Just the word “collective” makes me shudder. Every time I hear one described, I can’t help but think about the failed experiments of communism and hippy communes. Just mention the former and you’ll get any serious right-wing American frothing at the mouth, and the latter has been a punchline almost since it was conceived. At the centre of our distrust seems to be a fundamental rule: people tend to look out for themselves.
Yes, there are and always will be plenty examples of altruism out there. But the only ones we can really be sure about require someone to toss a grenade and someone else to jump on it. If the threat is not immediate, we just have too much time to wonder about the players and the game they may or may not be playing.
So when bloggers talk about the evils of the more established media industry and band together, guest-blogging, re-blogging, etc., are we really doing it because we truly believe in the cause? Or do we believe that the established media has no place for us while new media does? Are the loudest, most eloquent spokespeople for new media talking about it because they believe it to be better, or because it’s been better for them?
Perhaps the generations that follow mine won’t have to grapple with this particular question because new media will then be the status quo. But for my generation, whose artists grew up with the notion of getting signed by a record label or picked up by a publisher as the one road to making a living doing what you love, new media ventures represent a scary new world. We see the old world crumbling around us while the new one hasn’t even fully formed and we sometimes wonder if we’re crazy to bother. Wouldn’t it be a lot more enjoyable to just sit back and watch the show?
Well Transition Generation, I’m going to make a humble suggestion that may or may not work for us. I haven’t even tried it out myself, but in the spirit of the New World, I’m going to publish it anyway. Here’s the suggestion: We should embrace collectives for what they are – a low overhead and potentially more equitable alternative to corporations. The goal of each: to reach a critical mass through which the ideas of individual members can be promoted more effectively than on their own. (more…)
Yes, despite his tough stance on marijuana and other drugs, Slick Steve Harper really just wants to get high with a little help from his friends. Congrats to the guy for getting up on stage and singing a song. That ain’t the easiest thing to do. But could he have picked something more contradictory? Hopefully he made sure to secure all the rights for performing the song and posting it up on YouTube. Wouldn’t want to piss off any of those record companies that he’s helping to impose draconian copyright laws on everyone.
The thing that bothers me the most about this performance, though, was that Rahim Jaffer was nowhere to be seen. That guy knows how to party, and I bet he could have helped on the harmonies.
Whenever you feel like you’re taking a risk, an emotional response is triggered. Your emotional needs feel threatened. The filter is engaged, and your bold copy turns into a big puddle of boringness.
Yep. Been there, done that. And I know that this article is directed more towards editorial style blogging articles, but it is also true for prose and poetry. In fact, the problem is especially pernicious in prose and poetry because you can hide the fact that you just censored yourself behind a bunch of metaphors and neat literary devices.
I don’t worry about random people judging me so much as friends and family. You get this awesome idea or insight, and maybe it’s a bit weird or a bit dark. Even if you’re exploring the idea with a completely fictional character, you’re the one who’s thinking about it, who’s putting it on the page. It’s in your brain. Somewhere. And what does this say about you? I wonder if a guy like Stephen King worries about this stuff. He manages to write some of the most fucked up characters imaginable and I’ve often heard people say, “Thank God he’s a writer,” even after praising his imagination. The suggestion, of course, is that if he wasn’t a writer, he’d be one of those fucked up characters. And, when you look at it that way, what a nasty thing to say about a writer…
I’ve noticed in myself and humanity as a whole that even the best of us feel this need to undercut anyone who’s successful. We have to find the faults. We have to take them down. That’s one way of bringing them to our level. The other way would be empathy – realizing that no matter the talent or success of somebody, they still love, hate, fear, and worry about what people think of them, just like we do. It’s hard, when someone like Stephen King makes it look so easy. But next time, instead of saying, “Thank God he’s a writer,” I’m going to simply thank him for doing what he’s doing, which is paving the way for other writers to think strange thoughts and write about the possibilities those thoughts open up… and not feel guilty about it.
Good job anti-mosque folks. You now hate freedom and democracy. The terrorists have won.{ 08/24/10 5:01 PM }
The Overton Window should be required motivational reading for any struggling writer – you'll never be more of a hack than Mr. Beck.{ 08/16/10 9:33 PM }
Who's hungry? (aka: don't flush fat down your toilets!) http://bit.ly/b13VT3{ 07/15/10 3:35 PM }
Pointer no. 4 to tea party folks: real protest movements aren't backed by big business. Can't be against the establishment & part of it.{ 07/09/10 4:41 PM }
Pointer no. 3 to tea party folks from the left: oil companies are being subsidized through your taxes too. Something to think about.{ 07/09/10 4:36 PM }