Look, I’m the first to admit that we young people are dumb: we are sex-crazed, druggy rock ‘n roll freaks who love Family Guy and fart jokes, but at least we care about the future. For us, most of our lives lie in the future. For old people, most of their lives lie in the past. I think that might be why old people are so stuck in their ways.
If you haven’t heard, the people who run The Pirate Bay were found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison and fines of about $4 million. This is nothing more than the older generation trying to stop the future from happening. By the way, they weren’t even convicted of sharing files illegally, or even sharing information about illegal files, but simply linking to information about illegal files which “aids and abets” the downloading of illegal files. This is nothing more than censorship.
I really hate people who try to stop change. As I mentioned previously in my blog post on Star Trek and Intellectual Property, a world in which information is free is one step closer to utopia. It’s nothing to be afraid of. If history has taught us anything, it’s that you can’t stop innovation.
Now, I don’t know a single 20-something or younger person who believes filesharing to be wrong (or gay marriage, or marijuana). Hopefully, once our generation takes over things will change.
BEST COMMENT: d00d — “this post is great!
it manages to offend baby boomers who are offended when you call them old, now that they are old. they were once considered cutting edge, hip and trendy.
it offends people who have no idea how to dispassionately read a blog. “i disagree with you! i am going to sit here and shout at my cat while i type a witty/obscene response and then go to bed grinding my teeth in frustration b/c i am not able to disassociate myself from my reading.”
it offends ignorant people, because they are ignorant. “you want to legalize things that i think should be illegal? why don’t you just legalize murder and rape while you are at it, since i think those things should be illegal, too.”
it offends otherwise smart people, who attempt to hold the 300 year tradition of copyright up as though it has lasted eons, and that those who violate it should be physically imprisoned for committing information related meta-crimes in the virtual world.
and it offends me. because the reaction to this piece shows how many ignorant, self-centered and egotistical buffoons are still stubbornly part of the problem.”
EDIT: I’m fully aware that not all old people are conservative and not all young people are liberal. However, most stereotypes have some amount of truth to them. My comment about the old generation was actually specifically relating to the filesharing part: a generation which knows absolutely NOTHING about computers (and therefore NOTHING about filesharing) should not be making laws against things they know nothing about. Although the old generation probably knows more about drugs and marriage than us young people (who have only been doing drugs for a few years and aren’t yet married), don’t even try to pretend you guys understand computers or the Internet. And I repeat, anybody who is against filesharing really has to read my blog post on Star Trek and Intellectual Property. For the record, I’m 26 years old, I do have a job, and my company has just recently started open sourcing its projects.
Tags: bittorrent, filesharing, freedom, future, gay marriage, intellectual property, marijuana, The Pirate Bay
Putting filesharing in the same cart as the other issues is….dumb. Now it’s true that there is copyright abuse, and it’s annoying that we buy chart music that is hyped to us, and what we are paying for is mostly the hype, which, frankly, we could do without. A lot of music seems cheap to make…but some of it isn’t. I’d kind of like symphony orchestras to continue to exist.
And what about movies? Good movies really do take money to make. If you destroy the revenue stream, you destroy the industry. All of it. You’ll destroy small independent producers too. You’ll destroy third movies, art movies, all of them — except for bedroom-made YouTube clips.
Filesharing is not creative here. If you want to be creative, then invent a new business model for movie producers that enables them to make money with cheap downloads.
Pay for what you use, fool.
d00d, you totally just made my entire week.
“this post is great!
it manages to offend baby boomers who are offended when you call them old, now that they are old. they were once considered cutting edge, hip and trendy.
it offends people who have no idea how to dispassionately read a blog. “i disagree with you! i am going to sit here and shout at my cat while i type a witty/obscene response and then go to bed grinding my teeth in frustration b/c i am not able to disassociate myself from my reading.”
it offends ignorant people, because they are ignorant. “you want to legalize things that i think should be illegal? why don’t you just legalize murder and rape while you are at it, since i think those things should be illegal, too.”
it offends otherwise smart people, who attempt to hold the 300 year tradition of copyright up as though it has lasted eons, and that those who violate it should be physically imprisoned for committing information related meta-crimes in the virtual world.
and it offends me. because the reaction to this piece shows how many ignorant, self-centered and egotistical buffoons are still stubbornly part of the problem.”
