Let's meet and talk.
We have to stop reacting to the incendiary comments of right-wing rabble-rousers in the liberal blogosphere. It’s hard, the comments are designed to get a reaction; they hit you right in that spot where you wanna scream “Why... you ... dumbass motherf****r! How dare you say something so goddamn stup...I can’t believetheresjustI’msomadIcould ...ARE YOU EFFIN KIDDING ME!!?!!!” Next thing you know, you’re writing a three page diatribe about some 16 year old kid in Winnamucca, Nevada and forgetting why we’re here.
We’re here to talk through our problems, not just talk about them. We’re here to accomplish something, not just vent. We have to be better and stronger than those who would seek to de-rail us. The potential of the blogosphere as public forum is immense and every time we react to an Iggy Dude we’re wasting valuable energy. Too many times I’ve seen interesting important threads disintegrate into screaming matches that ignore not only valuable insight or information, but also any kind of “Ok, what can we do about it” dialogue.
It’s Ok to bitch, but it’s better to plot and plan. The time is fast approaching for some kind of action. For years, my government has been doing things in my name that make me sick, and I’m about sick of feeling sick. I’m about sick of complacently going through the motions of my comfortable life while MY government makes me sick. In America, our government is beholden to us, not the other way around.. Government is not something we look to to cure our ills, it’s something we made to help us get along. If it’s not working then it’s our responsibility to stop it. I don’t know why such a simple concept is so difficult to grasp, but it really is. We’ve put government on a pedestal and it’s time it comes down – crashing down if necessary.
The blogosphere is an incredible public resource that very quickly needs to be utilized to it’s fullest potential.
“Public talk can create reservoirs of public energy. It can define and redefine problems. It can yield knowledge of what interests are shareable. It can foster movement from public opinion to public judgement. And it can help the public develop its own options –“
The person who wrote this, David Mathews (not the singer, Jay), writes earlier in the paper that the public is more than the populus, more than just a bunch of people. He writes“We are a public when we are connected to one another in ways that enable us to appreciate our independence and that join us together with some degree of fellow feeling.”
We are the public here in our “liberal” blogosphere. We have to use this forum to develop our own options; and to do that we need to focus our dialogue on our means and our end. And ignore those that would have us speak in monologue.
We’re here to talk through our problems, not just talk about them. We’re here to accomplish something, not just vent. We have to be better and stronger than those who would seek to de-rail us. The potential of the blogosphere as public forum is immense and every time we react to an Iggy Dude we’re wasting valuable energy. Too many times I’ve seen interesting important threads disintegrate into screaming matches that ignore not only valuable insight or information, but also any kind of “Ok, what can we do about it” dialogue.
It’s Ok to bitch, but it’s better to plot and plan. The time is fast approaching for some kind of action. For years, my government has been doing things in my name that make me sick, and I’m about sick of feeling sick. I’m about sick of complacently going through the motions of my comfortable life while MY government makes me sick. In America, our government is beholden to us, not the other way around.. Government is not something we look to to cure our ills, it’s something we made to help us get along. If it’s not working then it’s our responsibility to stop it. I don’t know why such a simple concept is so difficult to grasp, but it really is. We’ve put government on a pedestal and it’s time it comes down – crashing down if necessary.
The blogosphere is an incredible public resource that very quickly needs to be utilized to it’s fullest potential.
“Public talk can create reservoirs of public energy. It can define and redefine problems. It can yield knowledge of what interests are shareable. It can foster movement from public opinion to public judgement. And it can help the public develop its own options –“
The person who wrote this, David Mathews (not the singer, Jay), writes earlier in the paper that the public is more than the populus, more than just a bunch of people. He writes“We are a public when we are connected to one another in ways that enable us to appreciate our independence and that join us together with some degree of fellow feeling.”
We are the public here in our “liberal” blogosphere. We have to use this forum to develop our own options; and to do that we need to focus our dialogue on our means and our end. And ignore those that would have us speak in monologue.
posted by jk at 12:47 PM
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