Parallax Optics has, thus far, been a little too guilty of the sin of complaint.

Not that there’s nothing to complain about, there’s plenty. But as a method of achieving change, complaint is a fallacy for those positioned on the Right.

After all, who do you think is going to answer your complaints… Barack Obama?

While we’ve presented our thoughts as analysis, diagnosis and argument, on another level it’s all just complaint – the eternal recourse of the disempowered child.

We’ve complained that the system is unfair, we’ve complained that our opponents are zealots, we’ve complained that everything is going to shit…

Now it’s time to build.

Let us begin to consider the positive prescription. It’s important to note that the positive prescription is not the same as a perfect prescription, nor is it intended to be. It’s a mere preliminary, a sharpening of knives, ahead of the battles to come.

But first, what is the positive prescription?

We need to build an alternative status system for art / culture and keep pointing out that consensus art / culture is conformist, intellectually and creatively timid, and terminally in service of the status quo / progressive religion.

It needs to route around the existing CAW system and embarrass it.

Contemporary art is Neo-religious, it’s just swapped sacred icons – the virgin birth is out / gender trans-substantiation is in.

Virtually no one makes any money from their art. Instead they use it to gain status points in an alternative status economy. Therefore, converting smart, ambitious, intellectually open-minded artists shouldn’t be impossible.

Indeed, as more people convert / default it will become increasingly viable, not only to gain points in an alternative status economy, but to make money too.

A shadow / parallel system should then evolve, parts of which will be co-opted into the existing CAW, hopefully changing it inexorably.

Or not.

In which case the change is retrospective – it gets written into the history books after the collapse / reboot / AI overlord.

Routing around / working outside the CAW is the only means by which to create a shadow / parallel status system. But this doesn’t need to prevent institutional raids / system critique / sleeper agents.

The status quo is founded on lies. It protects vested interests founded on lies. To tell the truth artists must be willing to become heretics.

It won’t be easy, but there is always a prize for picking the low-hanging fruit of aesthetic innovation.