I give you 2 weeks before you start starving to death.
The problem isn’t the old fuddy duddies holding back a “utopia” where no one pays for media. The problem is that our generation needs to figure out a way to compensate artists who make things we like. I think good artists should get payed a good living to do what they do and if we figure out a good way to do it, artists won’t be beholden to the corporate interests that pay their bills.
A model is emerging where artists self distribute and get the money directly, but it is still primitive and those artists are just as likely to have their work pirated as any others. It’s up to us to figure out how to compensate the artists we love.
I don’t know. Maybe the cat is out of the bag and it isn’t going back in. Maybe the era of the rock star or blockbuster movie is over. Maybe all artists will just do their craft as a hobby and get real jobs and we’ll all share music with each other like the time before recording equipment where writing a song wouldn’t make you famous, but maybe the song could be. I prefer a world where an artist does art though. Lets figure something out.
It’s the “older generation” who is liberal, silly one.
As an old person, count me in as I’m still waiting for the elimination of all drug laws.
Gail you’re retarded if you say the older nation is liberal…. You must live in the deep south.
You think you got it bad? I put my boomers in the grave ten years ago, and I’m *still* taking care of their parents. FML.
I agree with your theory, eg – I’m younger and want filesharing, real freedom, gay marriage etc etc. However, it won’t happen. Because the older people are parents – and the system is set up for the baton to pass down to their children. It’s a closed forum dude and we are not invited.
Still, let them have what they think is reality. Because there is still file sharing, gay marriage, people taking drugs etc. And it all goes on without there permission.
So, in their face!
Oh, and Andrew Lennox – you are way way off the mark:
“A model is emerging where artists self distribute and get the money directly, but it is still primitive”
It’s not primitive, it’s groundbreaking. It’s revolutionary. the artist makes a lot more money from not taking the usual route to release their money. because they don’t have to give a cut to the record companies. Radiohead did this with their album rainbows recently. They made more than ever, despite allowing for it to be downloaded for free. Why? Because they got 100% of more people paying less, rather than 20% of less people paying more as dictated by their record company.
Your viewpoint is exactly what they tell you to think in the papers – because the big record companies are scared shitless that musicians and people are figuring out that they are redundant. No more cuts to the big cats, just the money where it is meant to go.
There will always be musicians, but they will actually one day need to make good music to be famous. Which I prefer, cos that way the artist will have meaning. Unlike, say Gareth Gates and the other manufactured bands that are made by record companies purely for profit.
at 34 years old, I believe in the sanctity of traditional marriage and that artists deserve to get paid for their work. So, don’t hold your breath…
It seems to me that we who would like to see an end to drug laws, and laws against same sex marriage (in Vermont we now have a law specifically supporting it), though not necessarily an end to being able to copyright one’s own work, need all the support we can get regardless of age. Some of us old guys grew up in a generation that largely supported these things, though as our generation aged, many people changed their minds. That is likely to happen with today’s youth as well. In the end, it’s those who believe in a free and humane society regardless of age who can bring about change. Many older people I know are trying harder than ever. As long as you are alive to the world around you, there is no reason to stop.
I believe it is wrong to give any person special consideration based upon how they fornicate. That is what “same sex marriage” is. The people of the United States that enjoy marital benefits do so because their union adds to our society. The same is true for both of the other issues. File sharing of uncopyrighted content is great and a wonderful way to disseminate information. File sharing of copyrighted or otherwise protected materials harms our society. Marijuana cultivation and resale is in the same boat. The product itself harms people. The resale of the product harms society even more by empowering the criminal element. If you don’t believe me just look at the war along the US/Mexico border the Mexican government is fighting with the drug cartels right now! If you want to see our laws change then participate in the political process. Not just hyping a presidential candidate. Actually go out and canvas your neighborhood, call businesses, make your political beliefs known. THAT is how you change the USA for the better. Whining, griping, and making fun of others is not part of the political process in the United States… Grow up!
