There was a time when it seemed like music could change the world. In the days of three TV channels and no Internet, music was one of the most effective ways to introduce new ideas and perspectives.
The Beatles were perhaps the prime example of a band that changed the world through music. In the early days, they were a boy band singing about girls. In a few short years, they became massively popular and recognized the potential to do something with their global platform. Thanks to their enormous musical talent and charisma, The Beatles were able to challenge the status quo, question conventional wisdom, and inspire millions around the world to follow a different path. They changed the world and they also changed pop and rock music forever by inspiring so many other artists to do the same.
Up through the mid 1990's, the media environment remained similar to how it was in 1960. Music remained the most effective commercial channel to change the world with art and ideas (and to get rich doing it). With the introduction of the music video format, the post-punk bands of the early 1980's immediately recognize the power of combining music with the right message and the right images. This is the era I grew up in. When I was in High School, the lyrics of my favorite songs were sometimes the only thing I had to feel that I belonged in this world. Listening to my favorite songs felt like walking through a mysterious gate to some adventurous, unlimited future.
Even today, nothing speaks to our hearts and minds quite as directly and powerfully as music. But music no longer plays the enormous role it used to in changing the world. Something significant changed, and I'm not just referring to music. Today there is no shortage of ideas and information. We can read any book, blog, news source, or podcast. Information is, of course, available and free. So with so much brilliance, truth, inspiration, and "digital everything" at our finger-tips...and with gadgets to access all of it in our pockets...why isn't the world changing?
I have an answer. There was perhaps a time when one could change the world by changing people's hearts and minds. Artists, radicals, and activists all attempt to create change by convincing and persuading an audience. The problem we have to finally recognize today, however, is that even when this works...nothing will change. Even if we speak truth, show truth, make it visual, audible, and in everyone's face...nothing will change and never will if this is as far as we go.
The problem is that there is an underlying assumption that democracy exists. We believe that, if we can change people's opinions, they will ultimately vote differently and we will see change. But it is time that we begin to see that democracy no longer exists. Not in a real sense.
We live not as free people capable of changing the world, but as subjects within an unchangeable system. This is a system that operates above and outside of democracy. There are laws and forces which are untouchable to protect a system that is unquestionable. It is a system governed not by elected officials, but by other powerful individuals. It is a system where corporations are in control of what actually happens (not people), the financial world controls our behavior, big oil fuels all of it, and massive militaries exist to protect it.
No democratic government can do anything to change this system because elected officials are subject to it just as we all are. Elected officials, even the President of the United States, has only very limited power. What we call democracy today has only to do with cultural issues, entitlements, infrastructure, schools, etc. But the unchangeable system is becoming so powerful that it is swallowing-up even this. Our voices, our opinions, and our votes are essentially powerless in the face of an untouchable system.
Some of us are still crazy enough to want to change the world. It is in our nature to try and we have no real choice in the matter. Perhaps it is time that we more effectively direct our energies. While the system cannot be changed, the networked world has made it possible to create alternate systems. "We live, within and outside these institutions, but in our own place." - The System by Abscondo
Recognizing the truth of our current condition is not enough. Talking about facts and spreading ideas is not enough. Activism and "standing up to power" is a joke because this kind of power simply will not change. What indie musicians, writers, and activists are doing is essentially asking someone else to do something. We are all saying, "Listen to me, we have to change this!" while providing no viable way to do so.
We, those of us who still want to change the world, have to change our approach. Creating art is noble and makes life beautiful and worth living. But art is no longer the way to change the world. The self-sacrifice of activism also deserves enormous respect, bit it too will not change the world. We need to stop asking the system to change because we will never have any influence over it. Let it be.
The way forward is to build our own alternate systems. We need to create something better. Something that serves our needs, improves our lives, helps us reach our potential and enables us to fulfill our dreams. Something that enables us to "opt-out" as much as possible from a system that is destroying the world.
The best way to change the world in 2013 is through an Internet start-up. Google and Facebook are, today, what John Lennon and the Beetles were in the '60's. Much more can still be done to change the world with the Internet. But, for the reasons I've articulated, we have to get past simply sharing information!
We have to use the Internet as a virtual economic system in which we can, indeed, live within and outside of these institutions. We can invent whatever kinds of systems we want and they can be governed by whatever rules we want. I've had a specific idea for 10 years and I've begun the enormous process of trying to carry it through. I'm looking for the right partners and for the kind of funding required to make this vision come true.
While I will always continue creating music and sharing ideas, I have also reached a maturity and time in life that it is my calling to give this start-up a shot if it is at all possible. I don't believe in compromise and sacrifice, so I will go down this path just as I remain 100% committed to my family, my band, and to everything and everyone I hold dear. I also still want to have some fun and relax from time-to-time! Good things are on the way.