When the Deck Is Stacked Against You, Stop Playing Their Game
The stock market crashed today. China has been trying to have an American style stock market without our open government. It is not going well and we are all feeling the punch. It is a reminder of how lucky we are to have our system of government. We are lucky, but in a small world with global businesses, oceans don’t keep the trouble from reaching our shores, hence the sell off today. For better or worse, it is one big world and the butterfly flapping its wings in China can cause a tsunami here, at least for our stocks. It also goes the other way. What happens here affects other nations, even all nations, sometimes.
Well, something is happening here. I am just starting to get a handle of it, but what I know is this, as an artist I need to understand everything that affects what I create. I’ll be honest here, I want a successful career as an artist, a strange goal and one that can seem impossible, and does some days. For me, what that means is that I can pay my bills, make the art I want to make and even have a bit of fun money. I’m not shooting for Steven King or John Grisham sorts of planets. In traditional publishing, there used to be something called a midlist author, one who made enough money to justify the publisher’s investment, but never had a top selling hit. This is what I am shooting for. I also want to be part of a community of creators who feel the same way I do and want to support each other. That’s it. Well, that not all I want, but it’s a start.
I know what I want, and in order to get it, I need to get savvy about many things that I don’t understand and one of them is copyright law. I tend to believe you find what you need when you’re ready for it. I discovered a book by Cory Doctorow called The Internet Doesn’t Want To Be Free. He is a smart man who has been paying attention to what has been going down in the ongoing fight between entertainment companies, internet companies and copyright law. What I discovered is that nothing less than our right to privacy and against censorship is at stake, and if the entertainment industry has its way, we won’t have the first and they will invoke the second. What can you do? It seems so big, that the answer is nothing. Or you can take a risk. I’ve decided to take a risk. What can you do? You can give it away.
Well, something is happening here. I am just starting to get a handle of it, but what I know is this, as an artist I need to understand everything that affects what I create. I’ll be honest here, I want a successful career as an artist, a strange goal and one that can seem impossible, and does some days. For me, what that means is that I can pay my bills, make the art I want to make and even have a bit of fun money. I’m not shooting for Steven King or John Grisham sorts of planets. In traditional publishing, there used to be something called a midlist author, one who made enough money to justify the publisher’s investment, but never had a top selling hit. This is what I am shooting for. I also want to be part of a community of creators who feel the same way I do and want to support each other. That’s it. Well, that not all I want, but it’s a start.
I know what I want, and in order to get it, I need to get savvy about many things that I don’t understand and one of them is copyright law. I tend to believe you find what you need when you’re ready for it. I discovered a book by Cory Doctorow called The Internet Doesn’t Want To Be Free. He is a smart man who has been paying attention to what has been going down in the ongoing fight between entertainment companies, internet companies and copyright law. What I discovered is that nothing less than our right to privacy and against censorship is at stake, and if the entertainment industry has its way, we won’t have the first and they will invoke the second. What can you do? It seems so big, that the answer is nothing. Or you can take a risk. I’ve decided to take a risk. What can you do? You can give it away.
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