Brian Smilde
Florida
In the eternal words of Bob Dylan:
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land,
and don’t criticize what you can’t understand
your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,
your old road is rapidly aging,
please get out of the new one if you can’t lend you hand,
for the times the are changing.
I like getting stuff for free – just like everyone else. However, when I’m the one working to produce the stuff that someone else is getting for free it stings a bit. I dare say that if you went to work put in a 10 hour day and later found out that you weren’t going to get paid for those 10 hours, that you would be miffed too.
This problem is largely related to selfcenteredness – we rarely consider the other side of the coin. That explains why there really is a gap which seperates older generations from those more youthful… age and experience teach you that the world doesn’t exist just for you and you alone.
Yes the boomers will gradually leave us – but I for one hope that my generation will grow up along the way and start being decent, caring, considerate, and honest. I think we should aspire to be like them.
And we should be at least a bit ashamed of that gap along the way.
It’s not an age thing. I think it’s a country thing.
Why not talk about the conservative-right of the US who are anti-gun bans? Now that’s something us liberal Europeans really can’t understand.
You think “your generation” will take over and will make the world better? Well it is a kind of “racist” idea to think that elder people are dumb and prejudiced. Then you must be very young ignoring very basic principles: age does not turn people stupid and prejudiced. They already are when young. You (we) are not dealing with an age problem and you must figure out that since the beginning of times, there has always been a deviant, open minded part of the population which has tried to make things improve.
That part of the population has always been a minority and always had to bear implacable repression from the “good thinking, common sensed” majority…Too bad! Do not disregard elder people as they have done their best (for those who did) to fight for a better world and at least have achieved something: the right for you to exist, to express yourself and fight for freedom…Keep on trucking!
Waiting for old people to die?
I was under the impression “older” people where waiting for the young ones to get mass arrested and put to slave labour…, so they might gain some interest after all……
I fall in the 30 something category. I like the basic premise of your post. The older thought process needs to get out of the way. Legalize pot, open up gay marriage. The copyright thing is not so clear cut. I agree that the music and movie industry has missed the boat on trying to work with the public. They clearly have not adapted to modern times.
However, we can’t keep getting entertainment for free. Movies cost money. Music costs money. If the boomer generation is falling behind the times, then how about stepping the fuck up and doing something about it. Quit downloading everything for free. Come up with a way for people to make a profit for the music or movies they make. Everybody can’t live off of mommy and daddy’s credit card. The real world requires money that you generally work for.
As I said before the music and movie industries have been shoving shit products down our throat for decades now. As a gen X’er, I think we are trying to do something about it. So as a gen y’er, let’s see what you can do when you’re having to support yourself outside of the walls of high school or college. The internet is still pretty much wide open. Will you do something with it other than download free music and movies?
“I believe it is wrong to give any person special consideration based upon how they fornicate. That is what “same sex marriage” is.”
It is also what the exclusion of same-sex marriage is – giving special legal consideration to heterosexuals. Equality isn’t special consideration.
“The people of the United States that enjoy marital benefits do so because their union adds to our society.”
Having known someone who is in an abusive marital situation, I know for a fact that not all marital unions add to society.
“File sharing of copyrighted or otherwise protected materials harms our society.”
If you make a statement, it is your responsiblity to support that statement. You have not.
“Marijuana cultivation and resale is in the same boat. The product itself harms people.”
As does fast food, guns, swimming pools. . .
“The resale of the product harms society even more by empowering the criminal element.”
Because it is illigal. When I buy a book, the money goes to Borders. If books were illegal, the money would go to the black market. If weed was produced by a corporation and taxed, the profits would be going to a corporation, not a criminal (per se).
“If you want to see our laws change then participate in the political process. Not just hyping a presidential candidate. Actually go out and canvas your neighborhood, call businesses, make your political beliefs known. THAT is how you change the USA for the better.”
