[MD] SOPA and PIPA

[Carl Thames]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tuukka Virtaperko" <mail at tuukkavirtaperko.net>
To: <moq_discuss at moqtalk.org>
Sent: Friday, January 20, 2012 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: [MD] SOPA and PIPA


> Mark, Horse
>
> Mark to Horse:
>
>>  I understand your position as a musician.
>
>
> Tuukka:
>
> I'm also an artist. But I favor basic income guarantee with the absence of 
> welfare traps. This entails that if a person, for example, needs a guitar 
> and a few gadgets, he can go work into a factory for a few months. Then 
> he's free to quit and make the songs he wants. This is enough for a lot of 
> activity. Movies and big production will of course require more funding.

Carl:
In Ireland, if a poet manages to get a book published, the govt. will 
provide a stipend so they can write full-time.  Here, poetry is the poorest 
paid genre there is.  It's a different attitude.  Does Finland provide a 
stipend for artists?  I know in some countries in Africa, when a child is 
discovered to have an artistic talent, they are set up with a place to live 
and practice, and produce art.  That becomes their job.  The people of the 
village or whatever all chip in and support the artist.  Their attitude is 
that everyone in the village benefits from the art, therefore it's only 
appropriate that they support the artist.

Tuukka:
> Thing is, I don't think it makes any sense whatsoever to expect an artist 
> to make a living with his art. It's allowed, sure, but that's it. I don't 
> think artists should be pressured to sell out. It makes them attain a 
> slave mentality in which their purpose is to please the masses instead of 
> really giving people something to think about, that is, creating actually 
> ampliative mental input.

Carl:
That is the flaw in the American system.  Here, it is believed that, "If 
it's any good, somebody will pay to hear/see it."  Commercial success 
becomes the gauge for art here.  I worked as a free-lance writer for several 
years, and ended up writing a bunch of crap that I had no real interest in 
just to make enough money to live on.  Doing that actually kills your soul, 
I think.  It certainly kills any innovation.  You have to do what everyone 
wants in order to get paid to do it.  Instead of writing stories about the 
human condition, I ended up writing about truck suspensions.  Bleech.  I 
finally stopped because I didn't like what I was becoming.  There is a 
saying here:  "You can make a million dollars writing, but you can't make a 
living."  That's not totally true, if you don't mind writing about truck 
suspensions....

Tuukka:
> This kind of thinking is not very American, but it has a track record of 
> working. When Americans wonder, why Finland has such high scores in PISA, 
> people don't remember to mention that we don't have private schools here. 
> It's essential, but Americans would prefer not to hear about it, because 
> generally, it does not suit their habits of thinking how things ought to 
> be. The American way of thinking seems to be that people ought to value 
> education as a commercial resource instead of viewing information and 
> knowledge as assets that are not subordinate to commercial matters. True, 
> Pirsig is an exception. He does view this thing like Finns and the Nordic 
> countries in generally do, and to be sure, he has ancestry in Sweden.

Carl:
The majority of Americans view education as a path to more money.  Period. 
I went to a small private college here for a year, and met so many young 
people there that were filling in a box on their resume it was ridiculous. 
Because I'm older, (56) many of them asked me why I was there.  I told them 
because I love to learn.  They gave me a non-comprehending look.  It was 
really sad.

Tuukka:
> Horse, what kind of music do you make? Here's one song by me, in case you 
> are interested: http://www.todellisuudenomistaja.net/?p=2868

Carl:
I listened to the song and actually had a visceral reaction to it.  Thank 
you.  I don't know what it means, but it was an interesting experience.  My 
personal preferences are for melodic music with distinct, understandable 
lyrics.  Either that, or Jazz. <G>  Anyway, I liked the song.  I don't know 
if I would buy it, but I know my worldview in regard to  music is now 
broader.


Carl