Friends in the local arts community, a little friendly advice:

Relax a little, would you?

Yes, Mayor Bart Peterson ("a dear friend of the arts," as some of you have recently called him) is on the way out. But there's no reason to reflexively assume that just because he's a former Marine (gasp!) and a Republican (double gasp!), Greg Ballard just isn't hard-wired to understand or appreciate the nuances of how important a vibrant arts community is to our city.

Now a little healthy skepticism on our part is, well, healthy. But the way some of you are reacting, you'd think Ann Coulter had just been elected mayor.

Yes, Ballard called the arts "unessential spending." I know that has you kind of freaked out. Fair enough. That kind of talk stings. But remember that in the end, that's all it is -- talk. We all know how wide is the sea that divides a politician's words and his actions.

Look on the bright side: When Bart Peterson took office, he wasn't exactly a scholar of the arts; it wasn't his love of Shakespeare or his ardor for Schubert that urged him to help art organizations flourish in Indianapolis. Peterson was just embracing the kind of trendy thinking popularized by economist and author Richard Florida.

Florida's thinking, in a nutshell, goes like this: For a city to thrive in the 21st century, it has to become attractive to Gen-Xers who want more than just safe streets and clean drinking water. They also want a killer music scene, spacious bike paths and theater on the streets. Florida struck a chord with a lot of early 2000-era city leaders, and it's easy to see why: His theory suggested a city can pump money into the arts while growing the economy and attracting bright tech-minded workers. Brilliant!

Unfortunately, it's a lot more complicated than that. Why? Because for better or worse, not all -- dare I say, not even close to a majority -- of the people in Indy care about the arts.

As long as we keep talking like the arts community deserves special treatment, the more we're going to come off like sanctimonious, self-righteous snobs.

The sad fact is, Indianapolis can survive without us. So instead of whining, it would behoove us to start quietly engaging in the kind of grass-roots work that makes the best of us great in the first place.

Instead of crying foul about Ballard maybe cutting funds for the arts before he's even taken office, why not instead impress him by exhibiting qualities you suspect an ex-Marine like him probably admires: Dignity, dedication and a never-say-die attitude?

Since the end of www.intakeweekly.com meant the end of an online home for my weekly column, Circular Logic (which appears in the print version of INtake), I will be posting it here at Indy.com each week. Offended, bored and irritated parties can post their grievances in the comment box.