Personally, I have a huge amount of respect for our environment. I love nature, I actively support green initiatives, follow eco news and do what I can to minimise my impact on our interconnected and delicate eco system. I compost, I grow vegetables, I ride a bike, I support local environmental groups and I want to build a solar panel. Whilst I maintain a slight hippy viewpoint on the world, I stand at this window of technology, looking out through the eyes of Traktor Tips and see an entire world of plastic and precious minerals. I see the smoke pumping from factories that make our DJ equipment and cringe at the countless parts cast away into landfill.
Whilst my mission here at Traktor Tips is to teach people how to use Traktor software and to empower them to live their dream and enjoy life; I am mindful that I may be supporting an industry that is against my core values. This is why I want to pass this message on and I hope you want to pass it on too.
Despite my love of technology and the gear-whore that resides somewhere inside of me, I feel that the industry needs to take a turn and realise that society needs to step away from the ‘throw-away’ culture.
Imagine if the time we currently spend wondering what the next piece of DJ equipment we were going to buy; was instead devoted to actually DJ’ing!?
DJ’s have Influential Power
The World is heading down a slippery slope in regards the climate. People keep trying to shun it and brush it under the carpet, but we all know what’s happening. We all want to not believe it, but somewhere deep inside, we just know! Our unnecessary addiction to THINGS is destroying the planet.
The thing is though, it doesn’t have to be ALL BAD. It can be the next best thing in life.
There’s a global shift occurring, there are 2 polarities pulling in opposite directions, eventually it’s gonna snap. It’s our job, to make sure it snaps in the right direction.
We must turn away from the constant evolution of technology and begin to focus on the constant evolution of the human. We are a special race, we are equipped with the power of self observation, and as a collective have the power to influence the direction of our world. We need to turn inwards, to each other and ourselves, we must stop being concerned with externalities and instead, improve the self through self care and by giving back to nature and to others.
Our job as a skilled DJ is to entertain and provide people with Joy, not to build oneself up to be something worshiped and exploited by multi-billion dollar industries that are destroying our planet.
In our small communities we can thrive. We need to diversify into a world of mixed cultures, all alive simply to BE alive. We can dance, play music, relax; create! We all have skills to give back into our communities, without the need to pull the world down with us.
The Earth wants to live in harmony with humans, it just seems that many of us don’t want to live in harmony with her!?
Technology that Lasts!
It’s time our ‘advancement’ in technology be more routed in the need to make something that LASTS! The planet does not have unlimited resources and we can not continue to mine the heart from this wounded soul. Innovators need to understand the urgency in creating the necessary tools we all need to survive in this modern, yet not wasteful, minimalistic, organic world of our necessary and healthy future.
We don’t need to kid ourselves and say, “away with your computers, away with your phones, away with your music giving devices!”
Instead, we need the technology leaders of this world to stop chasing the dollar and to step up and say, “Here is the last thing you will ever need. A computer with replaceable solid parts. You only need to change this one part every 30 years, it’ll cost you nothing and will use almost no energy, it’s so reliable and solid, that we won’t need to mine anything more, ever.”
Using repurposed parts gathered up from on the earth right now, we most likely have enough material in existence to facilitate this.
Old devices we cast aside can be used in new equipment, equipment that will never need throwing away. It’s possible, we know it’s possible. But someone says money is valuable!? Who are they trying to kid?! Money is NOT valuable, this planet is ALL we have! It’s the MOST valuable thing there EVER was! What will it take to get everyone to realize this!!?
You Create Your World
I am in no position to make the big decisions, I’m not there! I am here though, and I can paint the picture of possibilities for anyone that is willing to look at it.
We must give up our egoic need for material items, realize what we need to live in the new world, create and manufacture the everlasting tools that can help us align with our true purpose and start to give back to this wondrous planet and it’s amazing inhabitants.
So I call upon those in high places, and to all of YOU, to make the right decisions, the decisions that will take our great world to even greater places. Heaven is on Earth if only you could see it.
Wake Up, let’s do this……
More Reading:-
Psychology of Transformational Festivals – Dr Kelly Neff
Watch: Greening the Festival – Bloom Series
More Images from Todorwarp (as featured in this post)
If you resonate with this article, then please help spread the Joy!
Traktor Tips 
Wow?! This is an awesome read. Great article Alan. Very good points made in here. I agree with all of them.
