The Economy

Maybe you heard about the recent government shutdown here in Minnesota.  It's up and running now, just in time for me to receive my new tabs for my car.  My wife volunteers at a women's shelter, which would have been closed during the shutdown if not for volunteers stepping in to do the work of the regular employees.  The employees, although passionate about the work they do, were not allowed to volunteer.  Labor laws and all, which makes sense but also makes you feel like your hands are tied behind your back.  Politicians did finally find a way to work together, though.  Unfortunately, one of the areas they cut was education, to the tune of $700 million.  One district had to borrow money just to pay their previous expenses, the fees and interest from which equal the salary and benefits of a teacher.  And they expect to borrow more.

In addition to this, economists are predicting another recession.  Since we still haven't fully recovered from the last recession, this one will hit harder.

Where does 5x5 fit into all this?  We're just about to drop our filing papers in the mail to become an official nonprofit organization.  Literally, I'm going to make a few copies and send it off.  This means we can apply for grants for which we weren't previously eligible.  With the economy the way it is, there will be fewer grants to apply for, and the ones that are available will be more competitive.  We're not too worried about that though.

Thanks to our readers, contributors and donors, we have never had to step backwards.  We've only grown in the last two and a half years.  And we're still growing.  Our operating costs are low, because we do all the work ourselves, from reading, to managing the website and even printing and mailing the magazine.  We don't pay anyone to do these things, and we don't get paid either.  There are only four of us on the staff, and we all volunteer.  We do it because this is what we believe in.

We aren't going anywhere, despite the direction of our economy.  We believe art is still important, and encouraging the next generation is part of that.  Thankfully, we’re not the only ones who believe this.

Here we are working on the eleventh issue of 5x5, and it will have more art, more pages, more contributors and more readers than the last.  We hope you enjoy it.