--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One thing that struck me about going to…" description: "\"One thing that struck me about going to those tech conferences was all the enthusiasm for free culture, and remixing, and social media, but people's gr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/astra-taylor-9450_acquiescence_one-thing-that-struck-me-about-going-to_1229949.jpg" --- # One thing that struck me about going to those tech… ![“One thing that struck me about going to those tech conferences was all the enthusiasm for free culture, and remixing, and social media, but people's greatest ambition was to be sponsored by Chipotle or something equivalent to that. It was this weird mix of collaborative, utopian claims and this…” quote by Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/astra-taylor-9450_acquiescence_one-thing-that-struck-me-about-going-to_1229949.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/astra-taylor-9450_acquiescence_one-thing-that-struck-me-about-going-to_1229949.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ae2/astra-taylor-9450_acquiescence_one-thing-that-struck-me-about-going-to_1229949.jpg) > “One thing that struck me about going to those tech conferences was all the enthusiasm for free culture, and remixing, and social media, but people's greatest ambition was to be sponsored by Chipotle or something equivalent to that. It was this weird mix of collaborative, utopian claims and this total acquiescence to commercial imperatives.” [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tech events blend idealistic collaboration with commercial sponsorship, revealing tension between utopia and profit. **In simple terms:** Free culture meets corporate sponsorship. Key Takeaway Recognize and balance idealism with realism. Themes culture commercialization collaboration Mood critical reflective Type analysis commentary When to use this quote - conference planning - artist funding - community building Key Concepts utopia sponsorship media dynamics Questions to Reflect On - What compromises are acceptable? - How to maintain authenticity? A Different Perspective Commercial pressure can dilute original ideals. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acquiescence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiescence/) [Ambition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambition/) [Chipotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chipotle/) [Claims](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/claims/) [Collaborative Utopian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collaborative-utopian-3799375/) [Conferences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conferences/) [Conferences Enthusiasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conferences-enthusiasm-3799374/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Enthusiasm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enthusiasm/) [Free Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-culture-600388/) [Imperatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imperatives/) [Media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/media/) [One thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-thing/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social media](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-media/) [Sponsored Chipotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sponsored-chipotle-3799373/) [Tech Conferences](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tech-conferences-933491/) [Technology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/technology/) [Utopian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utopian/) ## Related quotes > [Startupfest is a very positive conference. I think a lot of it has to do with how different culturally it is from other startup…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harper-reed/startupfest-is-a-very-positive-conference-i-think-a-lot-of-it-has-to/) [Harper Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harper-reed/) > [“Free culture depends upon vibrant competition. Yet the effect of the law today is to stifle just this kind of competition. The effect is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/free-culture-depends-upon-vibrant-competition-yet-the-effect-of-the/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [In the culture of America, in a free culture, you get what you celebrate. And in this culture, we have two obsessions, become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-kamen/in-the-culture-of-america-in-a-free-culture-you-get-what-you/) [Dean Kamen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-kamen/) > [A free culture is not a culture without property; it is not a culture in which artists don't get paid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/a-free-culture-is-not-a-culture-without-property-it-is-not-a-culture-2/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [A free culture is not a culture without property; it is not a culture in which artists don't get paid. A culture without property,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/a-free-culture-is-not-a-culture-without-property-it-is-not-a-culture/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [“That tradition is the way our culture gets made. As I explain in the pages that follow, we come from a tradition of "free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/that-tradition-is-the-way-our-culture-gets-made-as-i-explain-in-the/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [A free culture has been our past, but it will only be our future if we change the path we are on right now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/a-free-culture-has-been-our-past-but-it-will-only-be-our-future-if-we/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [A free culture supports and protects creators and innovators. It does this directly by granting intellectual property rights. But it does so indirectly by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/a-free-culture-supports-and-protects-creators-and-innovators-it-does/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [I love Chipotle. And I'm not just saying that. Like, I genuinely am in love with Chipotle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chloe-kim/i-love-chipotle-and-i-m-not-just-saying-that-like-i-genuinely-am-in/) [Chloe Kim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chloe-kim/) > [One of the pivotal moments for me was realizing that our 'food with integrity' approach at Chipotle was satisfying my passion. That's about bringing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ells/one-of-the-pivotal-moments-for-me-was-realizing-that-our-food-with/) [Steve Ells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ells/) > [If we really want to change the way Americans eat, we need to make delicious, sustainably-raised food accessible to everyone. Most people are not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-ells/if-we-really-want-to-change-the-way-americans-eat-we-need-to-make/) [Steve Ells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-ells/) > [I don't need a boyfriend. I have chipotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria/i-don-t-need-a-boyfriend-i-have-chipotle/) [Victoria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victoria/) > [I like to eat and Chipotle will fill you up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-sock/i-like-to-eat-and-chipotle-will-fill-you-up/) [Jack Sock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-sock/) > [I can eat Chipotle all day long for years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lennon-parham/i-can-eat-chipotle-all-day-long-for-years/) [Lennon Parham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lennon-parham/) > [I'm the voice of a Chipotle Burrito. The world has changed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tambor/i-m-the-voice-of-a-chipotle-burrito-the-world-has-changed/) [Jeffrey Tambor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tambor/) ## More by Astra Taylor > [One connection I see between the work I did on philosophy and my work on technology is that both communities tend to mystify and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/one-connection-i-see-between-the-work-i-did-on-philosophy-and-my-work/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [“wealth and power are shifting to those who control the platforms on which all of us create, consume, and connect. The companies that provide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/wealth-and-power-are-shifting-to-those-who-control-the-platforms-on/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [It's very complicated. There's been this broader mechanism, an industry, which wants people to use free services, from the old days of