A Rejection of Capitalism
When I was in the seventh grade we studied the Communist Manifesto. We didn’t read the whole thing but the first chapter; Bourgeois and Proletarians, .. that was enough to put the zap on me. I had never before seen so many of my own observations, feelings and instincts that I had about the world, so well articulated.
But I was also raised a capitalist in a society that revolves around commerce and consumption. My parents ran small businesses and for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been on the lookout for a way to make a buck. Marketing appeals to my creative side. The problem is, …what’s been keeping me from riches… I’m not very smart and I make bad decisions. And…I’m missing the teeth of a capitalist. I don’t like making money off of my friends and generally feel guilty when I take strangers’ money. Especially if it’s for something I enjoyed doing anyway.
Capitalism is predatory. In the song Three Days by Jane’s Addiction, there’s a line: “without game men pray on each other”. It draws from the worst parts of the human condition. It encourages people to hoard more resources than they would ever need while letting others starve.
Advertisements work very simply. By making you depressed that you don’t have the product or service being sold. We’ve made an industry of making people depressed. We give awards for it.
Even I have tried for years to try to come up with a way to monetize Rabid Gorilla with no solution. And that’s what I was doing wrong. Rabid Gorilla only works when I’m doing it out of the love of doing it. When I’m chasing the almighty dollar I’m working and this is my hobby, …not a job.
I am done with the hypocrisy. I can no longer criticize the system while at the same time trying to work it. I will not be monetizing the content, added paid advertisements, or selling information. I have adjusted the prices at my Printify store to be as low as possible. I wanted to make Rabid Gorilla merchandise available, but I will not profit from people promoting the site. I may not have a solution, but I won’t be a part of the problem anymore.
This is the way.