What Does a Successful Community Look Like?

When you find success, you become vulnerable. 

You’ve exposed yourself to the world as a valuable asset and people come out of the woodwork, trying to profit off you.

The world of capital attempts to absorb you and profit off you. 

It attempts to mine you like you’re oil under the ground. If you’re not careful, you’ll become a resource that’s exploited by the music industry. 

I’m not worried about finding success, I’m worried that success will bring isolation. 

I’m worried because success often tears communities apart. 

At Incubator, the relationships members have with each other is the most fundamental building block.

Everything stems from those relationships.

Money gets between people when it starts coming in. Relationships erode. The music suffers. 

Under capitalism, you’re incentivized to take and not give. 

Incubator is not a capitalist organization, despite participating and profiting in a capitalist system. 

Incubator is a community. And like any community, it’s made up of friends, lovers and temporary enemies. Not employers, employees and customers. 

It’s made up of equals living together, growing together, teaching each other, and exploring their passions.

When success finds us, how we handle the money will determine if we remain a sustainable or community. Otherwise, we’ll break off as individual economic actors in a global economy built on greed.

Our relationships are all we have. And when success comes knocking, they will be tested. If we shun the shallow recognition of capitalist success, we can accomplish something even greater: collective success.