I remembered this in the shower this morning, a news item from February of this year:
One of the company’s three co-founders, Yancey Strickler, said that Kickstarter is on track to distribute over $150 million dollars to its users’ projects in 2012, or more than entire fiscal year 2012 budget for the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), which was $146 million.In all fairness, Stricker goes on to say, "Maybe there’s a reason for the state to strongly support the arts." Maybe there is. Personally, I believe in a separation of Art and State. As JFK once said (emphasis added):
Art establishes the basic human truths which must serve as the touchstones of our judgment. The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state.Kickstarter is an exemplar of Crowdsourcing née Mutual Aid, and thankfully, it is not alone. This is a great time to be alive!
