the age of the amateurs

[performance]

this is the dawning of the age of the amateurs, age of the amateurs...

if i can write
then i can be published
if i can speak or sing you'll let me stomp on all your stages
art forms are now platforms
so if i can draw, my designs might bring delight through all the ages

in my movies i can direct, act, edit and upload each scene
so no producer can keep me waiting on tables,
keep my career locked in to their geographic stables
locked up by labels fueling fickle "you'll make it!" fables

i'm untouchable to the brick and mortar gatekeepers
no more need i heed the signs that say:
"abandon all hope, ye who enter here"
because the concept of "here" is primitive
barbaric
outdated, outmoded
and the time for our independence is at hand
it arrived just as mining bitcoins overtook second-hand-life's linden dollars as the loco-profit-motive being panned

i can market myself
build my own brand
flying spaghetti monster forgive me, but for a low, low price
i can now farm all my friendships
i can leverage my network
invest in instigation and control my communications
the medium is the message and i am ingesting the future one instagram at a time
i can language in all your tongues
swim in all your cultures
trade in all your currencies
the only master i need to please is the interface to whatever free tool serves me today

fools used to say that schools were only for them
but these days it's plain that our education systems are systematically tooling geniuses into dunces who can only function when provided with clear sets of instructions
and removing warning labels has been deemed a capital offense
as are capital letters and grammar which the old school can wield like a hammer but only their nails scraping down chalkboards leave any sort of impression

khan is our new teacher, just like in the jungle book
which is not at all like facebook
unlimited e-book access has retired my expiring library cards and i always make sure to keep a full set of wikipedia on me

games are the new examination center

now, anyone can wix a website and even my media feeds can reach a wider audience than those smooth-talking idiots on your tv
you see, i don't know of any "real" celebrities any more, but we've all seen that cat doing that thing
walmart buttcracks get more exposure than the models on fashion tv
the most significant wars being fought today are between google and bing
and what i choose to wear today for once might actually mean something

the industrial old-guard wants to keep our economies behind bars
but whispering cracks in our cage say that escape is simply a matter of knowing which way to face
while federal agents knock down doors, anonymous agents even the score
the right to bear arms has been transformed into troll armies and hacktivists protecting the weak
not knowing people who know people is no longer a barrier to entry when one needs to spring a wikileak

the degrees of separation that defined our disconnection are now rapidly degrading and converging down to none
slowly, but surely, we are becoming one

speaking up, speaking out, petitioning
these are a few of my favourite things

but what really rings my bell is the bling i can bring
it's an e-lance economy and resale values are skyrocketing
easy money's to be made by means ranging from high-fiverring to crowdfunding to dumpster-diving

cyberspace is the new frontier for thrills and spills
wins and fails
now we're all aboard the train from rags to riches and not even software glitches can send us off the rails
it's time to conquer our fears of the unknown, let go of legacy and leave the safety of our industrial misery behind
for the adventures of the future are now being forged in the factories of our minds and you would be blind not to find opportunities online

this is the dawning of the age of the amateurs, age of the amateurs...

and at long last
the time for separating business and pleasure
is PAST.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

from the corridors of evelyn's mind

cosmic dust