Fred hits the target again:
It is curious. Ancient Rome had little disposable income, and ancient Greece less. Building a Parthenon required great effort, as did the Gothic cathedrals. Yet they were built, and statues carved, and fountains made to play in the downtowns. Emperors built these things to glorify themselves, rich men to impress. Whatever the motive, they were built and adorned their times.
Today, with resources thousands of times greater, with bulldozers, steel, and unlimited money, we build little but square boxes and freeways. Our civilization is become a sprawling eyesore.
What is there to say? Small-hearted, short-sighted people build ugly monuments, or perhaps monuments to ugliness would be a better description. Indeed, the poverty of late 20th century art leads one to wonder if it is even possible for a godless, hedonistic society to produce great art. One has to see the new Guthrie to believe it, in fact, it is all but impossible to view so much as a picture without bursting into derisive laughter.