Our world is changing

[misk]

Okay, so we all know what's been happening lately with the US economy. I work next to an indian casino, and this week, there was close to no one there. I went to "Beverages and More" the other day to pick up some wine and my friend who works there told me that they've had almost no customers this week.

Obviously things change, and times change. Obviously this "economic disaster" has only been REALLY bad for a few weeks, but it must be pretty bad out there if people aren't even drinking and gambling...

That being said, the world is going to experience drastic changes in our lifetimes. I hear people complain about music and film becoming more and more devalued, I have an ipod with well over 5,000 songs on it, and i dont even remember what i have on it, or who's on there.

I, personally, think that, as times get worse, people will focus more on locally grown food, and choose to support local artists and artisans as opposed to larger corporations. I (want to) believe that the concept of the "city" as a major unit by which we measure distance and residence, will change. Perhaps we will focus more on the "community" or "tribe" if you will. I believe that live performances will replace recorded music and film as people strive to regain the feeling of the visceral experience of performance art, over the canned, impersonal recorded song, or film. This is all speculation, and i really have no idea what's going to happen.

But... what do you think is going to happen? will we see this drastic change in our own lifetimes? We talk a lot on this forum about the value of music, and film, and the arts, as well as politics and society. It's easy to tell people what they're doing wrong.

How do you think this will all tie together? Play the futurist for a moment and tell me what you'd like to see... obviously this is just for fun, but it would be interesting to get different people's opinions of what they think is to come.

[djelements]

80s electro comes back.
That's what's gonna happen.

[bellybelle]

i really hope for a revival in numerous ways. i hope it does come back down to an emphasis on personal interaction and liveness... and i hope there is an awakening of sorts where individuals can bond with each other and blend and create artistic hybrids that in turn seep into communities at large.

i realize when i say things like this that i sound like a hippy. i'm having less and less trouble with this.

i hope for several kinds of awakening. one which would be impressive would be an awakening from the bondage of media, which i actually think is slowly coming about. another, perhaps, about deep inner health. but i think the biggest would be realizing the power communities actually hold. and using these little pockets without ego to shape the consciousness of the next age and those who are open to it from this one.

[setspeed]

you've tied a lot of stuff together here, i think.

regardless of the economic stuff, i would say you're right about the music etc. it's becoming ever harder to make a living through music sales, so musicians are looking to make money from gigs/DJ sets/live shows/touring etc. (ultimately, the fact that more and more people are doing this will mean more competition and it will get harder too). also, the fact that music is so ubiquitous is having a bit of a detrimental effect too. in the 70s, if you wanted to hear some cutting edge music, you would probably have to head down to some Can gig, which would mean travelling, finding out about it etc. Now, if you want cutting edge music it'll be on an advert for toothpaste or assaulting your ears on the bus from a mobile phone or whatever. then you go round to your mate's house and he's just downloaded Reason and wants to play you this cool loop he's done. you can't escape it! so it is devalued in that sense.

the internet has also raised possibilities in forming subcultures as well. there are now scenes (breakbeat for one) that are so geographically diverse they couldn't have existed 10 years ago. if you've got a scene that is selling 200 copies of stuff in the country it's based in, it's basically dead. but now with this access to information everywhere, people can find out about new labels easily; you can do 200 in the UK, 100 in Spain, Hungary, Oz, the US, Germany etc, and all of a sudden labels are breaking even and selling a thousand, without having a solid base in any one place. could it spread out even more thinly? have these subcultures where only a dozen people in any one city are into it, but they all link up over the internet to form a scene where people are producing art for each other anyway? (i suppose that's eminently possible in a 'scene' that doesn't necessarily involve social gatherings like club music or theatre. photography or painting or literature....)

the culture or tribe thing is interesting. i'm typing this in a tower block in the czech republic, and i know that loads - possibly even a majority - of people in this building are 'russian' (soviet anyway). there's a russian shop in the next building. so even though we're in a czech city there's a russian 'tribe' here. how much they interact at the moment is debatable though - there are some chechens next door so i'm not sure they'd be too friendly with the moscow crew!

interesting times...

[parson]

check this out
Lost middle-class tribe's 'secret' eco-village in Wales, snips:

"For five happy years they enjoyed simple lives in their straw and mud huts.

