I’ve always loved history – not for blaming our ancestors, but for learning lessons we can apply today. History doesn’t repeat, but it often rhymes.
I grew up in the shadow of the British Empire. At school we were taught about the East India Company and how this small group of men built an empire from a coffee-house meeting. Over time, they controlled ports, armies, and trade. But what they were really doing was extracting value – draining wealth from India and across the Empire, funnelling it back to Britain until the whole system collapsed.
Fast-forward to today: YouTube has done something very similar in the so-called “creator economy.” What began as an exciting place for creators to share ideas turned into an advertising empire. Google’s customers are not us, they’re the advertisers. We, the creators, provide the content that keeps the machine fed. All the value rises upward, to shareholders.
That doesn’t mean YouTube is evil. In fact, it’s generous: it gives us a free global distribution platform. But if you build your whole creative life on YouTube alone, you’re building on someone else’s land. Like the Empire, they own the ships, the ports, the rules. You own nothing.
So what do you do?
- Be grateful. YouTube is an incredible tool — treat it as a gift.
- Use it as a distribution network, not a livelihood. Forget virality and AdSense.
- Own your own land. Build your own site, your own list, your own community.
- Think creatively, not competitively. The Certain Way is about staying on the creative plane, not fighting the algorithm.
The lesson from history? Empires always fall. But creators who value creativity, gratitude, and ownership will outlast them.
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