
Recognizing magic as a rare and valuable art form and national treasure - adamdonahue
https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-resolution/642
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Aardwolf
The English language seems to be missing some word that other languages have.

In Dutch, "goochelen", performed by a "goochelaar" is doing tricks in a show,
where you know it's all illusions but it's still very impressive. On the other
hand, "toveren", done by a "tovenaar" would be doing something supernatural.
Typically a "goochelaar" is somebody on a stage with a black top hat, while a
"tovenaar" is more like an old man with a long white beard and a purple pointy
hat in fiction.

In English, both seem to be called "magic". It's very confusing...

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grblovrflowerrr
On the other hand though "magician" unambiguously refers to a person that
performs stage magic, in a modern context at least.

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AndyNemmity
Magician contains in it stage magic, as well as street magic, parlor magic and
other forms. It doesn't limit itself to the stage.

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Aelinsaar
It's nice to see that lobbying isn't just for large corporations, but vegas
showmen can milk this ridiculous, broken system too. /s

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ethanbond
And environmental groups. And human rights groups. And consumer rights groups.
And safety advocacy groups... etc.

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Aelinsaar
Yes, but they're not so well funded, and their positions are fundamentally
harder to communicate than simple, manipulative, well funded campaigns. It's
like comparing a pre-school and a military school because they both share the
words "School". You won't be totally wrong of course, but you will have missed
the point.

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ethanbond
I don't disagree, but a lot of people don't understand that the term
"lobbying" in fact does not just refer to evil corporations bribing
politicians, and thus should not be categorically made illegal.

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Aelinsaar
I think it's worth remembering that when people talk about "Lobbying", they
are often talking about a particular subset of lobbying attached to extremely
vast sources of money and power. More, the unrestricted nature of that
lobbying, in practice, breaks the system down.

It would be the case if this were happening with well-intentioned
environmentalists too, although I'm sure it would look very different in the
particulars. The fact is though, that in history doesn't teach us to be
concerned about vastly wealthy and powerful environmental interests. Maybe
that will change someday, but it's not the history of our planet at least.

tl;dr Context

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presidentender
But _why_? I am reminded of Davy Crockett's "Not yours to give" speech.

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Aelinsaar
Because of a strong lobby, especially from David Copperfield. As usual, just
follow the money.

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adamdonahue
Reads like an advertisement for Copperfield. But in terms of advancing the art
form and of classic prestidigitation, I can think of no better current
practitioner than Ricky Jay.

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AndyNemmity
There are so many people, it'd be difficult to compile a list and not leave
anyone out. It's a rich field.

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nickpeterson
And for their first trick, getting this through both houses and signed into
law by the president. That would be the illusion of functioning government...

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nailer
Magic is already recognised on bank notes and in the pledge of allegiance.

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smitty1110
Where's Penn and Teller when we need them?

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elthran
>Whereas magic enables people to experience the impossible

Someone really didn't put much thought into this statement.

And all the references to Project Magic does lead me to consider who put them
up to proposing this

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ealexhudson
What's wrong with "experience the impossible"? Seems like a reasonable
description of the situation to me, that's the whole point of magic.

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tazjin
If magic existed it would, by definition, be neither impossible nor
supernatural.

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ealexhudson
Thanks for explaining that to me.

The ordinary experience for someone viewing a magic act is that something
impossible has happened. The fact that we know, logically, that it cannot be
the case doesn't change the fact that what we _experience_ is impossible. It's
unexplainable by the majority of viewers.

If the argument is "magic doesn't exist, therefore what you experienced is
entirely normal and unremarkable" then frankly the interlocutor just don't get
the point of why people watch magic.

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pklausler
It's really awesome to finally see conservative Republicans in the U.S. House
of Representatives quote gays and atheists in the text of their proposed
legislation.

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taylorwc
Anyone else picturing Rep. Sessions as holding a sign saying, "We Demand to Be
Taken Seriously"?

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13of40
It makes more sense once you realize they're talking about bunny-in-hat magic
and not magic magic.

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ommunist
once it passes, you can add "Wizard" to the official list of professions.

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ommunist
I believe this motion is to support surviving First Nations culture.

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xiphias
Is this to improve taxation for David Copperfield or to get money in some
other form from the government?

