There have been times when I’ve been convinced there is none. Obviously now I am in my recurring phase of thinking that there might possibly be. Maybe.
However, it’s hard to say flatly that blogging itself is of no value, or that it’s futile or useless. I’ve certainly found a great deal of value in certain other bloggers’ work. Some bloggers have contributed to some new way of looking at things on my part; another blogger, who since died an untimely death, influenced me to go into blogging initially.
Some bloggers have led me down a slightly different path than the one I initially followed. There are many worthy blogs out there, and the writers of these blogs are often excellent at what they do. Yes, there is value in blogging.
Bonald at Throne and Altar presents some arguments against blogging here. Among other things, he notes (I am paraphrasing) the ease of publishing a blog; anyone can do it. The ease of getting a blog online works against the quality of blogs in general. There are no gatekeepers and no editors, except oneself.
The fact that the blogger is not subject to scrutiny by editors or other such authority may mean, as Bonald says, that the blogger’s writing skills may never improve.
“There’s a problem: blogging builds no skill. It’s too private. For example, has my writing style improved since my first essay? How could it? I haven’t had anyone critiquing my prose. It has had no public confrontation that could result in failure.”
Bonald, I would say, is a better writer than I. Maybe it’s for that reason that he’s had no readers critiquing his prose. I’ve certainly had my share of critiques over the years, and some of them rather cutting. Being “too thin-skinned” as I’m told I am, I haven’t exactly felt flattered to have my writing style slammed, but no doubt most of us can use a polite critique once in a while, if we need improvement.
However one of the better arguments in favor of blogging is this:
“The argument for blogging, I suppose, is that if I didn’t unburden myself of my opinions somewhere, I might end up popping off and inflicting them on people who would rather not hear or would not be inclined to let me get away with such opinions.”
Yes, blogging is a way to vent, and to express oneself on subjects which are often not allowed in the ‘professional’ media, and in words which are often taboo elsewhere, despite the fact that what is being said is true, and is of importance.
Even those close to me who share my viewpoints (though maybe not with the same degree of passion and sense of urgency) probably get a little weary of the subjects I discuss on this blog.
Finally,
“A blogger should overall spend more time reading and thinking than writing. I’ve had little time to read for the last half decade, and I think it shows in my writing getting less interesting with time.”
I agree. The time I spend on a particular post, or the constant perusal of news sources and other blogs is very time-consuming. That is partly the reason for my occasional burn-out episodes, wherein I take a hiatus from this. During those hiatuses sometimes I simply shun the media and all things political for a while and devote time to the things I truly enjoy, things of value. Then when that phase is over, I devote time to reading intensively from many sources, especially old books and other material on archive.org so that I feel prepared and energized to come back to blogging.
Some other bloggers don’t seem to experience this burn-out, but maybe they are those strong souls who are not ‘too sensitive’ as people tell me I am, and more power to them.
Whether this blog in particular is ‘worth it’ for me or for anyone else is another story, but certainly bloggers in general have made a real contribution to the public in bringing awareness of the enormous upheavals in the Western world, a story which is ongoing and becoming more urgent by the day. Thank heaven for bloggers, most specifically dissident bloggers of whatever stripe on the right, who provide another side to what was essentially a one-sided ‘discussion’.
As for me, not to flatter myself at all, but I feel as though I have truth to convey, or a piece of the Truth, certainly. As do all of us on the dissident right. And that’s the main impetus for me to blog.
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