Bizarre Solutions: Building Collective Economic Dignity for Artists, Designers and Everyday Entrepreneurs
Artists, designers, and entrepreneurs born without economic privilege have always faced precarious odds on the path to a dignified life. Each generation of intermediaries has captured value that creators generate, and the lineage from patrons to platforms shows the exchange growing exponentially one-sided. This presentation explores that lopsided exchange at its current extreme (the condition some now call Techno-Feudalism) and the challenges creatives face inside it. With our history in view, the discussion turns to practical and ambitious paths toward collective economic dignity, drawing on lessons from teaching Creative Economies and on David Ly's experience as a small business consultant, second-generation immigrant, and DJ.