Q: What do Radiohead, Amanda Palmer, and my old favourite restaurant in Melbourne — Lentil as Anything — have in common?
A: At one time or another in their creation and trade, they have all introduced a “Pay-What-You-Want” scheme as means of distributing products and services to their loving communities.
No set prices. No coercion or scarcity tactics. No pressure.
Just a bottom line of trust.
TDLR: Reimagining my payment structure to encompass principles of the “Pay-What-You-Want/Can” model * Juicy counter-capitalist/-neoliberalism rant * T&Cs for my little experiment that may or may not be applicable to your idea or project (scroll to the end of this post — consider reading it first!) * Let's reshape our ways to model the kind of radical new economy we want to live in (and is equitable for everybody) * Get in touch to learn more or make a pitch.
The PWYW scheme — rather than demanding an arbitrary dollar amount (irrespective of people’s personal wealth or circumstances) in a cut-and-dry transaction that alleviates parties from any moral obligation to build further connection — allows the customer to experience first, and pay later with an offering that feels resonant and realistic to them.
As Amanda Palmer puts it, regarding her practise of releasing music to fans under the PWYW model:
“It’s about a few people loving you up close and about those people being enough...we see each other, and I think when we really see each other, we want to help each other. I think people have been obsessed with the wrong question, which is how do we make people pay for music? What if we started asking, how do we let people pay for music?”
I visualise this model as a quiet act of revolution, sitting cross-legged on the floor amidst the sweating, screaming, fluorescent-lit Wall Street office that is the western world’s (and increasingly, the entire world’s) prevailing economic system: capitalism.
PWYW is grounded in co-creative value and trust in one another; communal, considerate, and altruistic by nature.
Whereas capitalism, to me, resembles a vigilant game of tit-for-tat between privatised corporations whose success is measured by market domination and wealth accumulation at another’s expense; fearful and competitive at its core. (These days especially so, as capitalism often deals under the table with the insidious neoliberalism movement — and let’s not forget that pesky, perverse patriarchy.)
All of us alive today and reading this have likely been born into a world in which fear and competition are particles in the air we breathe, as prolific as oxygen. Over time, these particles break us down, break our bodies, as many an airborne disease would.
At this time of writing (2023), I’m personally in recovery from a symptom of capitalism — burnout by chronic productivity — feebly remembering how to lift fingers and feel feelings after being put through the furnace and coughed out the other side a scorched husk, far from the immaculate diamond I have the birthright to be.
I have been forced into a state of deep rest — the enemy of productivity — over a period of close to ten months. My strung-out neural pathways, emptied of their usual busyness and distractions, are now more spacious for fresh ideas to seep through and re-fertilise my mind — much like monsoonal rain births green life into the veins of the Okavango Delta.
One of those ideas swimming laps in my head lately is that of PWYW. Cool, fluid, and refreshing; a salve to my burns.
* For brevity’s sake, I will itemise capitalism specifically in this piece, though consider neoliberalism and the patriarchy as equally inherent concepts.
A Revolutionary Economy…and a Confession
When I first started my business, I had no idea how to price my services. I was new to this game, and scared I wouldn’t know how to play. So I turned to “experts” — coaches, influencers, institutions, and the like. Those who appeared to have the game all figured out, and were thereby living their prosperous, successful, “self-made” career dreams. (Spoiler alert: there’s no such thing as a self-made man (as it is often men who claim to be so) or human.)
These figures had, in my eyes, leverage (ah, that word; I will circle back to it further down). They had lists of prestigious achievements and sponsorships and affiliations with other wildly outstanding people and reach with many thousands of followers around the world, and the little blue ticks next to their social media handles. They seemed like individuals and organisations that are listened to and largely respected; deemed “people of worth” by the current metrics we live or die by in our western culture.
Therefore, they must know what they’re talking about…right? Otherwise...why is everybody listening?
The Ladder Analogy
Through my entrepreneurial quest for perceived worthiness and prestige, I was handed a set of sub-commandments of modern economic scripture that promised a way out of living hand-to-mouth by doing what you love (“for an investment of $XYZ, normally valued at $XYZ@#$%!”).
Economic scripture that gaslit the absence of funds in my account as my inability to “honour my worth” and cut those out of my clientele who couldn’t cough up the extra dollars.
