April 23rd, 2007
2007 Old Fart awards
That revolutionary bible of innovation, instigation and investment is at it again. The May issue of Wired gives us its 2007 Rave Awards for the "innovators, instigators and investors who are changing the world". 2007 Rave Award winners include J.K. Rowling (Business), Arianna Huffington (Renegade), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Politics) and Henry Louis Gates JR (Education). Yo to these Ravers and their incessant innovation, instigation and investment.
But what about those of us who don't want to be ordered about by Arnold Schwarzenegger, educated by Henry Louis Gate Jr or renegaded by Arianna? What happens if you think that we don't need any more innovation, instigation or investment? I guess that makes us the opposite of Ravers. We are Old Farts.
So here are my 2007 Old Fart awards — to those heroically vulgar souls who are using all their body parts to noisely protest against innovation, instigation and investment:
- Jonathan Freedland — The Guardian columnist wrote a memorable piece last week revealing the inanity of the blogosphere, describing it as a "stuffy meeting room on a bad night". Freedland wants to keep media a meritocratic closed-shop managed by experienced and educated correspondents. Mr Freedland wins the Old Fart Award for Journalism.
- Jean Twenge — UC San Diego pyschiatrist Twenge is the lead author of "Egos Inflating Over Time", a February report which reveals Gen Y to be unnaturally self-regarding and narcissistic. The Internet, Twenge argues, with its "MySpace and YouTube braggadocio", holds significant responsibility for the cultivation of this distasteful generational self-regard. Ms Twenge wins the Old Fart Award for Pyschiatry.
- Loren Feldman — The New York City videographer and president of 1938 Media who is singlehandedly taking on the Web 2.0 innovators, instigators and investors. Feldman reminds us that media is about "making interesting shit that people want to look at and then get people to buy it or get advertisers to advertise on it." Mr Feldman wins the Old Fart Award for Philosophy.
- Bill McKibben — The environmentalist is the world's sanest Luddite. McKibben's latest polemic, Deep Economy, reminds us that it is innovation, instigation and investment which have collectively conspired to wreck the planet. Mr McKibben wins the Old Fart Award for Economics.
- Lucy Kellaway — The Financial Times satirist and author of Who Moved My Blackberry. In her Management column, Kellaway has been innovatively fighting the idea of innovation for years. Her FT creation, Martin Lukes, the Chief Great Leader of a-b global (UK), is the world's most raving Raver and an excellent reason why we should all be old farts. Ms Kellaway wins the Old Fart Award for Inauthenticity.
Andrew Keen is author of Cult of the Amateur. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
