The Creative Act
Rick Rubin
Summary
The journey of being a creative from Rick Rubin, one of the greatest producers of the 21st century
Rating: 5/5
Notes
We are all living as artists
The taste of beauty of great art are in the eyes of the beholder
We are all translations for the messages the universe is broadcasting
If we choose to share what we make, our work can re-circulate and become some material for others
Art is our portal to the unseen world
Pay particular attention to the moments that take your breath away
Notice connections and consider where they lead
Be weary of when clues present themselves (UCAS #/Physics)
Look for what you notice but no one else sees
Submerge yourself in great works
There’s so much wisdom inn nature that when we notice it, it awakens possibilities within us
You can’t step into the same stream twice because it is always flowing - everything is
There’s great wisdom in transitional realms between wakefulness and sleep
It’s better to follow the universe than those around you
The path of art and sharing your innnenrmost vulnerabilities is not for everyone. Adversity is part of the process
All are is a work in progress
We’re not playing to win, we’re playing to play
Your desire to create must be greater than your feat of it but for even some of the greatest artists, the fear never goes away
Sometimes disengaging is the best way to engage
The purpose of the work is to awaken something in you first and then allow something to be awakened in others
Rules direct us to average behaviours and average is nothing to aspire to when creating
Instead of sounding like others, value your own voice
The artists who define each generation live outside the boundaries society sets
Listening is suspending disbelief
Time is something we have no control over so patience begins with acceptance of natural rhythms
Innocence brings for innovation
All great artists throughout history are the ones able to maintain a childlike enthusiasm and exuberance naturally
Aim to live in a way where we see the extraordinary in the seemingly mundane then challenge ourselves to share what we see in a way that allows others a glimpse of this remarkable beauty
When flowing, keep going
‘The only person you’re competing against is yourself. The rest is out of your control’ - John Wooden
Create an environment where you’re free to express what you’re afraid to express
When looking for the best idea, test everything
The goal of art isn’t to attain perfection, the goal is to share who we are
Copy the works that inspire you on the road to finding your own voice
The best art divides the audience
In an environment where nothing is permanent, we produce static artifacts. We hope they live forever but it’s impossible to know. We can only keep building
When making art, the audience comes last
The works we do are chapters in our book of life and there will always be another chapter
The essence of great art - creating our version of beauty and bringing all of ourself to every project
Any story beyond ‘I want to make the best thing I can make, whatever it is’ undermines your quest to create great art
Success has nothing to do with variables outside yourself
Art is an expression of who we are, not a competition with those around us
Use great art to inspire your own, not compete with it
Outer voices are usually absorbed early inn life and they’re not our own
Sometimes the mistakes are what makes a work great. Humanity breathes in mistakes
Do what you can with what you have. Nothing more is needed
Creativity is something you are, not something you do
The destination is a work we feel energized to share and we look back on and wonder in amazement how it could come from us
‘Think to yourself: I’m just here to create’
The world is only as free as it allows its artists to be
The context changes the content
The best work is the work you are excited about
When co-operating, be as specific as possible with your feedback
The story you tell yourself doesn’t matter. All that matters is the work itself - the art that gets made and how it’s perceived
***
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How the World Works
Noam Chomsky
Summary
A combination of books Chomsky wrote in the 80s and 90s about America and it's role in the world. Fascinating read and insight into one of the great thinkers of the 21st century
Rating: 5/5
Notes
The US invaded Greece in 1947 and supported a horrendous war which led to 160k Greek deaths. This was the model for Vietnam and allowed American business to gain and thrive
US policies in the 3rd world consistently opposed democracies if they couldn’t be controlled as real democracies believe government should respond to the needs of their own population rather than those of US investors
US-run contra forces in the 3rd world isn’t ordering killing - it’s brutal sadistic torture (Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala)
From the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 till the collapse of the communist governments in eastern europe in the 80s, it was possible to justify every US attack as defense against the Soviets
If you want a global system that’s subordinated to the needs of US investors, you can’t let pieces of it wander off. It’s clearly stated in the documents of record
The US wants ‘stability’ meaning security for the upper classes and large foreign businesses
Solid case for impeaching every American president since World War 2 either outright as war criminals or involved in serious war crimes
El Salvador and Nicaragua were not covered by the US media in the 70s when US-supported brutal torture and murder were taking place
In the early 80s, America’s friends slaughtered 10s of thousands of Guatemalans with countless others tortured and raped
After Vietnam, the major US policy goal has been to maximize repression and suffering of countries demonstrated by their violence - blocked other countries from seeking aid