Economic scripture that turned out to be capitalism disguised as service* — virtuous on the surface, though ultimately pumping greater wealth into the infinity pool on the 77th floor owned by the world’s most privileged demographics, by denying assistance or grace (or even bare acknowledgement) to those of us closer to the basement.
Economic scripture that propped up people and corporate entities that are single-handedly, or by affiliation, destroying the environment or decimating local cultures, inflaming body image issues, driving destitution, disparity, and despair amongst vulnerable communities — the list goes on and on.
* Economic scripture that has now, frighteningly, merged with spirituality and “love and light” culture, birthing all abominations of wealth manifestation tactics that draw on the more neoliberal pursuits of spiritual practice. For example, protecting one’s energy from “toxic” influences (a term too liberally thrown around, and often confused with humanity’s shadow aspects, which we all have, attempting to heal themselves) and ruthlessly cutting out negativity that “does not serve” (denying oneself the humility brought about through healthy conflict, the whole emotional spectrum, and harsher realities of life); or manifesting luxury homes and perfectly aligned partners and even f*cking dream cars befitting of one’s “high vibration”...thereby portraying the moremoremore agenda of capitalism + neoliberalism as virtuous and selfless service. This is honestly a whole other issue I could write an entire post on, and probably will one day.
* * *
Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m aware that not all those who make lots of money (or are involved in the mainstream spiritual service sector) have sinister ulterior motives.
A counter-argument to mine suggests that by tactically playing the game and landing yourself in a position of leverage on the board, you can use your hard-earned wisdom and resources to influence positive change in your environment.
Until recently, I thought this was a valid argument. I personally know a couple of well-intentioned people who have built themselves up in their fields over many years, accumulated a tidy living, and now seem concerned about helping others rise higher on the ladder. Seems virtuous, at first glance; and considering the, let’s say, morally grey landscape of our system that is, this attitude is a bloody great step-up.
However, I raise them (and you) this revolutionary idea from author and activist Sonya Renee Taylor (from her book, The Body is Not An Apology, and brought to my attention in a podcast interview* with sociologist Brené Brown**):
* I’ve paraphrased slightly for conciseness. Also note that Taylor’s notion of radical self-love is, in her wider teachings, deeply coupled with an ultimate diversion from capitalism.
** Another note: this conversation is stacked on the assumed knowledge that a) we are born with everything we need to flourish and be whole and "succeed” at the being aspect of humanness (look up Marianne Williamson’s acorn analogy); and b) white, wealthy men are the most privileged and dominant demographic atop this intentionally constructed ladder. If your experiences within society and spirituality thus far haven’t made you privy to this information, I suggest you do some background reading before continuing here.
Taylor: “…the systemic and structural level is that we have built a world that is a reflection of our belief that we are not enough. We have built an entire system that then externalises our value...I will be good enough when I achieve dot, dot, dot. I will be good enough if I have this job that pays me this amount of money. I will be good enough if I can hold tight to my identity as white, or able-bodied, or cis, or all of these configurations of what I call the hierarchy of bodies, the world that we have assigned that says there is some top, and my job as a human is to figure out how to scramble to the top, how to try to get there.
Now, what’s true is, that we also recognise in this system, that there are some of us who will never get there. We have bodies that will never live at the top of that ladder. So what we spend our lives trying to do is figure out, well, what can I do? Well, I can lose 10 pounds here. I can affect my tone so that I sound more white…There are all these things that we try to do. I can subscribe to rigid rules around gender, and I can do all of these things to try to understand my place in the hierarchy.
…Radical self-love invites us to divest from the ladder, because the ladder is only real because we keep trying to climb it, and when we stop trying to climb the ladder, then we have no more use for the ladder. When I don’t need the ladder to assess my sense of worthiness, of enoughness, of…inherent divinity, when I don’t need that ladder because I understand it as my birth right…I understand it as my own unique form of natural intelligence, then the ladder is of no use.”
Brown: “…Yeah, my academic training really is like ladder building 101. Okay. So that ladder that’s leaning against the system, right, that I’m not gonna climb up [because] I’ve got everything here, what happens to the system when the ladder goes away?”
Taylor: “The ladder isn’t leaning against the system; the ladder is the system. It’s all the things that we have built to figure out how to attain the top rung. It’s all the systems…And it’s all of our place on there, inside of them. That is what the ladder is…once we undo it…the system falls.”
Brown: “Holy shit.”
