I must have signed a waiver at some point stating that, as an artist, I will accept my starving wages and never ever learn about how money works, let alone what it actually is. Turns out, most people, artists or not, have signed a similar waiver because I’ve been asking friends about money and answers are scarce. I don’t claim to know how this technology works; not all the ins and outs of how others have made it work, anyway. But I do understand that at its absolute base, money simply is an agreed upon abstract value for which we exchange our energy. The formula is obvious and simple:
ENERGY= MONEY
You energy can be expressed in the form of a service (teaching, mining, acting, serving, coding, advocating, judging, managing, fucking, healing, landscaping, writing *😂 *, etc.) and/or a product (skittles, alcohol, drugs, fuel, room, food, education, music, Substack *🥴*, etc.) Sometimes it can be rewarded with a gift (charity, panhandling, college fund, inheritance, a house, Ko-fi *😉 *, etc ) and sometimes it can be forced upon you without consent (scammed with or without knowledge, at a point of a gun, etc). Whatever the transaction, there was energy spent. And if you never thought “money” was your jam, consider this post as a nudge to finally open up that can. Not only because it’s a pillar of our society, but also because we’re on a precipice of profound change in the way this technology functions, and if we don’t learn about it now, that change will be the Trojan Horse that carries unescapable enslavement in its equine belly. That is not an overestimation; deep down, you already know what it’s like to slave for a system that keeps you in a hamster wheel.
I’ve been lucky to have made some great connections through this stack and some of them have shared resources that were finally able to course correct my financial aloofness. If you’re looking for a place to start, here’s a video (h/t Mark):
I’ve been collecting several resources to share in an article about money, but the more I learn about it, the less likely that behemoth task is only going to take one article. So, perhaps, thoughts and resources and the occasional musical parody will be released in short posts like this one, but I strongly urge you to start looking into it on your own; there’s a lot out there. Because as bad as it is now, nothing compares to what is coming down to pipeline. The smell of green blood is in the air. Banks are starting to crash and the most likely scenario is that we will be left with about 6 conglomerate banking options to choose from by the year 2025. The Adverse Events Telegram Chat couldn’t resist getting The Spike Girls together again for another parody, this one exploring the world of money through dank memes. I was going to release it with the last bank crash, but perhaps it’s even more apropos on the eve of another debt ceiling raise. And since there will be lots more crashing incoming, we’ll get working on more of these ear worms to brighten up our slow motion Thelma and Louise style cliff dive. Tons of gratitude for Air Lift Underground and Nick DuFloth for coming through last minute and The Spike Girls who continue to show up with humour and courage, even spread across different countries, even with cellphone recording equipment. Don’t be judgy, art knows no tech limitations.
So, please give the video at the top a gander (it’s 3 minutes) and if you feel like sharing on other platforms here are some choices:
Rough waters ahead, friends. Buckle up!
(Sorry, I couldn’t resist)
The author of Visceral Adventure believes in the gift economy and therefore offers all content with no paywall, asking you to contribute whatever amount feels good to you. Since value is unique and subjective, only you can decide what (if any) contribution is gifted at this time. All contributions benefit and support my family.
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Money Money Money