Issue 7 - The ecosystem of ideas 💡 worth debating?

Welcome to issue seven, where we ponder the question of our profession. Not really, but it rhymes and speaks to our times. A time of crisis, and a time of hope, and in our case a growing momentum for eco punks of all persuasions.

Ecosystems as a concept are remarkably accessible, as we all find ourselves in them, and it really doesn’t take much to start paying attention to the dynamics that drive them.

This is partly why we promote salons as a potential solution, as they capture and embody the dynamism of ecosystems in the form of an improvised conversation. Ecosystems cannot be studied from the outside, at least not easily, but require immersion as well as s(t)imulation. Walk the walk and talk the talk, by using ecosystems to understand ecosystems. A paradox, yes, but a fun one. 😁

Upcoming Event

Oct 31st at 11am EDT - Mind Meets Matter

The body and mind are one! At least that’s what science is increasingly saying. Forget about Cartesian duality, both the body and mind are far more complicated than previously believed, and their distinction is arguably arbitrary.

What are the implications of us embracing the idea that the body and mind are inseparable? Does this mean that mental health and physical health are connected? Are emotions and reason two sides of the same process? Is muscle memory deeper and smarter than previously perceived? Is Western civilization as we know it doomed?

Living with Animals

We had a great salon this week focusing on our status as and relationship with animals. As with most of our discussions, the topic seems straightforward, but provides a depth and complexity that kept us all fully engaged.

While part of our agenda for these salons is to further develop our knowledge of key topics in targeted industries, we’re also fostering talent and ideas within our larger ecosystem. There is an emerging continuity between our topics as we identify threads and through lines that are providing the basis of an eco punk philosophy.

In an attention deficit society, quality conversations have become a luxury.

The Absurdities of Techno-Optimism

And the ecosystem of ideas worth debating

On the one hand, this manifesto is definitely worth ignoring, even if it comes from someone who has power and influence over the technology we use given his outsized role in the Silicon Valley venture capital industry. Yet it is precisely due to that influence that this manifesto was covered by so many different media outlets. Even if they basically said the same thing:

The larger issue here is who gets talked about and why. Does mocking this manifesto also serve to legitimize it? Are attacks against the ideology under pinning the idea, providing it with more attention?

We’ve already experienced this dilemma during the first Trump presidential election as well as the second. As we slouch towards the third, have we learned our lesson that fascism feeds on attention?

Granted we can’t ignore these powerful idiots, but we also need to engage them at a level that also counters their desire for attention. How? Well, let’s look at a key paragraph from the section of the manifesto titled “The Enemy”:

In articulating who he considers his opponents, the fool also provides us with a means of countering his power and ambitions. A list of ingredients and policy ideas worth pursuing. 😂

Noteworthy Punks - Parcels

Also filed under Worth Listening To

Imagine this: It’s 2015 and you are 19 years old. You grew up in Byron Bay, a surfer enclave in Australia. And like everyone else, you surfed. But you also happen to play a musical instrument, and you are quite good at it. So are your four best friends, and one day one of them suggests that the group go to Europe in order to ‘make it there’.

And so you go, stranded in a one bedroom apartment in Berlin, sharing a bed with 1-4 guys, but you are young, and you are a band, and you practice a lot. And then, 2 years later, you have just turned 21, and French musical geniuses Daft Punk discover you and produce a song for you, and your life changes overnight:

You get a record deal, with a fancy, artsy and chic French label, of course, and you eventually also release an album, but you don’t rush it. You as well as those who have a financial interest in you are smart enough to be patient. You play a lot and become good, then great, and eventually, the “tightest funk band in the world,” when you are just 23.

The first album is released in 2018 and by early 2020 the pandemic hits. A few of your band mates travel back to Australia, some stay in Berlin. For the first time in 5 years you are separated from one another. That’s strange, and weird, because you fed off one another. As so many of us did during the pandemic, you realize that the magic is in your community. And therefore you push the brakes again upon your reunion. Instead of moving straight to new material for the now overdue second album, you take a few weeks and months off — time in which you reacquaint yourselves with one another. You play everything: jazz, country & western, EBM, heavy metal — you experiment and play until you feel one another again. And then you take your time, but eventually release studio album number 2, which is a double album because your band had so much material.

You are 25 now, sound like the more danceable brothers of the Bee Gees, and have also developed an immaculate 70s aesthetics for your act. Your craft is precise and has more soul than your years should allow -- nobody does music like you do, it’s not what one does -- it’s not cool. And that’s so cool.

You hit uncool bottom when you perform Abba’s ‘Dancing Queen’ live on French television in 2022. Five guys singing falsetto on top of one another. Hardly anyone takes note of the versatility and the genius in your band — heck, everyone seems to be capable of playing every instrument, and everyone is a great singer, too, 5 Australian David Bowies?

Now, 8 years into your career, you have toured like hardly any other band has. You have become incredibly good, your friendship and the ties within the band are stronger than ever, and therefore you don’t care that you have only two studio albums out. You are still 27, for God’s sake. And therefore you decide to record another live album instead of another studio album and surprise the world again: synthesizers everywhere. Have you become a house or a techno band? You really used those weeks of experimentation during the pandemic wisely. So you, so good, and so versatile:

8 years as a band in a foreign country, 8 years of close friendship without major fallouts or scandals, 8 years of working together on the same goal, and having a ton of fun along the way. And the best thing above all: you are only 27 -- and still have so much to give.

It sounds too good to be true, but Parcels have done just that, and every time they release something, they open not just a new chapter, but an entire new book about themselves. And that’s been exclusively beautiful and nothing short of mind blowing so far.

We currently have a 73% open rate for this gazette, not bad as we near 100 subscribers. How can we keep this number high and ensure you read each issue? What topics or issues do you want us to cover? Or how about a guest post? Email us at [email protected]!