advertising-supported papers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/it-s-very-complicated-there-s-been-this-broader-mechanism-an-industry/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [“Though it’s hard to believe now, newspapers were once the envy of the business world. Through the eighties and nineties, 20, 30, even 40…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/though-it-s-hard-to-believe-now-newspapers-were-once-the-envy-of-the/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [Those who applaud social production and networked amateurism, the colorful cacophony that is the Internet, and the creative capacities of everyday people to produce…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/those-who-applaud-social-production-and-networked-amateurism-the/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [“The rub is that over the intervening years we have somehow deceived ourselves into believing that this state of insecurity and inequity is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/the-rub-is-that-over-the-intervening-years-we-have-somehow-deceived/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [There's something odd about telling people, artists, that they need to work for free to be pure while you're sitting there getting a salary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/there-s-something-odd-about-telling-people-artists-that-they-need-to/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [“Instead of distinct old and new media, what we have is a complex cultural ecosystem that spans the analog and digital, encompassing physical places…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/instead-of-distinct-old-and-new-media-what-we-have-is-a-complex/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [Art and culture are nonetheless vital, essential even, to what it means to be human, yet digital abundance has diminished our sense of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/art-and-culture-are-nonetheless-vital-essential-even-to-what-it-means/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [First we need to rethink the terms and recognize that we've imported this language from the technocratic class, from Silicon Valley, that talks about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/first-we-need-to-rethink-the-terms-and-recognize-that-we-ve-imported/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [I'd go to conference after conference and it would essentially be the talking points. Either pro or con. It's amazing how polarized the tech…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/i-d-go-to-conference-after-conference-and-it-would-essentially-be-the/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [We've been criticizing these superficial aspects, like whether we are all more distracted. We really need to articulate a defense, a critique, that merges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/we-ve-been-criticizing-these-superficial-aspects-like-whether-we-are/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [I try to look at the evolution of these utopian claims. In the late '60s there was an assumption that the wealth generated by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/i-try-to-look-at-the-evolution-of-these-utopian-claims-in-the-late/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [The market won't let us treat all data equally because there's a potential to make huge gobs of money not doing that. In the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/the-market-won-t-let-us-treat-all-data-equally-because-there-s-a/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) > [My point, though, is that if lines have indeed shifted, it's not so much that the younger generation just doesn't care, it's that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/astra-taylor/my-point-though-is-that-if-lines-have-indeed-shifted-it-s-not-so-much/) [Astra Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) [Explore all 72 Astra Taylor quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/astra-taylor/) ## More Acquiescence quotes > [All that the Devil asks is acquiescence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/all-that-the-devil-asks-is-acquiescence/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [What subsists to-day by violence continues to-morrow by acquiescence and is perpetuated by tradition; till at last the hoary abuse shakes the gray hairs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-everett/what-subsists-to-day-by-violence-continues-to-morrow-by-acquiescence/) [Edward Everett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-everett/) > [“The submission which you demand of yourself to the general fact of evil in the world, your apparent acquiescence in it, is here nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/the-submission-which-you-demand-of-yourself-to-the-general-fact-of/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [ \[The purpose of a written constitution is\] to bind up the several branches of government by certain laws, which, when they transgress, their acts… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/the-purpose-of-a-written-constitution-is-to-bind-up-the-several/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The employers cannot carry on industry nor accumulate profits if they have not got the good will of the workers or their acquiescence in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-larkin/the-employers-cannot-carry-on-industry-nor-accumulate-profits-if-they/) [James Larkin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-larkin/) > [Suicide is belated acquiescence in the opinion of one's wife's relatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/suicide-is-belated-acquiescence-in-the-opinion-of-one-s-wife-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Ladies and gentlemen, even my own staff challenges me. When I issue edicts, commands, orders, ideas, you would think that there would be overwhelming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/ladies-and-gentlemen-even-my-own-staff-challenges-me-when-i-issue/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [I'm terrified of passive acquiescence. I live in intensity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/i-m-terrified-of-passive-acquiescence-i-live-in-intensity/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [Neither acquiescence in skepticism nor acquiescence in dogma is what education should produce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/neither-acquiescence-in-skepticism-nor-acquiescence-in-dogma-is-what/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [“It can come a bit hard sometimes to see one's own unique, heroic life pinned so pitilessly to a wall. At other times it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/it-can-come-a-bit-hard-sometimes-to-see-one-s-own-unique-heroic-life/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Establish the eternal truth that acquiescence under insult is not the way to escape war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/establish-the-eternal-truth-that-acquiescence-under-insult-is-not-the/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [The ways of Providence being inscrutable, and the justice of it not to be scanned by the shallow eye of humanity, nor to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/the-ways-of-providence-being-inscrutable-and-the-justice-of-it-not-to/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [Evil is near. Sometimes late at night the air grows strongly clammy and cold around me. I feel it brushing me. All that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/evil-is-near-sometimes-late-at-night-the-air-grows-strongly-clammy/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [“All the devil asks is acquiescence; not conflict, not struggle. Acquiescence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-massie/all-the-devil-asks-is-acquiescence-not-conflict-not-struggle/) [Suzanne Massie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-massie/) > [There is no such thing as real happiness in life. The justest definition that was ever given of it was "a tranquil acquiescence under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-sterne/there-is-no-such-thing-as-real-happiness-in-life-the-justest/) [Laurence Sterne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-sterne/) [Browse all 69 Acquiescence quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acquiescence/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One thing that struck me about going to those tech conferences was all the enthusiasm for free culture, and remixing, and social media, but people's greatest ambition was to be sponsored by Chipotle or something equivalent to that. 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