It should come as no surprise that the more popular something becomes, the more critique and attention it will receive across market. This is a mistake many growing YouTubers fall for. The dedicated base grows and their voice enables the silent majority to draw their eyes towards the niche product. Those who seek to steer the majority will take notice and begin to act out and respond, as the voice of the majority. No, as the brain of the majority. That is how they see themselves. In the sudden growth and support that can come from majority appeal, the creator may begin to recognize what it was that garnered them the support of that majority. However, it comes at a cost.
The majority is not the niche. They will not be dedicated by brand, appreciation of product, or personal attachment. No, they are driven primarily via reputation and accessibility. As long as the light around your product is bright, the bugs will flock to your side. However, the brighter you make your light for the mainstream flies, the more likely you are to burn your dedicated audience.
This metaphor may be a bit obtuse, yet I believe it conveys what is true of society that creators may not realize until it is too late for the damage they feel done to their soul. Your niche is your lifeblood, it is what keeps your business afloat when all else fails and what allows you to be uniquely you, create as you so choose to create. Appealing to the mass market automatically means the dissolution of the creation of your choice to the creation of the choices made for you.
I've had trouble writing this because I believe there is nuance in this discussion. Mass appeal can create success of unimaginable proportion to where you may have ever believed you could be. At the same time, it could be the largest risk to your reputation, livelihood, and long-term well-being. Burn-out. Even self-appeal can lead to this feeling, yet appealing to influences fully external can be all the worse. A point of pride becomes the origin of pain.
I'm lost in thought lately, genuinely lost. This year has brought much with it, including opportunity that I am unsure whether or not it truly aligns with my principles or directly contradicts them. In my mind, the concept of consumerism festers next to the working idea of productionism. I believe this to be a key dividing line between how I would define the two structures. Consumerism maximizes consumption, at whatever cost to the creator. Productionism would produce to provide in benefits, without requiring the need, desire, or addiction to buy among those who consume the products. Something along those lines.
This is something in the root of its creation for me, something I would like to discuss further. If anyone has any interest in discussing this line of thinking with me further, let me know in the comments below, I'd love to expand this line of thought into a full conversation.
-James
Just thought I'd share this comment I was trying to comment on a Lotus Eaters video. Btw, ya'll should follow the Podcast of the Lotus Eaters if you aren't already. Great analysis and discussion
It's been a while since I've made a video, and this time with a locals exclusive. A cherry on top that I managed to fit within the size requirements. I like making shorter form content like this, considering my tendencies to ramble. Having content exclusive for my followers here is something I'll be working on doing more and more. I'll be creating more value here for my subscribers as well, with some subscriber exclusive content in the future. No timeline promises, cause I think we know how I get when I make a ton of promises (go hardcore for a week and then fall flat on my face unable to keep up with the sprint, lol).
Anyhow, let me know your thoughts and questions below. Have a great day everyone!
A direct upload! It turns out I recorded a video just short enough to meet the minimum upload offerings that locals offers to small communities like mine. That means you guys get this exclusively on locals!
I didn't sleep much last night, so I decided this was the perfect time to mull over my confused thoughts on how businesses are viewed from a legal perspective. Businesses are somewhat legal enigmas to me. Corporations are kinda treated as persons so that they can be double taxed, but have other protections, other types of businesses aren't treated the same way. They're able to consolidate power like governments, yet aren't subject to any form of limitations in regards to violating natural rights the same way the government is, despite being treated somewhat like persons they can still buy each other. It's just very odd to me from a principled, legal, and philosophical position.
Anyhow, my ramblings here are just that, ramblings. Still, I am curious what you all think of this topic. ...
The 2020 election is over, and the battle has just begun. What do I expect to come from the end of the election? Will the legal suits turn over anything for this election, or will they mean something for later down the line? I reflect on these questions and more in this discussion, and I also reflect on some final thoughts relevant to the Rise and Fall of Empire Series, that, thus far, being episodes 8 through 10 of the Construct Cast. Let me know your thoughts, and if you have any reflections of your own from this year's political cycle or other developments that you can't seem to get off your mind in the comments below.
In this episode of the Construct Cast, I discuss my analysis of Sir John Glubb's The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival, with an emphasis on my own consideration for what it would take to help an empire survive, or reboot. If immortality for an Empire is impossible, is rebirth impossible in the same way? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Editor's Note: Returning to the podcast versions of the Construct Cast, I want to catch our content up to the videos we have had released over the past month. I apologize for this getting away from me for a bit. With the rise in content production, I had allowed this to get away from me. We will be returning to audio podcast uploads of the Construct Cast as per our original regular schedule, at 12PM EST on the day of the original upload, going forward.
In this second Crossover podcast, we are once again recording with Kevin @Eng_Politics. His channel is a bastion of political thought and analysis from the perspective of a conservative engineer. Interested in diving deeper into my concept of Progressive Traditionalism and combating the concept with his own beliefs of what it means to be Conservative, we decided to put our definitions and beliefs to task in this crossover episode!
Be sure to check out Kevin's locals community here:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/
And if you're more interested in the video version, here is a direct link:
https://engineeringpolitics.locals.com/post/235260/the-engineering-politics-podcast-30-conservatism-vs-progressive-traditionalism
So I just confirmed that, after a year off of the Keto diet, my Ulcerative Colitis (a type of IBS) is still not only in remission, but seemingly cured as if it never was there, including no more polyp growth.
This self-experiment has shown me that a prolonged period on Keto, about 2 years for me, was enough to create the long lasting effects to repair and cure my gastrointestinal system to complete recovery from what was supposed to be a lifelong, incurable illness. I still have a minor level proctitus at the exit, to put it in the least gross way I can think, but with the rest actually fully cured to where my new GI doctor asked if I was misdiagnosed originally is a major accomplishment.
For those seeking a source on how to get here like I did, I recommend following Thomas Delaur's YouTube channel for general inflammation control/healthy keto/ workout advice, only eat meat that is 100% Grass fed and pasture raised (including eggs), and drink a glass of Kefir at least once a week. Good ...
Controversial capitalist take, but I personally don't think stock ownership should give any power to the stockholders over business decisions. Buyouts and ownership should be separate from stock investment. How? There are various options to discuss. Why? Theoretically an investment firm could invest ownership stakes into every major investment firm over time and concentrate all of their investments to own controlling stakes across entire industries or even all publicly traded companies.
Actually, this isn't so theoretical if you look at BlackRock's partnerships with Vanguard and State Street. The three companies operate in virtual lockstep and theoretically wouldn't even need 51% collective ownership in the companies they invest in because any company with an array of other investors should have some theoretical minimum that they can guarantee will follow the leadership of these big 3 in most cases. I've seen estimates that they only need a collective 35% share to all but guarantee any ...
