The Name of the Game

There is a new religion on the block. And it does not want your money. It does not want you obedience. It doesn't even care about whether you have sex or not.

It only wants you to think. Not about anything in particular, but the world in general.

The central tenet is that there is no shortage of the world. While there may be shortages of various kinds in the world, the world itself is in a state of abundance. As you will find out pretty soon if you try to walk from point A to point B, instead of taking the tube or pedaling a bike.

It takes forever, doesn't it?

And during this taking of time, you may find yourself discovering all manner of things in the spaces between points A and B. You may, for instance, find shops, cafés or forgotten places. Places that you on any ordinary day just rushed past, preoccupied with the telos of B. Places only discovered by the act of slowing down and paying the world some much needed attention. And, if you happen to have time to spare, you might even pay these places an unexpected exploratory visit.

Given time, the world is rather large.

The thing about the real world, we are often told, is that its prime feature is scarcity. There is never enough x - never enough money, food, time, you name it. And, should you believe the spokespersons of the marketplace, the only thing there is no shortage of is things you want but don't have.

Think about this. Is it so very strange that the discussion about file sharing - and about the ability to instantly copy just about anything an infinite amount of times - so very often degenerate into the discussion about how some marginal corporations are going to make a living?

When confronted with abundance, a culture overly focused on scarcity will find ways to make the abundant scarce.

There is a new religion on the block. Kopimism is its name, and its central tenet is that there is no shortage of the world. And that the highest purpose in life is to take of this abundance, remix it, and share of it to all who would listen.

To remix it to the streets, as it were.