Can Hipsters Save the British Economy?

Fear no more, Britain. The future of the economy might be unsure at the moment and recession may be looming, but there is a "plan". I mean, according to Matthew Hancock MP, at least. Last Friday, in his first speech as minister for culture and technology, he established that our future lies in the hands of none other than the hipsters. Why?

Because according to Matthew: "The hipster is a capitalist."

It's not totally clear what he meant by this. Apparently gentrification is a good thing. "Make an area interesting and you will attract interesting people to work there", says Hancock. Poor people aren't very interesting obviously. He also said "creative industries" 15 times in his speech.

Despite what Hancock might say, I'm not sure hipsters – if they're even happy to define as hipsters, if hipsters are even a thing anymore – would be too happy to be called bloodthirsty capitalists. I'm pretty sure I read a thinkpiece that said that capitalism is, like, bad. So we took to the streets of Shoreditch to find out how the so-called hipsters feel about all this pressure.

Kane, 23, chef and corporate catering manager

VICE: Do you consider yourself to be a hipster?
Kane: Yeah I guess so. I mean, I live on Brick Lane, that's a bit of a hipster-y thing isn't it. I like all the things… I collect the vinyls, I do techno, skateboarding, wear weird shit, have weird tattoos, so I guess yeah in a way, yeah, I'm a hipster. I think people don't call themselves hipsters because it's quite a broad term.

What's a hipster then?
If you're into anything out of the ordinary, like.. weird underground eccentric stuff. That's quite hipster-ish. It doesn't matter what it is, anything quite creative, or arty.

What about capitalism? Do you think you're a capitalist?
Yeah I mean… I need to get my money, I always need more money. I wouldn't say I'm really selfish and greedy, though.

Would that be a capitalist thing?
I'd say so. But I'm not like that. I like helping people. There's loads of homeless people down here and I like giving them change, buying beers and that. But at the same time I like getting lots of money, so I can keep living, keep doing what I love doing – skateboarding, tattoos, records, they all cost money.

Do you think hipsters can save the British economy from collapse after Brexit?
If it wasn't for the local council shutting down Fabric then the hipsters could've put money into that economy. That's what I think. Councils killing out the nightlife is certainly not helping.

Emma, 32, musician

So Emma, do you consider yourself a hipster?
Emma: No.

Why not?
I think people have an image of what a hipster looks like. A stereotype of a hipster, because of what they wear… I don't know. I'm not a hipster, I just dress in what I feel like. People would see me and think i'm a hipster because i'm wearing something that was in fashion maybe a couple of decades ago, but I just like it.

Are you a capitalist?
No. I'm just myself. I just do whatever I believe in.

Do you think hipsters would be able to save the post-Brexit economy?
I don't think it's got anything to do with… what would hipsters have to do with saving the economy?

The culture and digital minister recently said hipsters will save the economy through tech and art because they're capitalists.
Oh. I think… if the whole human race would change their behaviour they'd be able to salvage stuff. Only everyone together can change things.

Vernon, 23, Apple genius and Charizo, 23, blogger

So, do you consider yourselves to be hipsters?
Vernon: No, but others do.
Charizo: No. Like he said, people consider us to be hipsters but we don't really think that we are.

Fair enough. Do you consider yourselves to be capitalists?
Vernon: No. I have no idea of what a capitalist would be, so I don't consider myself one. If I was a capitalist I'd know what it meant.
Charizo: Don't really know what being a capitalist means really. Buying lots of things? This is going to make me sound like a hipster but I don't really like buying things that people want me to buy, I want to be different. But that's such a hipster thing to say.

It is. So can hipsters save the post-Brexit economy?
Vernon: I mean, what do hipsters buy that can save the economy? Probably not. I just don't feel like we can. Do hipsters even have money?
Charizo: I don't know. Maybe if you think of hipsters as people who don't really buy fast fashion and do all their shopping in second hand stores, maybe they can help. I've read a lot of articles on fast fashion and how it's not great for the environment, so if you're that hipster that is very sustainable, you could help the economy? I think that could help.

Shaun, 20, animation student and Finnon (not pictured)

Do you consider yourselves to be hipsters?
Finnon: No, no. I'm not cool.
Shaun: No.

What's a hipster then?
Finnon: A hipster is someone whose identity and decision-making process is based on image. So people can look at us and call us hipsters because we like to buy nice clothes and stuff. But nothing that I do is decided by someone else's opinion of me.
Shaun: My decisions just come through my interests and stuff. Hipsters are very shallow, a lot of the time. Their opinions are governed by people's thoughts of them, more so than the average man most of the time.

And do you consider yourselves to be capitalists?
Sean: No, because I would never step on anyone's head. I'm a man of the principles I believe. I just don't think being a capitalist is a good way to be. Capitalists are the kind of people who have ruined the housing situation in London, where no one can afford a home anymore because it's all just been completely driven up by these people who bought these properties for next to nothing.
Finnon: Based on bloodline.
Sean: Yeah, based on bloodline a lot of the time, because you need a lot of money to actually buy these properties. And then because the market's gone up so much, people have to rent and no one can actually afford to buy a home in London anymore, and these people are making a killing off all the thousands of properties that they are renting. That's what a capitalist is. It's fucked up, it's horrible and it ruins people's lives and it makes London an unaffordable place to live.
Finnon: It's just sad. It's completely a class thing.

So can hipsters save the British economy?
Finnon: No way, are you mad? The only thing is, hipsters are capitalists and they contribute to it on such a high level as consumers. And there's no originality going on, that's the problem with hipsters. I mean, I don't like using the phrase because its a generalisation, but from what we see as "a hipster", it's not helping anyone.
Sean: The only thing to save this country is not "hipsters" in any way, it'd be if there was a way to have a true labour movement, but I don't think it's possible.

Oh. Okay thanks guys!

@bijubelinky

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