In the same exchange, these two unpack how NBA players are opting out of games in protest of racial injustice and killings (and according to this article, the dominoes began to fall thereafter, with major league baseball teams postponing games in response to similarly traumatic events in their local neighbourhoods), and speculate how if women were to suddenly wake up, look in their mirrors and decide they “love what they see [and] aren’t buying anything”, the cosmetic and diet industry would “collapse faster than the airlines after 9/11.”
Bottom line being: our prevailing economic and social systems, built upon widespread, violent imbalances and inequalities — the “hierarchy of bodies” — would be forced to rapidly reconstruct themselves, should people learn to dismantle the ladders of shame and inadequacy inside themselves and refuse to continue climbing.
In other words, a more succinct response to this hypothetical counter-argument might be:
Sure, we could become masters at beating a broken system in order to amass power and wealth to help others climb higher in the process…
Or — we, working as the collective we were always designed to be, could save decades of time and hard work by simply deciding we’re not playing anymore. Entirely cut off the capitalist/neoliberalist beast’s energy supply. Starting…literally, like, right now.
* * *
Liberation for all — simples, right? “Simply” deciding not to play this game anymore, to lay the ladder down flat for everyone to stand on. Seems straightforward on paper, yet of course it isn’t. There is one major disclaimer for abdicating from this system, which you might have already guessed; more details below.
> For starters, many of us truly possess good and honest intentions of helping out our fellow humans. However, those intentions get ruthlessly infiltrated by the malleability of vested self-interest; the MO of capitalism. We all have a self-preserving streak, and are all tempted, in some form or another, by the perks and promises of wealth — be that of money, time, beauty, fame, success...and in some extreme cases, literal survival (or our perception of it, which feels just as real).
Not to mention, seeing too many highlight reels every day on social media has us duped into believing we’re not keeping up with the game. That until we put X amount of money on our products or services and streamline the amount of time we take to create or deliver them (because we also have to cook, eat, wash our dishes, sleep enough hours, exercise, meditate, commute to and from work, clean our houses and clothes, spend meaningful time with friends and family, partake in hobbies, shower every now and then...), we’re going to be left behind, cast out from the herd. We’re doomed to drift through life with our unique brilliance never being realised. We’re banished from the board.
So, to raise my earlier question again: why is everybody still listening?
Because…I mean, how terrifying does all the above sound? People can’t see the truth of their beautiful essence when they’re perpetually operating from a fight-or-flight state of survival; just keeping up with the pack, so desperately wanting to be accepted and at peace and hoping things will get better. Or, feeling like they have to compete and do the casting out, to avoid being cast out themselves. This impulse cuts right to the heart of our primal instincts, positively screams at our ancient biology: Danger! Banishment from the herd = literal pain and death! Avoid at all costs!
This narrative, and countless variations of it, is a convenient card to play by the same fat cats and corporations slipping our chips under the table while we’re not looking, profiting from our doubt and complete exhaustion. They have us trying to buy our way out of suffering they’ve created, through a game that is fundamentally rigged against a great many of us succeeding — and if we do somehow succeed, it might be because we've had to step on someone else’s neck in order to climb another rung of the ladder.
So much of this remains unconscious. I sure as hell never knowingly set out to succeed in my field at other people's expense. And yet, I realise now that, so long as we’re all still playing by the rules that be (rather than abdicating gameplay), we’re perpetuating a fundamentally unjust social and economic order.
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I’m aware that — while I don’t consider myself close to the upper rungs of the ladder and into the infinity pool — I’ve been born into some degree a lot of privilege that entitles me to sit a little higher up than some; to cash in on some perks.
We’ve all got perks to cash in that keep us, fingers tightly coiled, on the ladder…and we’re terrified of what should happen, should we be shaken off (to further illustrate Sonya Renee Taylor’s analogy). We don’t look down for fear of falling, and therefore don’t easily see the suffering and stifled pleading of those below us.
>
Or — the images we’re bombarded with on a daily basis from the news and social media communicate clearly to us that a) literal evil is taking place everywhere, at all times; b) That’s way too big of an issue to deal with; c) I’m going to shut down the pain of acknowledgement that such atrocities are happening to my global network of brothers and sisters, or conduct a couple of token acts of performative allyship to make it look like I’m participating without the vulnerability of taking uncertain (and almost certainly clumsy) action; d) succumb to the fear-anxiety-overwhelm [look up Sarah Wilson’s analogy] cycle. Do nothing much out of sheer existential exhaustion.
