🌎 HOODIE GOODIES FOR THE GREATER GOOD: UTILITARIANISM 🌎

WRITTEN BY ZACH CHAMP 

PHOTOS BY STEVE GONZALEZ & OTHERS

BLOG COVER PHOTO COURTESY VIA UNSPLASH.COM - PHOTO BY ANDREW BUI

WHAT IS UTILITARIANISM?

Philosophy is important for human culture and civilization. People have been debating ideas and concepts and the “true meaning of life” for thousands of years. In this period of time there has actually been a lot of good suggestions and opinions. One of those peculiarly interesting philosophical notions that has captivated many is that of Utilitarianism.

What is utilitarianism? Looking at the word you may think it has to do with the utility of things and being effective and strategic. This isn’t a bad guess and is indeed a good starting point for the subject, but utilitarianism goes much deeper…

At the core of Utilitarianism is the question “are my actions useful for the majority?”. The goal of a utilitarian is to maximize happiness and tranquility in all their interactions with others as well as within themselves.

It’s all about the greater good- creating the most amount of happiness for the most amount of people! 

WHY SHOULD WE FOCUS OUR ACTIONS ON CREATING PLEASURE & HAPPINESS FOR OTHERS? 

According to the utilitarian doctrine pleasure and happiness is the only thing that has true intrinsic value in life. As a result, it should be the main goal and objective in our actions and behavior. However, we cannot focus selfishly on just creating happiness for ourselves alone. If we only focused on creating happiness for ourselves then we could potentially run the risk of offending others, or limiting the potential of others to maximize their happiness.

So what does an individual do to remain moral and righteous? They conclude that they must create happiness and pleasure for others as the main goal of their behavior and actions! 

This is why it is important to have standards of right and wrong or ethics. Ethical values provide us as individuals guidance and structure to the way we live our lives and interact with others, and help us keep our actions “square, plumb, and true”.

Every action has a reaction, this is a karmic law of the universe. We recognize this as individuals, as a team, and as a company.

Utilitarianism is an influential philosophy for our team here at Hoodie Goodies. This is why we structured our collective as a social enterprise so that we can provide back to the greater good!

There are a lot of companies and celebrities with large fan bases and a lot of fame and popularity. Many artists use that influence constructively and to positively affect change in the world around them. Others just use that influence for their own personal gain. This is the meaning of super-egos. We here at Hoodie Goodies understand how art and music can hold power over people. We don’t want to use our creative powers for vain, we want to actively make it our goal to impact the course of human culture and history!

Why is charity important? Not everyone is fortunate enough to live lives filled with prosperity, wealth, abundance, and happiness. Many people are struggling just to make it every day. If we can make someone’s day or week through our generosity and love, then it’s worth whatever material costs or expense that takes. Our goal is to spread the light of illumination to others and help inspire people to live their best lives!

The actions we make as a company are for the benefit of the majority of the people. It is about service to our community, to our team, to our artists, to our customers, to our friends and family, and to our country and the world around us.

Steve Gonzalez

Zach Champ

Service is an important value to us at Hoodie Goodies. Two of our founding members attended a Senior Military College and participated in the ROTC leadership program. Another member of ours served in AmeriCorps, providing assistance to non-profits and state agencies with their volunteer service. Other Hoodie Goodies team members have helped coach youth sports teams, teach art classes in the local public schools, and help local nonprofits in the DMV area.

BigGucciRossa

FB: https://www.facebook.com/bigguccirossa/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bigguccirossa/?hl=en

Jon "Eye" Iredell 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/JonEyeArt/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/jon.eye/

Read Jon Eye's interview article here only on Hoodie Goodies: 

https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/dmv-music-and-art/dmv-art-who-is-jon-eye-art

Tre Wilkes 

Website: https://trewilkes.com/

Read Tre Wilkes interview article here only on Hoodie Goodies: 

https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/dmv-music-and-art/washington-d-c-hoodie-goodies-presents-interview-with-the-artist-tre-wilkes

Jeremy Hook & Seamus McDaniels 
Unheard Of, Epiphany, Retrosphere 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/UHOMusic/

Website: https://www.epiphany.band/

You can read our interview articles with Epiphany and Unheard Of here only on Hoodie Goodies: 

https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/dmv-music-and-art/richmond-va-unique-talent-skills-with-unheard-of

https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/dmv-music-and-art/richmond-va-who-is-epiphany

Geo Rosendi 

FB: https://www.facebook.com/digitalcreationpro/ 
IG: https://www.instagram.com/digital_creation_dc/

Comedian Scott Wharton

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ComedianScottWharton/
IG: https://www.instagram.com/comedianscottwharton/

Read Scott's interview article here only on Hoodie Goodies: 

https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/dmv-music-and-art/virginia-hoodie-goodies-presents-interview-with-the-artist-comedian-scott-wharton  

Khiry Savoy
Film Director

IG: https://www.instagram.com/needvizuals/ 

We are a diverse group with the common goal of helping our community which brings us together!

