so we might expect the NEA to next sponsor poetry at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and the Crossroads of the West Gun Show.
I’m not receiving any NEA subsidies, but I nonetheless crafted a song sung to the tune of Rhinestone Cowboy:
“Welfare Cowboy”
I’ve been studyin’ the budget so long
Complainin’ about the wasteful mor‐ons
I know every hand‐out in the dirty hallways of Congress
Where money’s the name of the game
And our taxes get washed down the pork‐barrel drain
There’s one program so surprisin’
On the road Elko, Nevada
That’s where NEA shines a light on its inanity
Like a welfare cowboy
Writing poetry for a subsidized gathering
Like a welfare cowboy
Getting hand‐outs from people they don’t even know
And offers gained from a lobbying lasso
Note: the cowboy poets appear to have received about $35,000 every year or two from the NEA since the 1980s. They also receive support from the Nevada government and City of Elko.
