Christmas, Economics, and The Holiday Spirit

It seems that in this Holiday Season, a lot of people I know didn't feel very much Christmas Spirit.   When I talked to them they said not only they didn't much "sense of the Holiday", but neither did many of their friends.  This seeming lack of a Yuletide enthusiasm had me curious, as such things appeal to my psychologist-side, but I couldn't find an answer  – until a talk with a  co-worker helped clear things up for me.

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The Production Revolution Isn’t For All: Money

I've been spending the last few columns on the Production Revolution, the changes in technology that let any of us produce media.  Specifically I've been bringing up the factors that limit people from taking advantage of the  tools and technologies available to them and making successful media careers or side businesses.  I've discussed the limiting factors of lack of time, the lack of technical skill, and the lack of marketing skill.

I'm not finished discussing the traumatic truths of the Production Revolution limits yet – I've got one more reason why the new tools and tech out there aren't going to turn everyone into a potential artist, musician, or popular author.

Money.

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Celebrity Presence And The Failed Die-Out

Awhile ago a variety of celebrities declared themselves dead, not Tweeting and such until enough donations to fight AIDS came in.  Despite this being for a good cause, it was a failure at the time as noted.  The site now appears to have donations up to par, but it sort of looks like  . . . well judge for yourself (http://buylife.org/).

So why didn't this death-on-social-media have an immediate influx of donations?  I think part of it was the odd, kind of self-centered method of raising funds and the tastelessness of it.  The other part was that the celebrities stopped being celebrities.

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