Etribe Vision
The most happiness, for the least effort,
for the most people.
I envision a distributed production network where each person can build as little or as much of a guitar as they please, with minimal tools, and be compensated somehow through an online guitar/parts/bank, in either finished guitars, parts for guitars, money or other medium of exchange.
Heres how this vision could be made real:
The guitar parts are modular and so it is easy to break down the construction of a guitar into steps that lend themselves to small-scale mass-production.
I'll describe those steps in more detail at some point when it's not so late at night. I'll start fresh another day.
The guitar as musical instrument is a nexus for many interrelated ideas and functions. The guitar brings people together in celebration, with music. The guitar has the greatest range of tones of any instrument except the piano or synthesizer. The guitar is like blue jeans, embodying the functional style of an iconic form, ennobling all who find it worthy of use or study. Anyone can play, says the guitar. The etribe guitar goes farther, saying: anyone can build this guitar.
The idea of smallness, of travel, of economy, efficient use of materials. Freedom from having to carry unnecessary mass and volume. The idea of self-sufficient entertainment, self-expression. Localized production. Human powered machines and transportation. Partial solution to global climate change? Awareness of energy budget. Solar awareness. Turning sunlight into bliss, music, guitars, food, energy. Efficient use of sunlight. Learning from plants, trees, flowers. Letting hemp collect and transform sunlight in its uniquely efficient way.
Use of human energy for positive change. Gives space to reflect on human purpose in general. Relationship with machines and energy.
I had a dream one morning when I was a kid, sleeping in after a long night of partying.
There used to be a sign on the highway sometimes saying "Daylight Test Section. Turn on headlights next x miles." They're not called Daylight Test Section anymore, now it just says "Turn on headlights, next x miles."
In my dream I was driving through a beautiful California valley on the highway, and a sign said "Soul Light Test Section," and I knew it was an experiment to see if drivers' well-wishes and beneficent intentions could have an effect on the landscape.
So I beamed out good vibes on all sides as I drove through the valley, and the valley bloomed as I drove by, flowers and trees growing lush and tall, sprouting juicy fruits and flowers with happy wildlife all around. Soul Light Test Section was an instant success.
It was a beautiful twilight valley southeast of Modesto with mountains in the distance. Everyone saw the valley blooming with our good intentions and we were happy.
I think the dream was related to Stevie Wonder's album, The Secret Life of Plants, after the book by the same title. It was a ground-breaking work in the development of What-the-Bleep-style new age science. Albert Einstein / Carl Sagan / Visionary Thought Experiment backed-up-by-numbers style of dreamy brainstorming. I think California's Self-Esteem Task Force grew out of this too. I love this about California, even though it seems hopeless, pathetic and funny sometimes. I wonder what happened to that optimism. Why are so many people in prison in California?
I have to come back and continue this later.