cliche, creativity

I write here what I am thinking, despite the cliche, and truly because of it. I am not alone when I affirm that all forms of art and creativity are crucial to our survival. Though I rarely create artifacts of creativity, I am fortunate to find other outlets. Creativity to me is about building relationships, playing games, thinking and most importantly, sharing those sparkling moments. Sometimes an inspiring experience can be recorded and shared. These recordings and designs literally echo through our lives -- resonating differently for each of us.

The market naturally harnesses such a crucial and commodifiable aspect our ourselves. When art enters the market, it takes on a new shape -- it becomes about advantage, about gimmick, about competition. Before the market, art could not be cliche. Yet, sometimes because of it, all we can see is cliche.

There are some wonderful recordings, institutions, and other creative artifacts that strongly resonate with me. I must accept that the market has used its own means to shape these tastes ... but I cannot give up on creativity because of it. Because these forms are in competition, we've become conditioned to a mode of critique. I think my own experience, of periodically debilitating cynicism towards most every art form, sport, institution, and intellectual pursuit is not uncommon. Through thoughtful critique we negotiate the market, but we must equally kindle the sparks of creativity that make life worth living.

***... need to add something about consuming versus creating .

Reframing

All of this restated another way: as our world becomes more polluted, as our population grows and land and natural resources become scarce, the only way forward is technological advancement and efficiency, driven and implemented by the market. These processes, on their own, drive us towards social inequality. It should be relatively easy to regulate industry, promote birth control, and take other actions which decrease the need for further technological implementation and efficiencies -- but recent history has show us otherwise. In this context, it is even more difficult to image taking action which would actually reverse our dependence on technology and the market. But can the actions of individuals or groups of like-minded people make enough of an impact?

Also, the things that many people say they'd like more of are not necessarily provided or enhanced by the market: leisure time, sleeping better, family life, love, health, etc.

Haiti a victim of urban-centric development policies

Heard today on NPR: Haiti suffers from a legacy of industrial export oriented development policies with neglect for development of broad based, rural oriented policies (which would have been focused on things such as universal education and agricultural development policies) ... echoes experiences in so many other countries, but with more overt neocolonial underpinnings

priviledge and radicalism

So many suicide bombers are coming from privileged backgrounds (Balawi, Abdulmutalla, etc.) ... living in W. Philly, can't help to notice a concentration of privilege especially within the most dogmatic anachist/radical circles ... what does this mean?

Urban Social Cohesion and Schizophrenia

wow ... nice to see science connecting up with these ideas:

• Putting Madness in Its Place: Can the Environment Explain Schizophrenia's Hereditary Patterns?: Scientific American