Experiments in Living --

* a defeat for a generation lost in a world with no taste

Freedom is participation

Seems like good stuff, but I do have an objection. It feels like you are railing against various media as being overly commercial or force fed, manufactured identities- the 'alternative' music defined in music company boardrooms; the newspapers with their preset politics, that there must be more to life that consuming. Yet it feels like you are looking for a new source- admittedly, a better one- rather than sidestepping the process of consuming entirely. For instance, in point 8 you say there are no real role models- and demand good ones. But why do we need role models? If Vh2 led guitar blandness has ruined music tv, do what I do- avoid tv.

To be truly creative, innovative, maybe we need to step outside of the conventional media structures. Whilst I occasionally pick up the independant, most of my opinions are formed by talking to smart people, or reading their blogs. They distill out the relevant points you feel are buried in excessive text. My music recommendations don't come from 'zines- the hive mind of last.fm monitors everything I listen to, compares it to others, and serves up suggestions purely on the grounds that taste is transitive; no music scene politics nonsense.

However, I don't want this to come off too much as a fightclub-esque anti-capitalism rant; after all, I'm writing it on a thousand pound laptop and sending it through a 6mb broadband line :) Basically I think my point is that to be different, to succeed, Experiments... will need to recapture community, the creativity of active discussion. As you say, freedom is participation.

Greame Taylor

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Written in response to: Experiments in Living's Manifesto