Fair enough.
“Whining, griping, and making fun of others is not part of the political process in the United States…”
Whining about alleged sexism and racisim, making fun of EVERYONE. . . Where were you this past election? All of the above is a staple of a generally free society. Love it or leave it.
Why is the issure volved around File Sharing? I’m not apart of Pirate Bay or have used this website. People need to stay out of other peoples business… There are still plenty of file sharing websites avaliable to the publics use. Let them deal with there site and we can deal with political issure such as gay marriage and legilization of weed. The “old people” you speek of should be put in to a catagory and not the general population of older america. We have plenty of smart individual intellects but they are just over run with the leading population of ignorance. Yes information is free but this world will never head in the direction of a “utopia” you speak of because we are lazy, and let technology wipe our asses. Thats why we lazily use our fingers to type in the cd we want to download for free instead of working to earn the cd and help out the band that produced the songs we want and demand. It’s all a cycle of bullshit. Live “your” life for there is nothing you can do about anything anymore because there is no Original Thought left… We are all ineveitably… Fucked…
You’re angry and powerless, and that is the root of why you make sweeping generalizations.
Not all young people are druggies, rock & roll freaks or watch family guy. I work with young people – I know – many hate drugs. And Family Guy. I even know some smart young people.
These issues are not related to each other – you just obviously have a problem with them personally, that is why you lump them together – many people are for some and against others.
Gay Marriage – don’t care about it. Let it be legalized. Better for me, ban all laws that make it beneficial(tax laws, etc.) to be married to anyone. why should I be penalized for being single?
Marijuana – is essentially not harmful. It didn’t keep me from having a career, and I’ve never harmed anyone while stoned.It took me 33 years of really heavy smoking(1/2 a week) to do any damage at all to my lungs. It took me 15 years of heavy coffee drinking to destroy my stomach. Both my choices, so no complaints. And for the record, I prefer the black market, but could do without the jailtime laws. Decriminalized is the way to go.
Copyright: Create your own art. If you have no talent to create the type of art you enjoy, pay the guy who does. That’s how they make a living. Don’t make it the artist’s fault that you are without artistic skills, so you want to feed off those who have them. We are in a capitalist society and we can’t get out. I can’t sit around all day being creative for you and still put food on my table. And I wouldn’t want to if I could – I don’t even know you – why would I waste my time (a very finite, invaluable commodity) making free intellectual property for the masses. Mozart didn’t and neither did Einstein. They expected to be paid. Mozart never got to be old, but Einstein did. He must have been afraid of change. He did leave the Germany when National Socialism took over. That was a big change, that someone maybe should have stopped.
I am not offended,Philip, I am bemused. Get off your butt and stop waiting to inherit the earth and all that goes with it. That supposedly happens after your dead. Which brings us back to your title: don’t hold your breath on that one, dreamer; I, myself, will probably be around for some time.
Philip burbles:
Yeah, the hate part is clear enough. What’s not clear is why all change is good. Apparently it was not Churchill who said: “If you’re not a liberal at 20, you have no heart, and if you’re not a conservative at 40, you have no head,” but even so Philip would have disproved it, having, apparently, at 20, neither head nor heart.
Too bad once the young generation grows old they become the old generation
Firstly, artists must be paid for their work. If we want to enjoy the fruits of their considerable labour, we must pay for it. The problem is though, is that the major record labels & movie studios seem to be addressing this problem by turning out dross on the one hand, and then taking people to court who decide that maybe they don’t want to pay for sub-standard products. This general devaluation is a two way street.
Movie studios – release good films and I’ll pay to see them!!
Record companies – find good artists and put them out there!!
Consumers – if we really like something then buy it!
I’m 27 and I disagree with everything you posted.
So there, now you know someone.
I certainly understand and support your stance, Philip, and support change for the better on all fronts, political and socio-mental. The vast majority of societal leaders are living in the past, basing their decisions (and therefore everybody’s lives) on generation-old ideals. The new generation, consisting of essentially anybody 30 years of age or younger, is rapidly gaining influence in the world. We think different, look different, act different and love different. We are cool and fresh and wild in a way no other generation ever has been. We want absolute freedom, we want the world open to us and us open to the world. The current people in power seem to clash with us deeply.
