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Very much worth reading: the latest post at Morgoth’s Review. Of course if you already read that blog, you won’t need to be told that the content there is always worth reading, but I think this latest is particularly eloquent.
The last paragraph or two seemed especially powerful, and I was tempted to quote those concluding paragraphs, but I will just say read the entire piece.
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.
Some of you may (or may not) have noticed my absence for the last few days. I go through these phases periodically where I am disheartened about it all, and when I feel quite isolated in my opinions and viewpoint. Even among people who are somewhat like-minded, people who are part of the dissident right, it seems that I find myself out of step with the consensus or the popular viewpoint. The controversy over Milo is one example. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of bloggers who see things as I do on that issue, and most of those few are traditional Christians.
On the Al Fin Next Level blog, he refers to me as ‘the last of a dying breed.’ I don’t know how I feel about being described that way, but it seems to be accurate, judging by how alienated I often feel towards 21st century, post-modern “America, ” yes, even amongst fellow ‘rightists.’
My blogroll contains a link to a blog called The Wrath of Gnon, which I do follow on Tumblr — it’s one of the few worthy blogs in that morass of porn and teen-aged lefty lunacy — and I’ve occasionally posted memes here from Wrath of Gnon, many of which I find very thought-provoking and apt.
On the Amerika blog there is an interview with the Wrath of Gnon blogger, and I highly recommend it for those who haven’t yet seen it. Much of what the blogger says resonates very much with me, and having read it, I feel (for the moment, at least) a little less isolated and alienated. It’s always good to know that there is someone else out there, someone who is obviously of a sound mind and a sharp intelligence, who sees things similarly to the way I see them.
“To maintain the progressive mindset it is vital that people remain detached from reality (from their roots, families, friends, communities), and plugged in or attached to the propaganda machine. Take a man away from media for a fortnight and you will see emerge a more sensible, realistic human being. My own reactionary thinking has only strengthened the more I remove myself from modern media and groupthink.
It is not difficult: stop looking at mass media, distance yourself from all writing that “feels” modern; keep going backwards in times until you find what you are comfortable with.”
This is the core of my viewpoint: I’m a ‘cord-cutter’, living without regular TV and watching only streaming media of my own selection. Some people resent hearing this; they feel that they are being ‘judged’ for still consuming the media product, and they are defensive about it. Fine. My personal decision is simply not to partake of Hollywood movies or other popular culture if at all possible. I read old books to restore my sanity. Some people aren’t ready for cutting themselves off from the media or pop culture. Still, everyone in our society, willing or not, is steeped in postmodernism and everyone is exposed to the constant barrage of propaganda, try as we might to disconnect from it and to shun it, so it’s a constant effort to examine our ideas for any trace of the taint of the corrupt culture we live in.
Still I agree with the Wrath of Gnon blogger that there are still things worth saving.
“The good thing is that everything we need to turn things around is already here. All the material, all the plans, all the accumulated wealth and knowledge of millennia of human thought and creativity is scattered all around us. We even have a time table for how to do it (and this was suggested by someone on Twitter three or four years ago), we just start turning the clock back, step by step, reversing history as we go along, keeping only the reality compliant, Gnon friendly parts.”
How often are we who are of a somewhat reactionary mindset told by the cynics that ‘we can’t turn the clock back’? I’ve always objected to that. No, we can’t make it 1965 again, but we can hold onto and restore much of what is still there to be used and revived. If we believe we can’t, then of course we can’t; it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and a defeatist one. So it’s a good thing if we reject that attitude.
It’s worth reading the whole interview at the Amerika blog. Having read it I feel somewhat less discouraged about the state of things, and more importantly I feel less isolated and alone in my opinions and thoughts. We all need to connect with like-minded people. We can’t be ‘lone soldiers’ in this hostile world.
Good news in the blogging world: The Woodpile Report is back.
It’s been added to the blogroll.