Generating their own power and growing their own food, they strived for self-sufficiency and thrived in homes that looked more suited to the hobbits from The Lord of the Rings.

Then a survey plane chanced upon the 'lost tribe'... and they were plunged into a decade-long battle with officialdom.

Yesterday that fight, backed by more modern support for green issues, ended in victory.

In 1998, it was spotted when sunlight was seen glinting off a solar panel on the main building, which was built from straw bales, timber and recycled glass.

When the pilot reported back, officials were unable to find any records, let alone planning permission, for the mystery hillside village surrounded by trees and bushes.

The 22 villagers fought planners even when they were within hours of the bulldozers moving in to demolish their eight homes.

Now, however, they can celebrate, thanks to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority's 'sustainability' policy."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... plane.html

[claw]

Voted tastiest food at the Texas State Fair this year. Chicken Fried Bacon.



truely great times to be alive!

[diablo]

Armageddon

[nousd]

^Change and challenge.

Recession, even depression, has been lived thru before.
Will it mean people become less greedy? Doubt it. Both rich and poor are greedy.
Will it provide opportunity for change? Yes, incremental change...largely because debt will have to be addressed and discretionary spending reviewed.
I'd love to know that this will bring communities together in mutual support. I can see it does for this on-line community but I'm not so sure about the community outside my frontdoor.
Herein lies a challenge to me: to stay open, to remain global-minded, to be as generous as possible outside family even as I may suffer some financial setbacks, job loss, standard of living decline.
Bangla Desh should be kept in mind for 2 reasons. 1. The people are a lot poorer than we'll ever be. 2. Grameen Bank and community-based initiatives are alleviating that poverty with microeconomic concern for the most disadvantaged. Presently that's not us.

[drksteppa]

"only thing thats constant, is change"

[deamonds]

misk your earlier point about us eating more local produce etc...

as tesco is now the biggest employer in the UK, and with farmers having to shut down as they wont pay a fair amount for milk (which i think is disgusting) I cant really see us eating more local produce..

To be honest though, I think that the way that everything is in recession, and everything is failing...isnt this just the rich fuck's companies who we give milllions & millions to a year failing...nothing else???...but the way the media & everything portrays it (as they obviously benefit from them) dont help the scaremongering....

Lets go back to basics

[LEQ]

That story is interesting Parson, but when you get to the bits that read -

The current residents now run businesses such as courses in furniture making and sustainable living for around £95 a head.

On their website they explain: 'We are eight big people and four little ones who choose to live here: working, eating, meeting and laughing togethe

The kids watch DVDs and we run a business from the farm

It seems a bit Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

[deamonds]

Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

do you think someone sells a "live of the land" type experiance..?

[ashley]

Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

do you think someone sells a "live of the land" type experiance..?

It's called being homeless and job center.

[kins83]

Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

do you think someone sells a "live of the land" type experiance..?

Now that, right there, is a killer idea. So many rich idiots would pay through the nose for a taste of the 'sustainable lifestyle'. Wankers.

Reckon you could be onto something there mate.

[ashley]

Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

do you think someone sells a "live of the land" type experiance..?

Now that, right there, is a killer idea. So many rich idiots would pay through the nose for a taste of the 'sustainable lifestyle'. Wankers.

Reckon you could be onto something there mate.

Whats the point in being rich if you want a sustainable life?

[kins83]

Why choose to build a hidden village only to advertise a business you run from it online?

do you think someone sells a "live of the land" type experiance..?

Now that, right there, is a killer idea. So many rich idiots would pay through the nose for a taste of the 'sustainable lifestyle'. Wankers.

Reckon you could be onto something there mate.

Whats the point in being rich if you want a sustainable life?

There'll be plenty of people who would do it for a week just to see what it's like, then they can talk about it at dinner parties:

"Giles spoke to this ghastly man who hadn't washed for a week! He smelt disgusting. But I feel that we reduced our carbon footprint which is frightfully important these days, darling."

[deamonds]

it would cost fuck all to fund aswlel

[ashley]

I wish I won the lottery so I could start some new business ventures.

[deamonds]

robot prostitutes

invent & bring one 2 my house or shut uppppppp