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Quote by Astra Taylor

“On the one hand, I'm a kind of crazy anarchist-sympathizer with a hippie background, so this sounds pretty good to me. Make something for the love of it! But the reality is so much more complicated.”

Quote by Astra Taylor

Author

Astra Taylor is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and writer, known for her in-depth exploration of social and political issues. Born in 1979, she has been producing documentaries since the 2000s, and her work has received international recognition. more

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“One thing I point out is, a lot of people tooting the horn of amateurism, actually, these people were professionals. Some are professors who are employed full time. Others are marketers or business consultants.”

People One Thing Professors Employed Horns Marketers Consultants

Author:Astra Taylor

“There's something odd about telling people, artists, that they need to work for free to be pure while you're sitting there getting a salary that ultimately is paid by a generation of young people going deeply into debt for their education.”

People Needs Young Artist Generations Pure Sitting Paid Debt Odd Salary

Author:Astra Taylor

“I think somebody who is more self-reflective should ask why they personally aren't going on that path. If amateurism is so great, why didn't you stay one? You have to look at the larger economy, a backdrop of unemployment; it's shitty out there.”

Ifs Thinking Should Looks Self Asks Economy Path Unemployment Backdrop

Author:Astra Taylor

“Look back on the utopian dreams of the previous century, or even the century before that, where people thought machines would ultimately give us a quality of life where our needs would be taken care of so we could all basically be artists together in the evening, after we had fished, hunted, raised cattle - or whatever it was Marx imagined for us.”

People Needs Giving Looks Dream Would Be Care Together Artist Quality Taken Century Machines Raised Evening Quality Of Life Cattle Utopian Hunted

Author:Astra Taylor

“To go from the vision that we would all be free to express ourselves creatively because our material needs were being met, to this reality where nobody has money, people are unemployed, and the machines are harnessed by the lucky guys who Facebook or Google and we're supposed to be happy just to contribute content to their site.”

People Needs Reality Guy Vision Materials Mets Lucky Machines Supposed To Be Google Site Being Me Unemployed Lucky Guy

Author:Astra Taylor

“I try to look at the evolution of these utopian claims. In the late '60s there was an assumption that the wealth generated by industry would be taxed and then put into social programs and it would provide a baseline of stability that would allow people to have the time for self-expression; and that social contract has eroded over the last four decades and now it's every person for themselves.”

“One consequence of this is that people are expected to make it on their own by chasing clicks or building a brand. What a diminished vision that is.”

People Vision Building Consequence Expected Brands Chasing Clicks Building A Brand

Author:Astra Taylor

“As an individual navigating this reality, you have to make choices to survive. Sometimes you happily work for free if it's something you love and believe in. I'm not categorically saying that working for free is bad. I'm just looking at the broader implications of it, and also challenge this idea - and again, this is an argument made by certain people in the tech world - that amateurs are automatically more pure and will triumph over stodgy professionals.”

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Author:Astra Taylor

“One thing that's important to point out is that this kind of populism has a long and mixed history. It's part of this tradition of problematic anti-elitism where the elites are always the liberal class - the intellectuals, the professors, the artists - and not the economic elites. Why are we so mad and aggrieved at newspaper editors but not at corporate executives? I think we need to look more at the latter, at economic elites.”

Thinking Needs Looks Kind Long Important Artist Class One Thing Economic Tradition Mad Newspapers Corporate Latter Executives Editors Professors Elites Elitism Populism Newspaper Editors

Author:Astra Taylor

“I was shocked when I tried to articulate this to someone who had posted the film and asked them to remove it for a few months, and I actually told them that after that they could put it back up and they were just completely unwilling to compromise - you'd think I was Rupert Murdoch or something.”

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Author:Astra Taylor