Which leads us to the hard sell here; why, ultimately, broken systems take a really, really long time to change. In order to do this — to stand up for our marginalised brothers and sisters, and flatten the ladder — means to relinquish some, or all, of the perks we have on whichever rung we currently reside.
I don’t know about you, but...personally, I feel a responsibility to find a way to start prising my limbs off the ladder — to stop silently conspiring with others to keep calm and keep our perks while those on the lower rungs get stepped on — in whatever small ways I can, and look toward solutions that see us all standing on more equal ground. To change the rules so that we can all play fairly and fun-ly; run (in our own symbolic ways) towards freedom instead of all this climbing. Because, as Marianne Williamson and Sonya Renee Taylor point out: why should we strive for what we were already born with? An acorn does not need to try to become an oak tree; it already just is, and will be.
In short: I’ve had a gutful of this current game.
I’m enraged at cashing my resources into a system that profits only if its players are all operating under the mutual denial of intrinsic worthiness and inclusion; if we’re climbing over one another’s heads as opposed to rising by lifting each other at the same time.
PWYW (or Pay-As-You-Feel/Pay-What-You-Can) is a model that meets people where they’re at — not where you’re at. It begets deep and ongoing discussion about what the buyer truly values, what resources they have to offer, what human connection there is between you, about beauty and art and intentions. It honours nuance and boundaries. It doesn’t profit from people’s fears. It taps capitalism on the shoulder with a much gentler, more inquisitive, and less extractive proposition to put forward.
It carries within it a lore that prioritises the sanctity of love, connectedness, and trust above all else; a silent vow that communicates:
“I will not judge you by the numbers in your bank account or your personal circumstances. I see you in your creative divinity; I see you in love; I see you in trust; I see you as a kindred spirit that deserves my support in all states and circumstances, and I yours. And I trust this generosity will circle back around and bind us together again and again, as we are all inextricably bound as the same stuff of stardust. Of this earth. Of Source. As so much more than numbers in an unnatural, tyrannical, individualistic, patriarchal economic market.”
* * *
The original meaning of the word economy is derived from Ancient Greek; oikonomia, roughly translating as “proper management of the household”.
My business is, in a way, my household. So much of this year (2023 at the time of writing) for me has felt like arduous and unrelenting housekeeping.
Coming to terms with what, for reasons beyond my understanding, just...doesn’t work or make sense any more; old identities and intentions that feel like poking the discarded skin of a snake, trying to make it come back to life, and finally accepting (with some grief) that they’re gone now.
Clearing out a bunch of junk and cobwebs that no longer feel aligned for me and the kind of neighbourhood — and I use this word broadly; literally meaning, like, the world and radical new economy — I want to live in. And it honestly seems as though I’m not remotely alone in this experience.
Pay-What-You-Want/Can, in these troubled and untenable economic times, seems to me the way forward...or at least, one way forward. My way forward.
Something to try; something more inclusive of people born into different levels of privilege and life circumstances; something a little more radical and (in my opinion) far more aligned with the true nature of humans, and the cosmic dust from which we’re made:
Empathetic, ever-changing, nuanced, irrational, inexplicable, enamoured with beauty, and hardwired for meaningful connection — not merely that what’s fabricated through false needs and fear of being screwed.
My Way Forward + How to Collaborate
In Debt: The First 5,000 Years, author David Graeber proposes a concept of “everyday communism”, as defined through detailed analysis of peasant life:
“The peasants’ visions of communistic brotherhood did not come out of nowhere. They were rooted in real daily experience: of the maintenance of common fields and forests, of everyday cooperation and neighbourly solidarity. It is out of such homely experience of everyday communism that grand mythic visions are always built. Obviously, rural communities were also divided, squabbling places, since communities always are — but insofar as they are communities at all, they are necessarily founded on a ground of mutual aid...Society was rooted above in the “love and amity” of friends and kin, and it found expression in all those forms of everyday communism (helping neighbours with chores, providing milk or cheese for old widows) that were seen to flow from it.
“Almost everyone follows this principle if they are collaborating on some common project. If someone fixing a broken water pipe says, “Hand me the wrench”, his co-worker will not, generally speaking, say, “And what do I get for it?” — even if they are working for ExxonMobil, Burger King, or Goldman Sachs...The reason is simple efficiency (ironically enough, considering the conventional wisdom that “communism just doesn't work”): if you really care about getting something done, the most efficient way to go about it is obviously to allocate tasks by ability and give people whatever they need to do them.” [Emphasis added.]
