Reading Notes: The Pirate’s Dilemma Ch 1

AP Language. Mon, May 18th, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Themes: , ,

Arthur Rimbaud Image from Wikimedia Never thought hair could be so important, eh? Mason begins with an explanation of Richard Myers’s (Richard Hell’s) hairstyle, and why this iconic image (and the DIY lifestyle choices it implies) are relevant to the discussion of what to do with pirates and rebels in their many incarnations. Hint: It has to do with “knowing one’s enemy.” Of course, the larger question is whether these individuals who have cast themselves out from society are “enemies” or not. (I’m betting not, at least as we’re used to thinking of them.)

 

Mason’s point that the punk DIY mentality has outlived the music in its original form is an interesting one (Mason 12). Of course, DIY is not new; it has been borne of necessity in previous generations, but the fact that (until recently, of course) people chose to turn to creating their own possessions rather than purchasing them is a major paradigm shift. Now we have Instructables and Threadbanger (the latter has obvious ties straight to the Punk culture).

 

Punk is dead: Punk memorabilia auction at Christie’s

Time Magazine’s Photo Essay on the 30th Anniversary of Punk Music.

Depression Cooking with Clara

 

“Youth cultures often embody some previously invisible, unacknowledged feeling in society and give it an identity” (Mason 13).

 

What do you think of Mason’s list of artistic movements that were based on the subversion of ideas (Mason 15)? You are familiar with Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans, right?

 

Mason’s “the world was a stage, now it’s a punk rock concert” analogy is inspired:

 

“At punk shows the band and the fans occupy the same space, as equals” (Mason 19).

 

Maybe a bit of summer reading would drive this point home.  We can talk about Ori Brafman and Rod A. Beckstrom’s The Starfish and the Spider tomorrow, but the essential point of the book is that organizations with a hierarchical structure (as Mason argues that the consumer world is on page 17 and 18) are easily broken, highly inflexible, and under great risk of corruption (think Chrysler and recent failed banks) while organizations with a non-hierarchical structure (all members equal in authority and responsibility) are much more hardy, flexible, and self-policing (see Wikipedia and, as Mason argues, punk rock concerts and the new incarnation of the DIY movement).

 

In an interesting twist, however, Mason outlines the “establishment’s” co-opting of the DIY message.

 

“Antiestablishment slogans became the hallmark of big

businesses interested in promoting themselves by supposedly empowering us with the D.I.Y. ethic” (Mason 22).

 

Starbucks has their Ethos water (though they’re still selling bottled water), and of course, the recent “green movement” is simply another extension of this. It may be good for the environment, but it’s better for the company. The question remains: Is this such a bad thing? Starbucks claims that they have raised over $6.2 million for charities, and Tom’s Shoes has implemented a “buy one donate one” program since they began operating. Mason argues that this type of “punk capitalism” (26) strongly illustrates the desire of consumers nowadays to subvert the system.

 

My favorite site (well, one of them) perfectly illustrates his explanation of “creative destruction” (26). Etsy is an online marketplace where creative individuals can sell their handmade items worldwide. Without going through a large box store. Think Radiohead’s In Rainbows.

 

…and we’re back where we began.

Costs of the Red Campaign

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