But I don’t think the gap is as significant as it appears. Our parents and grandparents never wanted their or our lives to be controlled and limited. They wanted (and still do, I believe) the same freedom we desire. The mental evolution of humanity as a whole has always mirrored the evolution of the individual. As a child, you are only able to embrace the ego. Time flies, and as a teenager reaching maturity, you reject your own ego, your own ideas, reject the social ego, and think for yourself. You must live the lie in order to know that it is a lie. Civilizations rise and fall and are reborn with newer, progressive ideas. It’s all one huge wave crashing and building and crashing and building over and over again.
The boomers brought a new, more open era, before we came along. Just as they brought a new ideal, so do we. And before the boomers, every generation has incrementally moved towards what the current generation desires. There’s always been forward movement. Its never stopped. We can’t hate on those who came before us, for without their progress, we would never have gotten to where we are now. Everything in the past history of Earth has been moving towards now. The elder ideas were necessary for our ideas to be born.
Change will come. It is coming. In fact, it is here, has always been here, and will always be here. Stand up and do what you know is right, what you know you must do. Waiting is not what we should be doing. We do not need to wait until they die off. We need to do everything we can do in the system in which we exist in order to create the system we desire.
I think that this is one of the absolute best times to be alive; We have the internet, which gives us all unlimited access to all the knowledge in the world… We have an awe-inspiring amount of equally awe-inspiring musical and visual and literary artwork flooding our senses… We have an astounding degree of freedom of choice and thought…
If we lived a mere 100, or even 50 years ago, each of us would only know what those in the surrounding 20-mile radius knew. The web has given each of us access to the farthest reaches of the world. Living in a small town no longer means you have the knowledge of a small town. We are the luckiest generation yet in terms of our potential learn and diversify our intelligence.
Don’t worry. Be happy. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
you are NOT a musician if you are getting into music to get money. you are a business person, you are not an artist. get fucked
I’m a 63-year-old straight white guy. I support marriage equality without reservation and the legalization of most recreational pharmaceuticals on par with alcohol, as do most of my social circle.
However, if you expect creative people to entertain you for nothing you’re a stupid self-centered little snot.
Too funny. You should have been around in the 60′s. You would not have thought the Boomers were so stuffy.
What has happened is a huge group of Boomers pretty much dropped out of politics because it was so dangerous to be involved (people were dying back then for demonstrating), and started things like alternative energy projects.
The ones that were left are the ones you are railing against – the power-mad greedy right wingers that took over the politics for decades now.
The ones that dropped out and partially dropped out are the ones that are now coming forth with all the innovative ways to generate energy and conserve the environment. They have been working to save things for the younger generation, so you would have at least a little bit of an idea what wilderness and non-corporate ways are like. Your generation calls them old hippies, and other semi-derogatory terms. Maybe you need to give those peaceful folks who would also like to see the marijuana legalized another look, and not lump ALL the Boomers into the right wing intolerant group.
el spencero writes “The new generation, consisting of essentially anybody 30 years of age or younger, is rapidly gaining influence in the world. We think different, look different, act different and love different. We are cool and fresh and wild in a way no other generation ever has been. We want absolute freedom, we want the world open to us and us open to the world. The current people in power seem to clash with us deeply.”
HAHAHA! Did you get than from TV or something? You sound exactly like people your age 40 years ago. Every generation thinks it’s the crown of creation. Get over yourselves already.
ok, I mistakenly made a reasoned argument earlier about filesharing and how it effects real people. In response to myself and others you’ve linked to an old post citing the world of Star Trek as part of your reasoning why filesharing should be legal.
I was unaware I was talking to a crazy person who inhabits a fantasy land. So yes, I agree with you. If we’re living in a sci-fi futuristic utopia where everyone gets everything they could possibly need provided for them for free, then yeah, I’m just fine with filesharing. Back in reality however, my daughter needs to eat and I expect people to pay me for my work.
