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I have been accepted as a staff writer for Dr. Fantastique's Show of Wonders, and so I am shamelessly leaving this site to join him.  To the 433 visitors I've had thus far, I hope to see you there!

Corporate Machine

General Disclaimer: This is not in any way meant to be a political commentary.  This should not in any way be construed as legal or financial advice.  The Steampunk CEO is neither a Financial Advisor nor a Lawyer; just a business man.

The Corporate Machine.  The oppressors of all artists everywhere that keeps you from becoming the artist you want to be by not paying enough to keep you working on what you want to and paying the bills; or pumping out mass produced, cheap products that people buy instead of yours.  Lobbying for laws that keep you down.  Despotic Corporations that are the root of all evil in most Steampunk worlds, especially post apocalyptic ones.

But what is the Corporate Machine really, and how does it affect a Steampunk Artist as a business person?

"The Corporate Machine keeps us down!"

First, the term Corporate Machine, which is unabashedly stolen from Captain Robert of Abney Park, is a misnomer.  Corporations are business entities that count as legal persons for the purpose of protecting their owners from personal liability in the event something goes wrong.  The Corporation can be sued instead of the individual shareholders.  When it boils down to the core of what a Corporation is, it is a shield.  When you incorporate, you give birth to an artificial person, which has its own rights and responsibilities.

"Corporations should not have human rights!!"

Don't worry, they can't vote.  What they can do is start other companies, produce a good or service for a profit, sue, and most importantly, be sued.  These final two are where the shield come in; if the corporation is sued, the person bringing the lawsuit can only take the assets of the corporation, and not the individual shareholders, officers, or employees.

"Why not?"

When you have a large group working on the same project, mistakes are bound to happen.  Mistakes within the company and with the customers.  Sometimes people get hurt; law of averages says it will happen eventually. When something goes wrong, someone is bound to try and get money for it.  The Corporation shields the individuals in the corporation from financial loss beyond their investment into the corporation (they can still have criminal charges brought against them by the police for negligence or crimes).

"How does this shield work?" 

The Corporation is owned by its shareholders, investors that want an interest in the company for a return on investment in the form of dividends (payments of small amounts of money per share) once per quarter (three months).

"Corporations have no morals."

The purpose of the Corporation is to make money.  They gather resources, often en-masse (giving large bulk discounts), and pump out their product or service faster than the competition.

Corporations don't have morals because they are artificial.  The people inside of the corporation need to have morals in order for the Corporation to have morals.  It's like blaming a lunch box for hurting someone, but not the guy swinging it.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Just this: as a business person, you will end up running into competition.  As a steampunk, most of your competition will wind up being other artists.  However, as our culture heads directly toward being in the mainstream, there is a good chance a Corporation, whether it be an airship or a major Corporation such as Wal-Mart, will enter play.

"Wait, did you say airship?"

Yes, airship.  You have a crew (staff), generally agree on what direction to go (voting like shareholders) and mutually profit.  The only thing missing is the paperwork, and therefore the shield.

Any questions?

Please feel free to comment on this blog.  Julien Harrison, the Steampunk CEO, wants to hear discourse and commentary on any and all blogs written here.  He will attempt to answer any questions.

Mainstream Steampunk

Recently, there have been people talking about the possibility of Steampunk going "mainstream", and what it will mean for the subculture, both aesthetically and intellectually. More importantly, there is a loud part of the subculture (though not necessarily large) that does not want our subculture in mainstream stores such as Hot Topic or Spencers because they are afraid of either a) the quality of normal steampunk goods degrading, b) solo artists (such as the iconic figures Jake von Slatt and the Datamancer) losing their market share through the Corporate Machine (a subject I refuse to touch), or c) that it will be picked up by people that do not understand steampunk and the whole culture will run away from us.

As an artist running a business, it should be important to you whether or not steampunk goes mainstream--and why it should be important may surprise you.

Steampunk going mainstream is a great opportunity for the small artist to make their work get noticed, with or without the stereotypical "Corporate Machine" that will inevitably pump out plastic prefab steampunk gear.  And who can blame them?  Nerf has cornered the market on making Steampunk Firearms simply by producing the most modifiable prop in the industry: their Maverick Rev-6.  If they were to prefab a Steampunk Maverick, many new people to the Steampunk scene could enter with little cost to themselves.  Let's face it; being steampunk is expensive.

Those customers will like their cheap plastic prefab gear and start thinking, this is cool.  But I want a piece with real brass and leather on it.  This is where you come in.  By sticking to your guns and making sure you have the best product for the best price (remember, no Guilt Math(tm), you can give them the opportunity to expand their horizons and turn into a real, productive and thought provoking member of the steampunk culture.  Captain Robert of Abney Park said it best in this entry of his Captain's Blog.  

One more important thing to point out: when our culture does go mainstream and a lot of products are cheaply produced, here is what you need to remember: most manufactured products are made for the least common denominator, meaning it is made cheaply and in mass quantities.  They are classified as inferior goods by economists because they are just that: inferior.  You, as an artist, must strive to produce superior goods that will be priced higher for those truly serious about Steampunk culture.  Captain Syfer Locke of the Banish Misfortune said it best: "we all start somewhere".