So I read Joe Brown’s rant about Kickstarter over on Gizmodo the other day, and while I certainly understand his perspective, I cannot help but feel like this is a case of missing the forest for the trees. Kickstarter is not just a place to peddle your newest iPhone case, it is the combination of democracy and capitalism that embodies everything that is great about the American spirit of innovation and exceptionalism. Perhaps Gizmodo should swear off apple pie as well…
For centuries the doors to innovation and success have been guarded by gatekeepers poised to keep you out, or let you in – in exchange for a large piece of your soul. There has long been an American tradition of fleeing from these gatekeepers in order to go it alone and make it far far away. Just as many early Americans fled from other parts of the world in search of religious freedom, many early filmmakers later relocated to Hollywood – far from the patent controlled world of Thomas Edison back east. This spirit is still alive and personified in today’s tech sector where Kickstarter formed.
While the post on Gizmodo seems heavily critical of product related campaigns these will be wed out over time – this is the nature of democracy. People learn through mistakes, and products that will not become popular will ultimately not be funded. There should never be an expectation of product quality simply because a project is accepted onto Kickstarter. A little due diligence should be expected otherwise the system does not work. When you invest in a company do you do research? When you vote do you not research? This aspect of our culture requires real participation; it is not comparable to a trip to Walmart. Capitalism and democracy are founded on the expectation of due diligence
Kickstarter is not a shopping web site; it seeks to serve a larger purpose beyond consumerism. Recently Kickstarter made news for surpassing the Nation Endowment for the Arts in terms of the amount of funding given out in 2011. While this speaks to the success of the site it may speak more to the changing nature of our country.
There was an interesting article in ReadWriteWeb the other day about how this is a bad thing. Kickstarter has opened up a lot of doors for people who, in the past, would have attempted to gain funding through the NEA. The process is rather arduous, perhaps even akin to gaining the vaunted ‘seed funding’ espoused in the Gizmodo article. While I think the extra leg work is not always a bad thing, the political environment that the approval process lives in probably is one.
Being a government run organization the NEA tries its best not to step on anyone toes. As such, the types of projects that receive approval tend to be noncontroversial. Innovation can rarely happen in such an environment, and Kickstarter projects could not care less about political toe-stepping.
With the current recession, and the ensuing budgetary crisis in the nation the arts are an easy target for those politicians looking to shave an insignificant amount off of a significant issue. The willingness to cut funding for the arts comes from the lack of any real financial backing for the industry. Try cutting defense spending and hear the outcry from thousands of people who will lose their jobs or companies that will go under in that industry. Cut the arts and the perception is that you stalled a bunch of useless projects that probably would not see funding anyway.
It has long been the case that there is not any money in the arts and in turn financial interests will rarely take a risk. As this economy continues to stagnate the money people have for personal ventures diminishes and the need to prove financial return to economic interests in exchange for funding will only increase.
Kickstarter is exactly what we need now, and in the future. Their donation structure makes them more akin to a charity than an investment vehicle. They ignore the potential for financial gain because the projects that really need help are the ones where gain is unlikely in the first place. These projects represent the dreams of their founders and in many ways they directly impact their futures.
Kickstarter is so much more than a trip to Walmart to preorder the newest accessory, this is a platform for funding products and experiences we have yet to imagine, that we may never know of otherwise and which, on their own have the ability to contribute directly into the economy. This is a social movement – this is the voice of the little guy standing out above the crowd to be heard. Those products you could find at the store should be bought at the store, save your kickstarter money for products that really need it, that you cannot find anywhere else.
