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Andrew Keen Is An Idiot
Aug. 16th, 2007 11:54 pmSo I watched The Colbert Report tonight and somebody named Andrew Keen says I'm destroying civilization. His argument, as near as I can parse it, is that the rampant "theft" of "content" on the Internet is killing artists since they can't get anyone to pay for their work anymore.
This man is an idiot. He's never seen anyone make a living through a webcomic, for example. (One may raise the objection that only a precious few earn a decent living through artistic output- but that's always been true. Not that Mr. Keen will let the facts get in the way of his pining for a bygone age when, as an "intellectual", he would have been empowered to decide what was important.)
What he is really decrying is the loss of importance suffered by cultural gatekeepers. Since anyone can and does publish opinion pieces such as this one you're reading, no inferences can be drawn about the quality of an opinion piece based on where it is presented. Taken to its logical extreme, the 'net will destroy the Op-Ed pages of the Wall Street Journal- but this is not the same as destroying "culture."
To be a "professional", in the sense of Mr. Keen, is to have some degree or certification conferred on one by some sort of authority. Particularly in the case of art, I can't imagine anything less relevant. Works of art will still be produced and "culture" will thrive. What will be lost is the privileged position of men like Mr. Keen, who will no longer be able to dictate what "culture" is by virtue of controlling access to the public.
Awww. Poor thing.
Musicians won't starve. Writers won't starve. New payment schemes will evolve that will let audiences support creators, because audiences always need a new fix. In the worst case, society will return to the idea of patronage- wealthy individuals will support artists because those individuals will gain prestige through the art they patronize. There are many things about this possibility that I dislike, but no one who has ever been to an art museum can call patronage the death of culture.
No one who gives the matter a moment's thought, at any rate. I don't know about Andrew Keen.
This man is an idiot. He's never seen anyone make a living through a webcomic, for example. (One may raise the objection that only a precious few earn a decent living through artistic output- but that's always been true. Not that Mr. Keen will let the facts get in the way of his pining for a bygone age when, as an "intellectual", he would have been empowered to decide what was important.)
What he is really decrying is the loss of importance suffered by cultural gatekeepers. Since anyone can and does publish opinion pieces such as this one you're reading, no inferences can be drawn about the quality of an opinion piece based on where it is presented. Taken to its logical extreme, the 'net will destroy the Op-Ed pages of the Wall Street Journal- but this is not the same as destroying "culture."
To be a "professional", in the sense of Mr. Keen, is to have some degree or certification conferred on one by some sort of authority. Particularly in the case of art, I can't imagine anything less relevant. Works of art will still be produced and "culture" will thrive. What will be lost is the privileged position of men like Mr. Keen, who will no longer be able to dictate what "culture" is by virtue of controlling access to the public.
Awww. Poor thing.
Musicians won't starve. Writers won't starve. New payment schemes will evolve that will let audiences support creators, because audiences always need a new fix. In the worst case, society will return to the idea of patronage- wealthy individuals will support artists because those individuals will gain prestige through the art they patronize. There are many things about this possibility that I dislike, but no one who has ever been to an art museum can call patronage the death of culture.
No one who gives the matter a moment's thought, at any rate. I don't know about Andrew Keen.
