Some Notes on Value, Small Businesses, Neighborhoods, and "The Sex Playlist."

"I can't have mention of 'The Sex Playlist' on my page. We are a business!"
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Most recently, in a negotiation, I sat at a table trying to pull a project together that, right now, is stalled because of a difference in an understanding of value. On one side of the conversation a party sat with an empty table before them. On my side there were three clipboards, one with my work notebook and the other two with lists, charts, and diagrams that imagined a resolution in our understanding so our collaboration could be move forward.
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The history of economic thought, going back to Aristotle and Adam Smith, recognizes a tradition that believes all value is created from work and the labor of a body. Following this tradition, "Buffalo Horticulture's" social media (here specifically responding to Instagram) aims to demonstrate a way of living, a lifestyle, and a process that is constantly adding value because it is always "doing work" - asking and answering questions, in addition to the obvious hole digging and raking. I am always aiming to "show the work" so one can recognize a special value in Buffalo Horticulture.
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I often suspect others avoid showing the work because it is too dirty and no one wants to be associated with dirt. They want to be seen as "High" and not having to ever labor.
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"I am a business."
I think that to create values that are good for people we need businesses to engage in some healthy allegory - see "The Sex Playlist" on the Buffalo Horticulture Instagram page October 20th, 2017 - aiming towards things that aren't so easy to articulate, aren't so straightforward. How can one create "value" and only engage in "sterile" articulations? We as artisans, creators, makers, and "small business people," live - while unspoken - in criticism of "corporate ways" and "corporate makings and products." We are the carriers of culture, skill, and tradition in our fields and communities.

And so it will follow, the images of our businesses must be different. We don't copy and emulate corporate behavior to demonstrate that we are like them. We present our own identities, because it is where others can find value.