The US regularly carries out or supports aggression
For most of the 20th century, the US was the dominant economic power and used economic warfare as a weapon ranging from illegal embargoes to enforcement of weak IMF rules with their military becoming pre-eminent
The US tries to avoid negotiations with countries as the US fears it will lose and other countries will be better off
When a state has huge debts, it must divert the population from what’s happening and they do this by inspiring fear of our enemies (Russia in Europe)
The real enemy of the US has always been ‘the poor who seek to plunder the rich’. In America, it’s the opposite and has been for generations
‘The war on drugs’ was a manufactured media blitz by the US leadership to distract the population, increase repression in inner cities and build support for attack on civil liberties
The US government blocks international effort to seek peace (Russia and Ukraine)
Major media are large companies owned and interlinked with even larger conglomerates. The market is the advertisers and the product is audiences
The power in the US lies in the hands of people who determine investment decisions as they determine production, distribution and staff the government. They want a passive, quiescent population
The struggle of freedom is never over and requires active and sustained efforts
One important consequence of globalization is it extends the third world model to industrial nations where the average person has their jobs shipped away while the rich and elite continue to amass massive amounts of wealth
We’ve moved to an international state with the IMF, World Bank, G7 & EU, WEF where the general population doesn’t know what’s happening and it doesn’t know it doesn’t know
If the borrowing the US has done was used for constructive purposes like investment or infrastructure, the US would be better off, but it was used to enrich the rich - for consumption, financial manipulation and speculation which are all harmful
The class warfare of the last few decades has successfully weakened popular organizations leaving people to feel isolated
The US is so deeply in debt to the international financial community because of debt that they have a lock on US policy
Many of the large number of security council resolutions vetoed by the US have to do with Israeli aggression or atrocities
Invaders typically use local collaborators to run things for them by playing upon existing rivalries to get onne group to work for them against another
European wars were wars of extermination. If we were to be honest about history, we would simply describe it as barbarian invasion
There has always been racism but it developed as a leading principle of thought in the context of colonialism.
A standard technique of belief formation goes along with oppression
In the US, you’re not allowed to talk about the class differences, which is the real issue
When the US establishment talks about jobs, it means profits for its corporations
The elite are masters and they follow what Adam Smith said about ‘the vile maxim’ - all for ourselves and nothing for anyone else
People who aren’t owners and investors have nothing much to say in the US
Jefferson warned against banking institutions and corporations and said if they grow, aristocrats would’ve won and the revolution would’ve been lost
The ‘Free market’ is for the poor. We have a dual system - protection for the rich and market discipline for everyone else
There’s been a considerable increase in inequality and has the American society moving towards a third world model, thereby seeing increased crime and signs of social disintegration
A huge area of the media is dedicated to diverting people and making them more stupid and passive
There’s nothing individualistic about corporations who are totalitarian in nature
Free trade agreements result in reduced wages for local employees while predominantly benefiting the rich consumer while also destroying unions
Operation Paper Clip imported large number of known Nazi criminals
The American army’s counter-insurgency literature begins with an analysis of the German experience in Europe written with the co-operation of Naxi officials (instruments of statecraft - book)
US involvement in Chile with the coup in 1973 to reduce social democracy
The threat of a good empire is what the US worried about with reforms on uncontrolled capitalism
The US killed a few million people and destoryed 3 countries during the Vietnam war
A huge amount of business propaganda is to create wants
The answers to solve all these issues is to organize. Being alone you can’t do anything but if you join with other people, you can make changes
Under capitalism, investment is supposed to be as risk free as possible. No competition wants free markets - what they want is power
The government subsidizes corporations’ costs, protects them from market risks and lets them keep the profits
There’s never been much difference between the 2 business parties and the differences are disappearing
The CIA has been involved in drug running for generations (the politics of heroin book)
You need something to frighten people with, to prevent them from paying attention to what’s really happening to them. You have to engender fear and hatred
The first world lives in a highly indoctrinated society
Neoliberalism is nothing more than the imperial formula: free markets for you and plenty of protection for me. The rich would never accept it but they’re happy to impose it on the poor
The UN does mostly what US business wants
‘Politics is the shadow cast on society by big business’ - John Devery
If people dedicate themselves to organizing and activism, we’ll gain access to broader audiences
If you extrapolate to the future, it’s very ugly but the point is it’s not inevitable. It can be changed but we can’t change things till we understand them.
***
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