For the record, I do happily work on several open source projects too. I do this by choice though, no one else should be able to decide for me that my work should be “open”.
@Rich
You are my hero of the day.
A world closer to utopia would involve your credit card information to be available publicly. For that matter, this could be a world where you can replicate your person a hundred thousand times, requiring you replicate more replicators for food for your replications. Ever seen the original Star Trek episode of the Tribbles? I foresee a universe packed with infinite Philip Brocoums and replicators. Utopia!
Why should we have to wait? It would be possible to kill them now…
[...] I’ve learned one thing from all the responses to my previous post about legalizing things, it’s that people don’t understand reality. You really should read my post about Star [...]
I didn’t know I was reading the crappy generalization blog.
“All generalizations are false, including this one.” -Henry David Thoreau
In a nutshell, if you don’t pay the artists, they won’t make anything for you to disseminate without their consent. So pay them if you enjoy their stuff. They have to make a living too. That makes sense.
Legalize marijuana. We can tax it for government revenue, it can provide legal jobs for people cultivating and selling marijuana, it relieves a lot of strain on the justice system, and it helps to eliminate the drug trade and the violence that is related to it.
Gay marriage is a sticky subject. I don’t really have a strong opinion either way. Both sides have an argument. Everyone has a right to marry, marriage being defined as a union between a man and a woman. Pro-gay marriage trumps equality. I don’t have a strong opinion.
Oh, and I’m 17.
Ron Paul 2012.
Just saying.
I’m waiting for Philip Brocum to die so that there is one less idiot to propose ridiculous ideas like legal file sharing.
[...] “Kids these days have no respect for their elders” This saying has bemused me ever since I figured the fuck tards who say this bull are the generation that ‘made’ the youth generation of today. They go on to say how their generation was better and how back chat got you hit round the head. Well, if the good old days were so good and right, how did you land this fuck up generation? We didn’t spawn ourselves you misinformed half wits. Hurry up and die so we can get on with our lives and legalize drug use and filesharing. [...]
I just have to add this because so many people have been using “capitalism” as an argument against filesharing. In reality, file sharing is as capitalistic as you can possibly be. People pay what things are worth and because of the Internet music is worth nothing. That’s the free market for you. It’s called “competition” and the Internet beat out its competition.
I also hate the Mozart example. Of course Mozart was paid. He was paid by very rich kings and stuff, not regular people. He was paid to WRITE music just like John Williams is paid to write music for movies. You can’t download a movie score because it doesn’t exist yet, you have to pay somebody to write it, and those artists aren’t going away.
I also find it hilarious that so many people are telling other people to pay artists for their time when they don’t ever pay an artist themselves. Have you never watched a movie at a friends house? Have you never recorded a song off the radio? Have you never used a VCR?
In fact, I think that there is at least one way to “compete with free” if you are the music industry, and that is to become the biggest distributor/tracker out there. Filesharing communities dedicated to sharing high-quality music easy surpass 100,000 members. If the music industry had their own site, they could be releasing highest-quality recordings as soon as possible – effectively beating many leakers out there. The trick is to understand, as you said, that recorded music is worth nothing but the number of listeners it gets. By doing your own (free) releases, you get that music into the hands of as many people as possible, many of them through your own site. That kind of traffic can help you direct fans to tour dates and merchandise shops. These are the kinds of unique experiences that are worth something.
I guess what I’m trying to say that filesharing is, in fact, a market pressure. Business models that fail to evolve are going to get left behind, and no amount of litigation is going to stop that.
i’m 21 and conservative…. so your generalization annoys me.
this old girl agrees with the young girl…I am 48 and conservative and I agree with jenelle, maybe if they legalize drugs u can have alllllll u want. There is a state somewhere in the union where gay marrage is already legal so go for it. It is a shame u have no value on life….poor u! U must be all alone, because if u cared about ur family the way we care about our u actually cherish the time with them.
I pity u !
