Thoughts on the Steampunk ethic

An odd series of conversations occurred at the Blue Mermaid tonight. Somehow we got to talking about morals, ethics, the growth of communities and Steampunk as asthetic vs Second Lifestyle vs real lifestyle. I didn't have tine to stay for as much of it as I wanted to, but I thought a few things were left unsaid. I'd like to add them here, away from the confusion of multiple conversation threads going by as fast as everyone can type.

Let's start with exactly what Steampunk is. I think the best description I heard was "love the machine, hate the factory". As a society, the Internet has taken us past the knee-jerk distrust of technology from the Cyberpunk age.

Cyberpunk fiction often presented technology as a necessary evil, something you had to compromise your soul for but couldn't get by without. Steampunk recognizes the utility of technology. Whhere it differs from mainstream culture is in the idea of a return to individual craftsmanship. This is a perfect match for Second Life, of course. Things like wholesalers and design by committee are only now in their infancy in SL. By far the vast majority of things in this virtual world were painstaking crafted by a single individual. In the real world this tends to express itself in the famous computers, guitars, clothing and other objects modified by Steampunk designers. You simply can't buy Steampunk in the store. The very definition of the aesthetic says that if its mass produced, its not Steampunk.

To some, real life Steampunk is nothing more than an aesthetic choice. Its playing dress-up. There's certainly a fair degree of truth in that analysis at the moment. The Steampunk ethic is, for right now anyway, primarily expressed through fashion choices and custom mods of commercial products.

This isn't necessarily a permanent situation. Already the move to solar power and eco-friendly urban engineering is beginning to decouple the average American from centralized sources. Internet shopping likewise allows for niche markets to flourish. As the consumer becomes decoupled from centralized control, the craftsman once again has room to ply her trade and reach those consumers who will appreciate (ie pay for) her work. Essentially nanotech/advanced 3-D printing decopules the labor of production from the labor of design. It becomes like the SL merchant's business model. Long hours to design one product that can be reproduced in whatever quantities are needed.

I don't think we'll be seeing Neal Stephenson's neo-Victorians from The Diamond Age until manufacturing also becomes decentralized. However, the budding Steam craftsperson can already make a decent living with their work on ebay. This just demonstrates that there is a market for high quality work done by hand in the Steampunk aesthetic. I don't know how many Steampunk designers actually make a successful living selling the crafts, but if anyone knows one of these people, I'd love to do an interview.

More next time on Steampunk philosophy and ethics, the ideas behind the aesthetic. Reccomended reading - The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.