Although I have not yet even written anything to go on the ‘about’ page, and some of the pages on the site are still incomplete, I thought it appropriate today to write my first post about why this website is here.  Oh sure, there’s the about page, which hopefully is filled in now as you’re reading this.  But I thought something more informal, and somewhat more complete, would be in order.

I thought that today, July 4th - Independence Day, for Americans - would be an appropriate day to explain why I am here, why this site is here, and what I hope for it.

Why is Independence Day an appropriate day for me to begin this blog?

This evening I turned on the TV to see what kind of July 4th celebrations were being held in my area (I live in the Washington, D.C. area, so you can bet on massive displays of patriotism).  On NBC is a celebration hosted by Jason Alexander (of Seinfeld fame), and it’s not just the same old rigamarole - there are performances by lots of different genres of musicians, and an explication prior to each one explaining why that particular music is important to American culture.  I thought that fitting - that Independence Day is not just about celebrating our freedom (although I use the phrase ‘our freedom’ somewhat blithly), but it is also about the culture that has developed in this nation over the past 200 years, the culture that makes this country what it is.

It is that culture I am here to write about, in part; as I am American, this will be my frame of reference.  But do not mistake my perspective to be one drawn only on American culture or my position to be directed only at American behavior.  What I have to say is for the whole of the world.

I have sat here for quite some time, asking myself “What is it that I offer, that other sites do not offer?  What could possibly motivate people to read this website, when there are literally a hundred billion others they could read (or at least a few hundred million blogs)?”  It is said that in general, for a website to be successful, it must offer something that other sites do not offer, be something that other sites are not.

I think it will take time for me to really answer that question, because I have never - ever - written down my thoughts on the world, save in passing instant messages to friends.  I have never found a perspective on the world quite like mine and, while that is actually true of ALL human beings, I think it particularly true in my case.  I look at the world differently than you do, and most of the time, you will probably want to throw a book at your computer screen when reading what I have to say.

I hope you continue reading anyway.

What I am after is not to tell you what I think on a subject, although that will sometimes be what I do.  My purpose, instead, is to provide a balanced judgement on whatever I am writing about - a point of view that, although difficult to obtain, is worth working for.  Intellectual honesty is becoming an endangered species these days, in America particularly; but more than that, it is becoming almost impossible to have meaningful intellectual discourse.

I am under no illusion that I will change the world and suddenly get everyone talking about important issues in a rational manner.  That is not human nature.  Rather, what I hope is that those who are already open to the way I think, may be able to better understand the world around them, from their own point of view, and from the lessons they have learned about it.

The Balance Of Judgement
I am as human and as fallible as anyone reading this.  The only difference is that I know it, and try to work around it.  I do not hold a particular view of the world inviolate; at the same time, making a living in ANY life requires the assumptions that make that life work.

I cannot promise to always be as objective as I should.

I can promise, however, to judge any opinion openly and with the best information available to me, without fear that it may change my perspective, because no perspective is so dear to me as to be impervious to the truth.

So that is why I am here.  To tell you what I see, and you tell me what you see.  And hopefully someone becomes a little better off for the sharing.