Funny how conservatives are all against the government, unless someone is doing something they don’t like; then government interference in private lives is just the thing.
But to the actual topic: You couldn’t sell actual music before recording became widespread early in the twentieth century, and now you won’t be able to sell it anymore. That’s just the way it is; business models don’t last forever. But then I’m old and should die; what do I know…
You said it well, Mark. People act as if history itself began with the record companies, and once they’re gone the entire world will come to an end. They act as if music didn’t even exist before them. We are on the verge of a music Renaissance, where anybody can write any song and share it with any one of the billions of people in the world instantly for free. The only price we have to pay for this is that record companies will go out of business. Boo-hoo. I don’t know how old you are, but you sound like you know what you are talking about
Ok, there are clearly 2 totally different topics here. 1 is about a simple “legal/illegal” ruling on issues such as gay marriage, weed, etc. The other is more of a gray area about filesharing.
So, ill start with topic 1, or “the simple legal/illegal rulings”. In my opinion, i dont see why so many people have a problem with gay marriage. Maybe its just my way of thinking, but it isnt up to the government to decide who you can or cant marry. Thousands of heterosexual couples are married each year and nobody seems to care. But as soon as a gay couple tries to get married all hell breaks loose. Honestly, i think the reason gay marriage isnt legal is because of the previous generation’s ways of thinking. Back when America was first beginning to blossom into a new and independent country, religion was everything. These “Puritans” were trying to create a society completely devoted to pleasing their God. These religious views were passed on through generation and generation and so it is understandable that people who were born 40-70 years ago would still have strong religious beliefs. But times have changed and religion has become less of an influential topic. So the current generation doesnt see a problem with “gay marriage” because they dont have the biblical influence of “Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman”. Basically what im trying to say is that as religion has become less prominent in society, new views and ideas have surfaced, but these new ideas “dont compute” with the older generation because they were raised in a different time.
Just to touch on the issue of weed, i think its pretty funny that many of the “anti drug” members probably got high as a kite when they were growing up in the 60′s and 70′s. Now im not saying drugs are good, but then again, its been shown that they (specifically referring to pot) are no more harmful to someone than drinking a beer or smoking a cig. Now i do have a problem with “hard drugs” such as cocaine, heroine, meth, etc. as those drugs are proven to be habit forming and in some cases, extremely deadly. But i honestly have no problem with the legalization of weed. I dont use it, and i dont plan to, but just based on research i can honestly say that if we put the same restrictions on it as we do alcohol/cigs (no purchasing unless a minimum age, etc) then it would be perfectly fine and would save the government millions as they could stop the “war on drugs” and release all the people convicted of possession from jail so they have space to lock up the real criminals (murderers, etc).
It is almost 1am where im at right now, and i am quite tired so i wont comment in depth on filesharing, but i will say that yes, i do think filesharing is an extremely good tool with alot of potential, but i also think that we are (to some degree) robbing people of their hard earned money. Copyrights were established for a reason, so that you could legally protect your ideas, goods, and services. If we are downloading the CD or movie that someone spent months working on for free then we are doing them a disservice. If you make something, and others want it, i think it is fair that you should receive some sort of monetary compensation for your efforts. I think that musicians should start to take Radioheads approach and sell their music independently as opposed to using a record company. This will cut costs and (as proven by Radiohead) will still make money for the musician. If i like a band, i would gladly pay $10 for their full length CD. I would also be glad to know that my $10 is all going to the band, and not to some company who is there to sit back and make millions while the artist does all the “dirty work”.
I apologize if my thoughts seems scattered and disorganized, as i stated before it is pretty early in the morning so im not thinking at full capacity. But i guess the point(s) im trying to make is:
-Legalize Gay Marriage: its not up to the government to say who you can or cant marry
-Legalize Weed: it has been proven that weed is less harmful than cigs to your body and less addicting than alcohol, and with the right “restrictions” would be just fine.
-Filesharing: is a great way to spread information, but when it comes to copyrighted material there has to be a way to distribute the material but also make sure the creator of the material isnt “left out in the cold”.
