Am I populist or popularizing?
Sadly, I think it may be the latter. A comment on my Economics of Innovation (1/11/05) post really got me thinking. I compared the VC landscape favorably to the record biz, saying it was more productive. I never said it was the best example of free market economy, only that it took more risk and promoted more true growth.
Yes, it got carried away with excitement, as we all did, when the internet seemed like an instantaneous promised land. Now, it's back to pre-boom levels, some $4.3B in Q3 of '04, a level not seen since Q1 of '98. We may still see some contraction because the growth rate has barely been exceeding the return of the Dow on a 10 year or 20 yr. basis (for 10 yr. it's 9.9 for S&P, 11.2 for NASDAQ & 12.9 for all private equity & there is even less differential at the 20 yr. mark, per Money Tree) I do not see any undue optimism in the VC world now, though things are definitely picking up.
But, the guy had a point. In focusing so much of this blog on popular culture, I don't exactly have clean hands. Popular culture does basically equal big business and is part of the problem.
But, I don't care. I'm hooked, ok? I'm only human. This stuff is my mothers milk. Carol Brady was more of a mother to me than my real one, who was a bit too real. If I turn off popular culture, I'll be hopelessly out of it. It is not a realistic position. Why should I have to suffer nightmares because I brought my son to McDonalds? I sent him my Super-Size post, isn't that good enough? Do I have to buy him Steal This Book? What's a mother to do?
What's a fucking blogger to do? Do I have to go back to my progressive radio mentality, when I listened to every record the labels sent us, because now that is impossible. There is so much music on the internet alone right now, no human could ever listen to it all.
Yes, I could scour these indie sights for great new music and films. I'm telling you, that is a great business opportunity. Hey, I posted about Corporate America Rocks...ok, I'll do more of that but it's a lot of work. I think the best I can do for now is recommend, again, sites like Soundclick and the others I mentioned in my 1/13/05 post, and expand my list of links. Mostly, I spend my indie time on my own projects and promote those.
I write about Dylan & Elton & major films & TV trends. So, I'm a popularizer, not a populist. Populist means in accordance with the "rights, virtues & wisdom of the common people" (yes, I looked it up), popular just means suited to the tastes of the public. So, it's an interesting distinction. It reminds me of the following quote.
It's easy to lead a country where it wants to go. It's more difficult to lead a country where it does not want to go but which is the right way.
Rosalyn Carter said this, I'm sure, sometime after her husband was defeated by Ronald Reagan for President. Jimmy Carter, a principled humanitarian bravely tried to lead us out of a Vietnam/Nixon/OPEC depression only to throw in the towel with some crappy crisis of confidence speech. The bumbling, affable actor to replace him successfully led this country through a huge economic swell by scaring the living shit out of the "godless communists", breaking their backs. Cutie Frutti in the W-house is now on the same bender.
Naturally the common people don't want war, but after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along... all you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism.
Hermann Goerring
Anyway, it's a lot easier to be a popularizer than a populist. At the end of the day, "making the world a better place" is a very difficult, not to mention tricky, proposition. There have been tons of things I've done in my life trying to make myself, my kids, my family, my neighborhood, my church, my kids' schools, the community, the world better. But, who knows if anyone else thinks so, or cares, or is indeed "better".
So, before I go into some existential tailspin, to be a populist, I guess I would have to (among other things) assume the open source position, and those guys can be hard core. Hey, at least I'm off Microsoft. And, I only post either my own product or similar stuff, like the photos I found on Flickr, (except for the trailers, but aren't they cool?) I'm an artist and a mother, that's enough justification for my existence right now. For now I'll just have to be a baby revolutionary.
But, maybe that's what's needed. I could blog in a very insider/legal/VC style, as many of the more commercial bloggers do. But, in my life I try to relate to each person as I find them and I believe the goal of an artist is to reach the initiated and non, and to bring them up. Artists (or people in general) who become too obscure and insider don't impress me. All good art is for the people by the people, understandable by the people.
Yes, it got carried away with excitement, as we all did, when the internet seemed like an instantaneous promised land. Now, it's back to pre-boom levels, some $4.3B in Q3 of '04, a level not seen since Q1 of '98. We may still see some contraction because the growth rate has barely been exceeding the return of the Dow on a 10 year or 20 yr. basis (for 10 yr. it's 9.9 for S&P, 11.2 for NASDAQ & 12.9 for all private equity & there is even less differential at the 20 yr. mark, per Money Tree) I do not see any undue optimism in the VC world now, though things are definitely picking up.
But, the guy had a point. In focusing so much of this blog on popular culture, I don't exactly have clean hands. Popular culture does basically equal big business and is part of the problem.
But, I don't care. I'm hooked, ok? I'm only human. This stuff is my mothers milk. Carol Brady was more of a mother to me than my real one, who was a bit too real. If I turn off popular culture, I'll be hopelessly out of it. It is not a realistic position. Why should I have to suffer nightmares because I brought my son to McDonalds? I sent him my Super-Size post, isn't that good enough? Do I have to buy him Steal This Book? What's a mother to do?
What's a fucking blogger to do? Do I have to go back to my progressive radio mentality, when I listened to every record the labels sent us, because now that is impossible. There is so much music on the internet alone right now, no human could ever listen to it all.
Yes, I could scour these indie sights for great new music and films. I'm telling you, that is a great business opportunity. Hey, I posted about Corporate America Rocks...ok, I'll do more of that but it's a lot of work. I think the best I can do for now is recommend, again, sites like Soundclick and the others I mentioned in my 1/13/05 post, and expand my list of links. Mostly, I spend my indie time on my own projects and promote those.
I write about Dylan & Elton & major films & TV trends. So, I'm a popularizer, not a populist. Populist means in accordance with the "rights, virtues & wisdom of the common people" (yes, I looked it up), popular just means suited to the tastes of the public. So, it's an interesting distinction. It reminds me of the following quote.
It's easy to lead a country where it wants to go. It's more difficult to lead a country where it does not want to go but which is the right way.
Rosalyn Carter said this, I'm sure, sometime after her husband was defeated by Ronald Reagan for President. Jimmy Carter, a principled humanitarian bravely tried to lead us out of a Vietnam/Nixon/OPEC depression only to throw in the towel with some crappy crisis of confidence speech. The bumbling, affable actor to replace him successfully led this country through a huge economic swell by scaring the living shit out of the "godless communists", breaking their backs. Cutie Frutti in the W-house is now on the same bender.
Naturally the common people don't want war, but after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along... all you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism.
Hermann Goerring
Anyway, it's a lot easier to be a popularizer than a populist. At the end of the day, "making the world a better place" is a very difficult, not to mention tricky, proposition. There have been tons of things I've done in my life trying to make myself, my kids, my family, my neighborhood, my church, my kids' schools, the community, the world better. But, who knows if anyone else thinks so, or cares, or is indeed "better".
So, before I go into some existential tailspin, to be a populist, I guess I would have to (among other things) assume the open source position, and those guys can be hard core. Hey, at least I'm off Microsoft. And, I only post either my own product or similar stuff, like the photos I found on Flickr, (except for the trailers, but aren't they cool?) I'm an artist and a mother, that's enough justification for my existence right now. For now I'll just have to be a baby revolutionary.
But, maybe that's what's needed. I could blog in a very insider/legal/VC style, as many of the more commercial bloggers do. But, in my life I try to relate to each person as I find them and I believe the goal of an artist is to reach the initiated and non, and to bring them up. Artists (or people in general) who become too obscure and insider don't impress me. All good art is for the people by the people, understandable by the people.
posted by Intervision at 9:38 AM
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