mid

ERUDITE seeks to use maximalist aesthetics to make important knowledge more engaging and vibrant. Already, there are rumblings of a reaction to cultural homogeneity. It isn't hard to find widespread disgust with the identical minimalism of every coffee shop, every Airbnb, every 'we do things differently here' restaurant. So many products and places look perfect on social media, but feel hollow and corporate. The systems that mass-produce mediocrity are 1) the Internet and 2) parasitic entities such as private equity.

The vast majority of our decision-making and taste-making is informed by digital platforms. Our exposure to new music, art, and ideas is at the whim of Spotify, Instagram, and TikTok algorithms. Kyle Chayka, in Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture, explains how such data-driven equations are designed to maximize user engagement and, ultimately, corporate profit and shareholder value. First, that means the fate of small and large businesses alike depends on their visual appeal on social media feeds. That fact inherently encourages safe, easily consumable content. Recommendations must pander to the lowest common denominator of mass appeal. The mess of authentic creativity is too bold, too risky.

David Marx's enormous Status and Culture illustrates the churn of cultural creativity. He first argues that humans are status-seeking animals. Our material needs are either overrun or at least supplemented by social needs. This process spurs, for example, working-class kids, trying to stick it to middle-class counterparts, to create an offensive or avant-garde subculture like punk. In turn, artists and writers draw inspiration from punk and bring it into the spotlight. Then, rich kids (who feel guilty or disillusioned about being rich) adopt punk, effectively ending its coolness and leading the original punk kids to move on to grunge, post-punk, or hip-hop. And on and on. But the Internet lowered the barrier of access and exposure to subcultures. Now, any niche community or aesthetic can be invaded by wannabes and imitators overnight. They don't have time to simmer, evolve, and make their mark on culture at large. Everything becomes a sequel or remake or throwback. Everyone consumes a charcuterie board of styles and so less and less people belong to a particular tribe. Culture, in short, becomes boring.

Just like algorithms, capitalist entities like private equity are built for short-term extraction. Short-termism leads to mismanagement and excessive debt creation. Joshua Kosman's The Buyout of America argues that this will likely trigger an economic meltdown. In The Finance Curse, Nicholas Shaxson goes into detail about the parasitic operations of private equity and points to the brain-drain of talented workers away from productive industries and into the bloated finance sector.

Let's say a private equity firm buys up a local restaurant. They are most likely looking to sell within five to seven years. Like a house flipper, they are interested in a fast, profitable turnaround. Locally sourced and fresh ingredients, which are expensive, are replaced by cheaper prepackaged ones. Labor costs are drastically cut by firing experienced and expensive workers and reducing hours, killing employee morale. Basic upkeep and maintenance falls by the wayside, tarnishing the brand reputation. The restaurant itself is saddled with debt, and its most valuable assets (such as the land beneath the building) have been sold off. To market the most general appeal possible, the restaurant rides shitty trends. In pursuit of frictionless consumer experience, they remove clutter, history, warmth, and organic imperfections. It is replaced by a sterile, uniform aesthetic of beiges and sans-serif fonts.

Fuck that dude. Add to the mix the generic and uncreative output of large language models. Nothing will be bad, nothing will be good, everything will just be "mid."