Thanks Mark 😉
We’ll said. Especially about the internal conflict many of us have with loving gear, but hating seeing so much of the stuff humans make end up in landfill a few years later, not to mention all the plastic crap in our oceans. To people who say what’s DJing got to do with this? I say, EVERYTHING we do is connected with this topic, because pretty much everything we do is part of the problem. I love seeing it being discussed here, and on the news, and my kids school, and in fishing forums and cross stitch forums! Thumbs up smiley face.
Thank you @richardoverall:disqus. The fact that you are seeing this everywhere means that people do truly care and realise it’s importance.
Get rid of money and you’re half way there. Create an environment that promotes co-operation instead of competition. Of course, only the people’s will will change our world. Hopefully small start ups with vision will pop up with (en)durable equipment that people will support and software software developers will focus on programmes that work instead of trying to tantalise us with superficial features that we don’t need
Yes, well said, i feel you on this! We’re a long way off, but there are many people ahead of the game and laying the foundations!
As a Christian DJ, I realize that this article isn’t from a Christian perspective, but I can really appreciate the part about having influence and making the world a better place instead of dragging it down and calling attention to myself to receive the glory. It’s not about me. It’s much bigger. It’s about making the world a better place and giving the listener something worth listening to. We are the gatekeepers of the music and the listener’s ears.
Thanks for commenting – Indeed it is much bigger than just us. Our actions make a difference! 😉
I’m happy the author has found peace in his struggle between the art of music and his political worldview. That being said, please consider something…
I have big political opinions, too. But, in many ways they are squarely against the views of this author. I’ve devoted much of my life to the amateur study of economics, and it actually gets me down to see people with such drive and passion continuously get trapped in the same “heal the world” mistakes that cost the world dearly in the form of giving bad people in government and corporations so much power.
The author, while well meaning and positive in spirit, has touched a few sore spots of my own, if you could not tell. While he’s busy despising forces he believes are destroying the planet, I can’t help but cringe at the fact that he’s using the platform a DJing to push his agenda, which (IMO) is riddled with important details that I feel must be addressed.
Let me be clear…this is NOT some political rant. Please don’t ask me the details of my beliefs because this is not the place to discuss them. But, I’m tell you now, that I’m not the only one who feels the follow way: If DJing is really about healing the world, keep it on the dance floor. As long as you are speaking as a DJ, let your music do the talking. Getting preachy on issues having nothing to do with music distracts from the raw emotion of getting caught up in the moment of the music, where we can all relate to each other through dancing.
Combining DJing with political activism uplifts your activism while it kills the spirit of the dance floor. If you can find a way to make that work, then good for you and your cause. But I suspect this is a dead end attitude.
Thanks Different Dude. I appreciate you taking the time to read the article despite the fact that it challenges your views.
Whilst I understand your gripes with this, I hope you too can understand why I must use Traktor Tips as mindfully as possible and for it to align as much as I can with my core values and reasons for my existence.
This is why in the article, I say “I am mindful that I may be supporting an industry that is against my core values.”
It is very hard to operate in todays landscape without owning a piece of technology or ‘buying in’ to societies detrimental ways, however, if we ALL move through our lives with compassion and Love and truly align with core values, then we will surely make a positive impact on the lives of others and the nature that surrounds us.
This piece, in my opinion , is no way political and it is a shame that you turn it that way. Unfortunately current powers are fighting against those that appreciate nature and as such have made it political because they feel that money can not be made without purging the Earth. This is now an outdated belief and we need to move on from this.
I simply want to put the right energy into the work I do so that it is carried around the world with the right vibration. If people carry out their work, or life passion with truth, mindfulness, Love and by putting others before themselves, then we will be making the world a better place.
If people don’t like my core values, then they don’t have to support my pages, or buy my products. This day and age, I choose the products and food I buy based on many factors, which usually comes down to the companies beliefs, morals and environmental stewardship. It is important to me and I want to encourage this in others. I also want this to be a factor in why people choose to buy courses from me instead of from others. If people understand that the money they give me is being used sustainably then this may be a deciding factor in their purchase.
(For example: This website is hosted using wind power)
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain myself here, once again I am grateful for every reader and every comment.
Very inspiring piece I hope it gets read by lots of people
Thank You @53d71d49bf019d18e5e97914967f204c:disqus I appreciate your words and support!