This analogy is genius because it poses the possibility of non-extractive, service-centred acts of everyday humanitarianism within the confines of our current economic and sociological model; quiet revolution from the inside-out.
I started my creative business with the intention of giving back to my community; of expressing my appreciation for the wonderful people around me who have injected colour and dynamism and magic into the daily monotony of capitalist life. My craft felt like it could become an expression of “everyday communism”, in the way Graeber explains above; a silent superpower that handed people wrapped gifts — be they of creatively-written words, well-timed photographs, or raw film clips of them in their unbounded element — reminding them of their fully-seen humanity (yet rarely seen by them) that cannot be sold to them by brands and conglomerates.
I’m also human, with all the needs — seductive and survival — I mentioned above, who got a little lost somewhere in the delivery of all that...and want to make good on my intentions. (My skills are the wrench, in the above analogy; as might be yours too, in your own way of allocating them.)
* * *
Now, to my final point:
Along with this experimental system in which my mixed media services are more accessibly offered, comes an acknowledgement that I’ll need to be far choosier with potential projects moving forward.
I mentioned earlier I’m recovering from chronic burnout; therefore, my act of rebellion is to shift gears into a non-patriarchal pace. I move slower at the moment than I ever thought possible — except on projects that truly light me up. That are taken on for any other reason but the money (and therefore granted more equitable attention and effort).
Other reasons but the money I can think of are plentiful: to shine a spotlight on pressing issues pertaining to our natural world and collective human experience (I am Synaesthete Media and a photojournalist at my core, after all); to make others’ innovative projects and perspectives more available to potential audiences; to strengthen unique connections and friendships; to deepen my own learning and understanding of how something or someone works; to push myself creatively; to see and experience more wonders of the world; to remain open to spontaneity, uncertainty, and nuance; to scratch my own curious itches — you name it.
The world and its people need more help in some areas than others. Therefore, I’m making myself more available to projects pertaining to:
Environmental and cultural conservation;
Areas of social inequality that need more voices behind them (women’s and men’s empowerment/healing, unique expressions of sexuality, speciesism, support for First Nations and other people of colour, the differently-abled, and so on);
Preservation of truth in a society that often sells it to the highest bidder;
Celebration of the true, artful, and beautiful;
Anything connected to those non-monetary reasons listed above — or, of course, to do with a radical new economy — and more, which I'm open to hearing about from you.
If you have an idea/perspective/project you want to push out into the world, and need a caring creative to collaborate with — I’m your gal.
Get in touch (with a short explanation of why it’s a good fit for anything I’ve shared here) via my contact form or either of my social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram). Here’s a portfolio of my reportage, if you want to see and read more of my storytelling.
I would truly be honoured to hear from you.
The world now, more than ever, needs your unique voice and perspective on the events shaping our new economy — as do I.
* * *
Technical stuff: This whole new set-up is truly an experiment; I’ve never tried anything quite like this before, except the occasional skills exchange or barter arrangement here and there. There will be kinks, quirks, nuances, and uncertainty to work through; perhaps I’ll need to make adjustments down the track, or it won’t work out at all. But I’d be frustrated with myself if I didn't at least try. So I thank you for your patience as we nut this out together.
Pay-What-You-Want may not be applicable for every scenario or project. Some positions (for example, contractor on a media team) will need to offer me what’s offered to others of comparable experience/skill. Also, please note that some projects are enormously time- and effort-consuming to undertake (for example, wedding videos), and therefore I will need to request a minimum fee to cover my bases (dependent on the size of the project in question).
All jobs will require a small deposit, so that (should the worst-case scenarios happen, which I’m choosing to trust won't happen often) if someone cancels last-minute (or does a runner before making good on any remaining payment), I’m at least basically compensated for my time.
Finally: this whole spiel exists not to exclude anyone, or hang judgement on anyone’s life choices! I’m sure there are a bunch of you out there who have not only fought through adversity to make the current system work for you, but are giving generously through your success, be that in dollars or knowledge or otherwise. Some of you might like the way the economy is tracking; if so, good for you.
All I want to communicate is that, for me...some parts of the way we live are kinda f*cked. More to the point, there are so many people with the potential to make real waves in the world, and I want to help them catch that surf, catch a break in whatever way I can; not everyone has the resources they need to be heard, and that sucks. We might be missing out on something truly wonderful.