The DIY ethic (do it yourself ethic) refers to the ethic of being self-reliant and doing things yourself as opposed to paying others to do it. "Self-reliance" redirects here For the related concept of economic self-reliance see Self-sufficiency. The term can indicate "doing" anything from home improvements and repairs to healthcare, from publication to electronics.
DIY questions the supposed uniqueness of the expert's skills, and promotes the ability of the ordinary person to learn to do more than he or she thought was possible.
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The DIY ethic is loosely tied to punk ideology and anticonsumerism, in as much as it amounts to a rejection of the idea that one must always purchase the things that one wants or needs from others. Punk ideologies are a group of varied social and political beliefs associated with the Punk subculture. Anti-consumerism refers to the socio-political movement against Consumerism.
The DIY punk ethic can also extend to how any group or individual applies DIY political stances to daily life—especially how they avoid contributing to institutions they see as exploitative. These efforts include converting cars to run on biodiesel or vegetable oil, learning bicycle repair, sewing/repairing/modifying clothing, starting gardens, dumpster diving, etc. Biodiesel refers to a non-petroleum-based Diesel fuel consisting of short chain Alkyl ( Methyl or ethyl) Esters made by For engines designed to burn #2 diesel fuel the Viscosity of vegetable oil must be lowered to allow for proper Atomization of fuel otherwise incomplete combustion Dumpster diving is the practice of sifting through commercial or residential trash to find items that have been discarded by their owners but which may be useful to the DIY is sometimes simply a way of finding ad hoc solutions to problems that are otherwise usually solved with wealth or corporate support. Often though DIY involves a more sustained learning experience which seeks to replace the means for producing goods and services traditionally sought in a money economy to a more permanent extent. Thus DIY is in a broad sense an economic model. Skill sharing is a central aspect of DIY culture and practice. An example of the DIY spirit that began with Punk Rock late in the 1970s can be seen in the work of Punk Rock impresario David Ferguson. David Ferguson (born March 11, 1947) is an international outsider-culture Impresario, Activist and Iconoclast. David Ferguson's CD Presents was a DIY concert production, recording studio and record label network. CD Presents is a San Francisco -based recording label that specialized in promoting recording and distributing punk music and alternative music Vast numbers of Punk Rock bands got their starts performing at his concerts, recording in his studio and releasing their albums through his record label.
Technological advances in the last ten years have made it more possible for artists to circumvent professional studios and create high-quality works themselves. Advances in media software and the proliferation of high-speed Internet have given artists of all ages and abilities from across the globe the opportunity to make their own films, records, or other content and distribute it over the web on netlabels. A netlabel (also online label, web label or MP3 label) is a Record label that distributes its music primarily through Digital audio Such works were usually displayed on a private homepage, and gained popularity through word-of-mouth recommendations or being attached to chain letters (known as viral distribution). Sites like Newgrounds allow users to post their art and receive community critique. Newgrounds is a Website headquartered in Glenside Pennsylvania, United States and created in 1995 that primarily hosts Adobe Flash animated films Next generation sites like Instructables and Slip A Buck fuse together community art sites like DeviantArt, Punkrockdomestics [1] and the DIY punk ethic to provide a venue for do-it-yourselfers to exhibit their works and be compensated in the form of tips. Instructables is a website specializing in user-created and uploaded Do-it-yourself projects which other users can comment on and rate for quality A tip (also called a gratuity) is a payment made to certain Service sector workers in addition to the advertised price of the transaction The internet has also been used by the DIY community as a tool for event promotions, such as on DIYConvention.com or SeattleDIY.com. The same is also true of the music industry where organisations like the Transient Music Music collective use modern technology and the internet to be as self-sufficient as possible meaning they can share their wares online using the same computer used to record with, again, independently of commercial funding. Musical collective is a phrase used in reference to a leaderless entity that is predisposed to performing music that may be considered experimental.