If only all the energy that gets poured into arguing about what's more punk/anarchist/indie/righteous were instead poured into creating more stuff I think we'd all be a little happier.

Life is too damn short too spend all your time worrying about whether or not MWD letting Microsoft distribute his video for the Zune is a sell-out. If that's all someone's got to worry about, then that person needs to get working on her own project and show us through deed and action how it's supposed to be done.

Of course, if that's how someone wants to spend her time, being the ultimate arbiter of punk, then go ahead. Just don't expect those who are out there making things to give a damn.

It's a complex world out there and there are many points of engagement and resistance to be had. We need to decide these things for ourselves and work with others who share at least some of them.

I'm not arguing against having an ethic or a philosophical standard, and neither is MWD. Rather, a principle is not a prescription or a dogma -- there's not just one way to do things, and the circumstance does count.

I'm glad to have Creative Commons and dozens of ways to distribute my work that simply weren't there before the internet. And I also like to eat and get paid for my work so that I can eat. I shouldn't have to choose between them.