Before I read this, I was in an existential crisis.  I am still in an existential crisis, but at least now I know I am not alone.  My version of the crisis was whether or not humanity is inherently good, evil, or neutral.  My problem stems from the way we subjugate each other and the environment, even if this subjugation eventually harms ourselves.  I find it quite incomprehensible that we constantly behave in this manner.  My current resolution to the problem is that humanity is inherently neutral, yet has managed to create a society that is brings out the evil side of the neutral.  That left me with the question of what my role, specifically as a maker of things (artist), is in straightening out this bent culture.  The article by Parliament & Wake has helped push my decision away from giving up all hope for change and waiting for time to slowly kill off the people who have become corrupted.  

            The article gave more weight to another idea I was considering, which was to use my skills and time to propagate the belief that things could be different.  This does not necessarily have to be in the style of the steampunk culture, but I have found many ways within that culture to get my ideas across without confusion.  As well, the increasing momentum of steampunk in the mainstream means that whatever watered down remains of activism retained in the culture reach a broader audience.  There is still the issue of people adhering to the culture without understanding it at all, but I feel that if they stick with it long enough the meaning will seep in as subtly as the messages about race and gender contained within television advertisements.

            Sadly, I am not confident that any real amount of societal and psychological change will be seen within our lifetimes, yet if we do not start now there will never be change.  In the meantime we can go at the problem from both ends, nudging society with art, literature, and action to become more righteous and just while improving the technology and economic incentives to be righteous and just towards the environment and ourselves.  If we do not succeed, there is always the fallback plan of waiting for our consumptive lifestyles lead to our demise.  After that the Earth and surviving species can continue with what they were doing before humans became so bent.

An example of how art can be used through a steampunk lens can be used to slowly change ideas and perceptions.  How does looking at this piece make you feel?  How does the knowledge that the eye-patch is a measuring tape?  That the figure is partially blinded by this object of objectivity/ruberic?