Is it important for government to provide money for things that are beautiful than things that are practical. While acknowledging that both things for decoration and things of practical use are essential to the infrastructure of a typical modern society, government often finds it difficult to financially weigh between them. Nevertheless, I am convinced that government should expend tax-payers’ money on things that are practical. Foremost, practical structures are often necessary to a proper modern life. It is the illumination systems, transportation networks, schools and hospitals that lay the cornerstones for our cities and towns. To be specific, residents need lights to remain active in the evening, commuters need buses and subways to go to work or school, children need to get education and patients need to be taken care of. All these elements are the basic pre-requisites of a proper modern life. By contrast, beautiful things are dispensable for most people, for a delicate sculpture or a fancy monument may look fabulous, but without them, our life still run smoothly. Apart from their indispensable places in our life, practical structures almost definitely grant their users some kind of instant benefit. Libraries pass knowledge to the readers, swimming pools keep the swimmer in good shape, bridges save the commuters time and accessible stairways make it possible for the handicapped to reach more places. To the contrary, beautiful things cannot guarantee their user benefit, for appreciating them often involves aesthetic judgment which differs from person to person. One may find a cluster of newly-planted flowers beautiful, while another person may find the same flowers smelt funny. Admittedly, beautiful things add flavors to our life, for nearly everyone loves large green space or some kind of artistic decoration in the street. However, compared to practical things, they should not be the first priority when governments allocate the limited financial resources. Given that practical infrastructures are irreplaceable in our modern life and by using them, we are almost certainly to gain some sort of instant benefits, they are prior to their aesthetic counterparts. 本文来源：https://www.wddqw.com/doc/f7e2ea54376baf1ffc4fad9f.html