Some questions simply don’t have an absolute right or wrong answer. The participants in this discussion might find the Harvard Philosophy class “Justice” helpful: http://www.justiceharvard.org.
I don’t get the John Williams example. How would the production companies afford to pay composers if nobody is paying to see their movies?
I also don’t think the Radiohead example is a good one. They gained their massive popularity thanks to the previous music business model, so their clever marketing scheme was so succesful because they were already famous.
Now I realize that despite the downloaders, there will always be people going to see movies in theatres. And local bands could make at least some money doing the Radiohead thing.
Just wanted to point things out.
I’m what you guys would probably call an old fart.
That’s 35 with some experience.
We’ve seen a lot of progress over the years, as well as a LOT of really nasty shit – We’ve tired of the old politicians and it is time to get rid of them. Too many people sit back and wait for others to make the changes that they want, and others try and fail. DEMAND that the Government does your bidding for you – Remember They Work For YOU – They THINK You work for them (Which is why they treat people the way they do).
For the first time in a long time I see people getting up of their sorry tails to vote – Keep Voting, If you don’t like the Politicians get your friends on the Ballots (Stoner Bob can’t any worse than what we’ve had in office so far) I think that things are changing, my generation is starting to gain power in DC – but we need YOUNGER people there. The generation in power now are too old and senile to be there – Government needs young blood – Not Kids who are too mal/mis-educated to function anyplace but Taco bell 10 years after they get out of school (yes the educational system has become little more than a bad joke of a babysitting service).
All for legalizing grass – Seeing some progress in that area recently, With Luck Obama will fully legalize it on 11/6/12 The day after his re-election votes are counted (That makes it no longer “Political Suicide” for him – why he didn’t do more in Feb.).
All For legalizing File Sharing (IF the record companies Really wanted to help stop it – they’d cut the sale price of CD’s and DVD’s to about $5) No Objection to people making money – its greed that is the problem.
The Gay marriage thing…
A marriage is between Man and Woman.
A Civil Union would be the alternative (A side from the word itself – if two people love each other they should be allowed equal treatment (Except for adopting kids).
Dude, it’s sad that you think this way. You’re not even that young anymore, you’re practically thirty. I’m 13 years younger than you and I probably know more about computers than you do! lol Andrew Lenox is right! I’m going to college to be an artist as well. In this era we can do anything it is that we want. You can be a doctor, a lawyer, a biologist, an accountant or maybe even an artist. Artists work hard to achieve stardom and it’s not easy. Let me put it this way. Would you expect a free surgery from a doctor? Or a free education from a teacher? How about free milk from a farmer? No, you wouldn’t or really you shouldn’t! So why do you expect free files from artists? They have just as much right for their money as all the other people do. About legalzing other things like gay marriage well, I’m sure it will happen someday but the truth is that we might be the “oldies” when it does happen. Touch luck but this is the era in which we were born, so we gotta live in and accept it. Oh and don’t be calling other people old, because to us teens you are already old! lol
You probably don’t know more about computers than me because you are an artist, but I’d wager that most teenaged hackers know more about computers than I ever will. There’s nothing wrong with that.
If surgery was as simple as installing a computer program, and it might be in the future once we have robotic surgeons, then absolutely I would expect surgery to be free. Education is already becoming free. All colleges and universities are now putting all their classes online for free. If milk could be downloaded, then yes it would be free.
“They have just as much right for their money as all the other people do.”
This is the viewpoint that I want to smash into the ground. Nobody has a RIGHT to money. I’m sorry, but no matter how hard you work you cannot make money by selling something that has no value. For example, I could toil for 18 hours a day making breathable air… but I wouldn’t be able to sell it. Why? Because air is FREE. I don’t care how hard you work on your music or your art, it’s available for FREE, so you can’t expect to make money off of it. Life isn’t fair. Deal with it.
You tell me “tough luck” that I live in an era where people are prejudiced against gay people. You’re right. I’d like it to change, I think it will change, but not right now. But, guess what? You live in an era where music and art is free. Tough luck.