Being primary means you produce from your inner creativity, not from something handed down by the hierarchies.

A few decades ago I used to admire leftist reformers and activists. I didn't agree with them, but I liked their attitude—"we're going to fix that, someone has to do it." It felt like real action, like people refusing to wait around for someone else to handle things.

Then I realized it wasn't primary action at all. Their version of "doing it" always came down to either persuading those in power to make changes or inserting themselves into the hierarchy, only to discover their revolutionary ideas were mostly shaped by instructions from above.

It's naive, sure, but more than that it's a waste of creative energy. Since I don't share their ideas anyway, it doesn't bother me much. I just stopped admiring it.

What I do admire are people who code things because they feel like it, open businesses, or start projects out of some inner drive to put their own stuff into the world.

Like I mentioned yesterday, it's incredibly rare. I think there are more psychopaths than actual primary creators out there.