What is KmikeyM?
Over the last 15 years it has evolved into a global community of people who are interested in the intersection of finance and personhood. That is, we recognize the awkward, almost existential necessity of living in the overlap of economic systems and personal autonomy.
This kind of mindset is not easy! Generally speaking, it is kind of dark — some might say dystopian — to imagine.
And yet…
There is something kind of fun about it. Spending time in a version of the world others see as a worst possible and all but inevitable scenario, but we do it in a way that encourages us to have fun and relate to each other.
I believe that weird fun part is because KmikeyM is, even at its most serious, playful. If the financialization of everything is really coming, then this is good practice, and also an example that when it arrives we can still have meaningful relationships and friendships.
These days everyone has the ability to play in this space… but other examples often feel like exploitation and “serious business” and not very fun. We’re getting new technologies and tools to use everyday but instead of creating new rules to manage the worlds of our imagination we recreate the same old structures as before.
At some point we learned, or were just flat out told, that there is no value in being silly and that play isn’t something we should aspire to.
As our imagination muscle was weakened, so was our interest in exploring and learning about things by pushing the rules. Real life isn’t fun, it’s about paying the rent, getting a job, being successful, and doing all of this while acting serious. Some of these things are important, and eventually it’s easier to accept the rules laid down in front of us and accept the established frameworks for success. So we surrender our playful and imagined worlds and pay attention to “real life.”
My purpose with KmikeyM has never been to sell shares and get rich. It is instead an imagined world. I love KmikeyM because it helps me to stay in this imagined space of a publicly traded person that plays around with concepts of friendship, community, technology, and capitalism in a way that I find fun. It also helps me understand the real version of the world I live in, but to keep playing by my own definition of success.
Every time I try to “use” my shareholders in a way that benefits me according to the established rules of success, it falls flat. Every time I earnestly make an ask, I am rewarded beyond my expectations. There are so many delightful weirdos in this community that I often feel guilt for being slow to respond. Sometimes I’m busy with non-shareholder business I need to live my practical life, or sometimes I am just feeling a little distant from it all. But there is no project here without the other people who buy and sell shares, cast their votes, send me ideas for votes, maintain the software, program the updates, and help me work on various projects. I feel a debt to the shareholders that is far more than the value of my shares. It’s a debt I have to pay with my own time and attention.
To me things have felt pretty quiet this year, and I am feeling a little distant from the shareholders.
But maybe that is okay? Because there is a lot going on behind the scenes, and this year isn’t as quiet as it seems. I’m working on some big projects with other people, and those projects aren’t ready to be announced yet. I am *so excited* to eventually share them with you (you may have seen sneak peeks or mentions at various times), and will continue to share and get feedback on more public projects I’m working on.
I also want to try sharing some of the smaller stuff with shareholders. A lot of the smaller stuff in my life I would just share on social media. I assumed if anyone cared they could follow me there and then I didn’t have to overload everyone else with emails, but now all those platforms feel both ephemeral and also weaponized to steal our time and attention.
So let this is a warning you might start getting more emails from me. And if you don’t, that is a good sign I’m busy working in big projects.
In a few days I hope to send out my next project proposal for you to vote on, and I’ll be sharing some of the behind the scenes details about everything with the Insider Info subscribers (update coming soon).
A sincere thank you for being a part of the KmikeyM project. As always I’d love to know more about projects you’re working on, new tools you’ve added to your life, or any compelling shows, films, podcasts or books you’ve discovered.
Sent as a email to all subscribers.