Rebellious Aesthetics and Indie Capitalism

Boots Riley is not only one of my favourite contemporary musicians, he’s also an artist whose politics are radical in a way that seems to be relatively rare in the United States. A while ago he wrote something (in reference to outrage about Urban Outfitters selling a “Vintage Men’s Punk …

Statement of Principles

I have tried, for some time now, to avoid spending my time responding to slander. To a large degree I felt, and continue to feel, that anyone who actually reads what I’ve written or engages with any of the art I’ve produced, will realize that such accusations are absurd; doubly …

The joy of humanity

We’ve had some interesting conversations about the future of humanity and the limits of population growth on this blog in the past, and though I’ve become a little more cautious on the issue than I used to be, this video contains some really interesting thoughts that are worth considering. Optimism …

Identity and Disability

I’ve previously expressed the danger that I see in terms like “differently abled” – or rather in those people who make it a priority to change how we speak about disability instead of changing how we deal with it in economic and political terms. You could sum up the core …

Consolidate

I’d been meaning to write this for a while, before I got distracted by having to take care of some important business stuff. But this is a good opportunity to look back a little and talk about where we’re going. This has been a strange year, with lots of highs …

Controversial

Why is it controversial to say that governments should not be allowed to act in violation of their own constitutions, but spying on every single citizen is just something that happens? Why is it controversial to say that nations should not break international law, but definitely breaking international law to …

World English, English World

I love the English language. I genuinely do. I’m not writing in English because I have no other choice; location being (almost) everything, there might be many advantages to writing in German. And while I did recently have a book published in Greece and loved working on that, the truth …

The Bogeymen of the Indie Scene

Human beings have always been susceptible to bogeymen. It’s a lot easier to get angry at people instead of getting angry at systems. We are persons, so we seek to personify the world. Thunderbolts come from Zeus, pestilence comes from Yahweh and your indie game problems come from Jonathan Blow. …

Statement on Snowden

My statement on Edward Snowden has been added to the WSWS.org’s list: Once upon a time, before he was president, Barack Obama lauded the importance of whistle-blowers to a democratic society, promising that his administration would be the most transparent in history. Though it sounds like parody now, Mr. Obama …

The Internet Will Eat Your Babies

Ah, the internet! It’s democratized the arts, destroyed those evil gatekeepers, and finally made it possible for everyone to be heard! It has allowed people to form communities, to find new friends, to find audiences that they might never have had. Thanks to the internet, all that stands between you …