Denis Fodor commenting on my statement that in the USA philanthropy
supports orchestras and opera companies, points out that:

>...  But how about adding to that, Private philathropy mostly should
>not be seen as pure altruism but as something undertaken to derive advantage
>from tax breaks.  In that sense these philanthropies which purport to
>support music are themselves state-supported (=tax-supported).

You can argue that the tax break is never as large as the expenditure,
but I basically agree with Denis.  Tax breaks basically are a kind of cost
sharing- the federal government is directly sharing the burden.  which
means that other taxpayers are sharing the burden.  I have no objections
to that because any of us can identify something in the federal budget we
don't feel enthusiastic about.  That is what society and community are all
about.  It is not hard to understand the carnage to cultural institutions,
universities, and charitable enterprises which would be produced if the tax
code were simplified to eliminate such deductions.

Bernard Chasan