Micah M. White

As my experience as an activist grows, one fact has become increasingly unavoidable: financial freedom is a prerequisite for radical thought and action. Without a source of income that does not require an ethical capitulation it is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain the culture jamming ethos. The solution to this problem is not as simple as applying for non-profit jobs, particularly because these NGOs are often times invested in the state of affairs today's culture jammer is fighting. It seems corporations have transformed our world so fundamentally that it is nearly impossible to fund activism without working for, or accepting money from, "the enemy". But what if I don't want to become one of those sad creative consultants who writes mind-fucking advertisements by day and reads Adbusters by night? I have come to the conclusion that the only solution is to create a way for activists, culture jammers, artists and outsiders to fund their own existence. And this is why I believe the blackspot is the next big idea that will alter the way we, as culture jammers, live: ultimately freeing ourselves from the chains of consumer society by providing viable, ethical funding to carry out our agenda without compromise.

Since its introduction the blackspot has gone through many permutations. I remember when it first appeared in the pages of Adbusters. It was, at that time, a symbolic mark whose meaning was yet to be determined. Slowly, the blackspot took on culture jamming significance as the defiant mark used to obliterate mental pollutants and criminal brands. A sign of mutiny, at this stage the blackspot was purely negative. It represented the effacement of existing society but did not necessarily entail an affirmation. This all changed when the blackspot materialized as an ethical sneaker. For the first time, the blackspot had reached maturity as a symbol of negation and affirmation. In the obliteration of consumer culture another world was enacted: one in which passive consumption was replaced by active participation and where homogenous global culture was rejected in favor of a local vision. The success of the blackspot sneaker points toward a future in which global corporations have been de-cooled, and local and sustainable businesses thrive. A world united under a mark whose meaning is left open in anticipation of creative appropriation and radical difference. We call these local businesses simply "Blackspots" and we demand that each be different. The blackspot gains meaning through its local usage not through "branding" by advertisers.

How many culture jammers actually know how to start a small business? It is time that we learn. The blackspot will be built through head-to-head competition with the corporations currently choking our local communities. And they won't go down without a fight. Unless we are willing to take risks by entering capitalist dominated territory, we will never be able to reclaim our culture from their grip. Let's talk specifics, the main difficulty that we face when opening a blackspot in our community is raising the start-up capital. My eyes were opened to the reality of the situation when I took a Small Business Start-up training course offered by my local state-funded Small Business Development Center. The fact of the matter is that bank loans are not a viable option for blackspots due to their demands for personal collateral and high interest rates. No bank (within the U.S.) will give a loan to a small business without securing the loan with your house, car, personal assets, or assets of your family. However, given that accepting money from a bank is usually no different than accepting corporate donations, I think most blackspotters will agree that we should refuse bank loans outright. Without the possibility of a bank loan, we will need to turn elsewhere to fund the initial start up capital for our blackspots. It is here that I propose a slightly modified version of an idea that has already been floating around: blackspot microloans.

Unlike traditional microloans, I propose that blackspot microloans be given by individuals to local blackspots in leiu of a donation. For example, if the anticipated start up costs of a blackspot in a rural town is $15,000 then this blackspot would solicit loans from individual culture jammers at a reasonable interest rate of 4% to be repaid over the course of three years. This would immediately shift the traditional division of power between consumers and corporations into a mutually sustaining relationship of active participation. The local blackspot benefits by receiving low interest rate loans, the community benefits from a truly local and unique business, and those who gave the loans benefit through a modest return on their investment. Those individuals who still prefer to donate their money could ask that the loan be repaid to a general blackspot start-up fund that would provide seed money to other culture jammers. As you can see, a blackspot economy could very quickly develop based upon this proposed model.

Ultimately, the future success of the culture jammer movement, the demise of global capitalism and its byproduct of mental pollution, depends upon doing away with the mentality of charity. Instead of desperately waiting for a few pennies to be donated, it is time to look around our local communities and identify potential financially viable blackspot opportunities. Each employee hired by these blackspots, each dollar of profit that goes towards funding full-time culture jamming, and each individual turned from consumer to participant will bring us one step closer to our vision of a non-corporate future.