It\u2019s often said that it\u2019s easier to imagine the end of the world than a world without capitalism. As artists, we have the unique ability to create and envision a future that is both desirable and irresistible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not an expert on economics, but I have some reflections on why our current system doesn\u2019t serve us well, especially as artists and individuals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of us interact with the world through technology and the Internet, which are dominated by a few major players. The free market thrives on competition, but today, it seems these big players are<\/em> the market, setting the rules with little to no competition. This is particularly concerning in the age of AI, where these companies also control the necessary infrastructure, something not everyone can build or maintain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A common argument is that the market has the power to heal itself. However, I believe this self-healing capability is not applicable here for two reasons. First, these companies essentially are<\/em> the market. Second, the healing process could take too long, causing significant damage before any positive effects are seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Moreover, we, the consumers, have become the product. We didn\u2019t sign up for this. We gave these companies our data for free in exchange for their services. But once we were locked in, the real clients became the companies using our data, not us. This situation has led to what Diablo Cory calls \u201censhitification\u201d We became kind of modern voluntary slaves to the system. The services provided by these big tech companies no longer serve us well. Instead, they want us to keep locked in, often by keeping us enraged and filled with fear and hate, which is the opposite of creating meaningful connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As artists, we struggle to be seen and appreciated for who we are and what we do. The Internet once promised direct connections and the free exchange of ideas. However, in today\u2019s attention economy, this connection has become a highly valuable asset. The interests of Internet companies now lie in keeping us locked in, rather than fostering genuine connections. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To create meaningful connections with our peers and those we seek to serve, we need to step away from the Internet and technology. We must engage in old-fashioned, personal connections. The Internet can amplify these connections, but we must first step out of our comfort zones and show up as individuals. This requires vulnerability and a willingness to be seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These thoughts are still theoretical for me, and I\u2019m working on putting them into practice. I invite you to share your thoughts and comments. Let\u2019s continue this conversation and explore how we can create a better future together. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As artists, we have the power to envision a future that is both desirable and irresistible. Our current system doesn\u2019t serve us well and we have to break free from tech-dominated systems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":952,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-zen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":955,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951\/revisions\/955"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesszenlife.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}