HOW DOES HOODIE GOODIES SERVE ARTIST?

As an art collective, we want to make sure artists can take advantage of all the resources and tools available to them. Our goal is to be a platform for artists to reach out and impact audiences and to help take their careers to the next level.

That’s why we are happy to announce that Hoodie Goodies is officially registered as a Publisher with ASCAP. As a publisher, we can now help musicians play their music on radio stations around the world and get paid for it!

How? Many artists don’t have an LLC to help them register for ASCAB to receive royalties and other benefits from their works being performed in the commercial domain.

Another way Hoodie Goodies helps serve our local artists is through our Create & Consign Program. With our Create & Consign program local artist can sell their artwork, merchandise, or other cool and unique products on our online store.

Every time a product of theirs sells we pay the artist 70% of the profit made from the sale, with the remaining 30% going towards fighting plastic pollution in Washington D.C.

You can learn more about our Create & Consign program by visiting the link here: https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/pages/create-and-consign-on-hoodie-goodies

HOW DOES HOODIE GOODIES SERVE THE COMMUNITY?

At Hoodie Goodies our goal is to show you what’s good in your local neighborhood. We work with local organizations and business owners to help inform community members about important programs and events that are occurring in their area.

We love to promote local businesses, non-profits, and individuals doing amazing things in the DMV!

If you want us to tell your story in our next blog or video then contact us at info@shatteredglassstudios.com to learn more about how we work with local business and organization leaders to promote their brands and tell their stories for FREE!

Plastic pollution is a big problem in Washington D.C. You can read several of our other articles where we discuss this issue in-depth and detail. Hoodie Goodies has decided to help address plastic pollution by implementing our Precious Plastics Initiative.

What is Precious Plastics? Precious Plastics is a dutch based non-profit that has created open-source (meaning free to download and copy) blueprints for a series of plastic recycling machines that can easily be created using commonly found hardware materials. We want to make these machines and create a small micro plastic-recycling center at our office located in Washington D.C so we can re-purpose plastic trash into treasure! We could create all types of amazing items and use these items to help our local community!

You can read more about our idea in the article here (https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/local-impact-making-lasting-change/making-value-out-of-plastic-hoodie-goodies-precious-plastics-initiative) 

Washington D.C Statehood: Hoodie Goodies is active in Washington D.C’s local politics. One of the key issues that is near and dear to many native D.C residents is the issue of DC statehood. Washington D.C’s residents overwhelmingly and largely support a movement to make the District of Columbia the 51st State of the USA. This is not a new idea and has been an important cause for residents of DC for decades. DC Statehood would create a pathway to a brighter future for the metropolitan region’s residents.

You can read more about D.C Statehood and why Hoodie Goodies supports this issue in our article here: https://www.hoodiegoodies.com/blogs/local-impact-making-lasting-change/fighting-for-d-c-statehood-making-the-district-of-columbia-the-51st-state

Frankey Barrz is the official Hip-Hop Ambassador for DC Statehood! Frankey is a friendly face and regular here at our office and is one of our team members. Hoodie Goodies worked with Frankey Barrz to help executive produce his short-film BE FREE which is all about the fight for D.C Statehood! You can check it out below:

HOW DO I GET INVOLVED IN CHANGING THE WORLD FOR GOOD? 

Every person has a stake of ownership in their local communities. People too often fail to understand or value this idea. You need to realize that you are a part-owner of the community around you and rise to accept the responsibility and rewards of ownership.

We are in a transition of power between the Generations. Young people are maturing into their roles as future leaders and drivers of society. A lot of the current political and social conflict of our time is related to this. We must work constructively, cooperatively, and creatively in order to craft the future of our country.

It is extremely easy for you to plug in and start making moves in your local home town or city. This is not an exaggeration!

Getting involved is as easy as: 

• Joining a club or volunteering with a local organization 
• Spend your free time working on community projects
• Keeping your friends and families informed about local issues and staying up to date with current events 

If you want more ideas on how to get involved with your local community, you can read our article “5 Ways To Get Involved In Building Your Local Community”

Do you want to work with Hoodie Goodies?

Send us an email at info@shatteredglassstudios.com We are always looking for fellow friends to collaborate with :)