“…the trouble with Scotland”, Longshanks malevolently observed, “ is that it’s full of Scots…”
Well, if you’ve enjoyed the film Braveheart one or more times, you already know how it turned out for Mr. “Throw My Foppish Son’s Boyfriend Out the Window”.
Unloved, unmourned, unable to speak, more than a little put out that his daughter in law has just whispered in his ear that she was carrying his arch enemy’s baby and consumed by one wicked case of ..well…consumption.
However rude, though, his expression may have been about the number of what he considered to be interlopers running around the highlands he considered part of his domain, their long hair and short kilts flying in the breeze, the case could be made for his basic point.
The thing about freedom is you have to let everybody in.
You can’t control freedom.
It’s like being a little bit pregnant.
Which is what young Mr. Gump would say was “just fine and dandy, thank you”.
Then again, young Mr. Gump lived in a time before there were blogs.
In the interest of fairness, let me offer, right off, that you will possibly, by the time you finish reading this piece, be of the opinion that this one belongs in the folder marked “pot calling the kettle”.
I’ll concede that the case can be made.
For whatever my disclaimers are worth, though, I promise that I’m not feeling particularly self-righteous, holier than thou or full of myself today.
No more so than any other day.
So having put the old asterisk right up front, let’s get to the heart of the matter.
This whole business of blogging is already starting to take on a decidedly Scottish air.
“the trouble with blog sites”, he observed sardonically, “is that they’re full of bloggers.”
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Well, okay, there is something wrong with that.
It’s kind of a wheat/chaff thing. Or maybe a forest for the trees thing. Or maybe even a too many cooks spoil the soup thing.
But it’s definitely a thing.
Don’t get me wrong. The underlying concept is a peach. Free access to expressing one’s opinions, regardless of social standing, professional credentials or even basic intelligence requirements and the outlet for making those opinions available, free of charge, to everyone on the planet.
And I consider myself a champion for the cause of tearing down as many walls of social classing, prejudice, tunnel vision, et al as have been, or might yet be, erected in our lives.
So, I have to confess that I’m a little conflicted.
Because as I have gotten more deeply involved in the pastime of blogging and spent a fair amount of time out and about the sites, observing, reading, pondering, contemplating, ruminating and, of course, commentating, satirizing and, occasionally, contributing, if only in some small way, to the enrichment of the precious art of the written word, it has become more and more obvious to me that this coin of expression that has been minted and put into wide circulation has two very distinctive sides.
On one side, articulate, erudite, thoughtful, talented every day folk from all walks of life, offering brilliant and engaging observations and perspectives heretofore unavailable because their authors lacked the aforementioned social standing and/or professional credentials to have their observations “published”.
On the other side of the coin, the same bongos who took MySpace and turned it from a wonderful idea for a social gathering place for new friends and/or business contacts into a soft porn, predator ridden online watering hole, a virtual reality Hooters.
The price of freedom, obviously, is that it can’t be doled out in any exclusionary fashion.
The reality that drives the anti-porn, anti-abortion, anti-anything, for that matter, people crazy. In order for all to be free, all must be free
And I have no moral of the story to share here.
No sudden burst of inspiration as to how to find a way to discriminate against certain people while maintaining an atmosphere of non-discrimination.
And I wouldn’t ever want to find that way, anyway.
I just sort of wish, wistfully I admit, that when the whole idea of blogging was originally created and turned loose, that whoever was on the design team would have found a way to take into account the lessons we learned from karaoke.
Well, if you’ve enjoyed the film Braveheart one or more times, you already know how it turned out for Mr. “Throw My Foppish Son’s Boyfriend Out the Window”.
Unloved, unmourned, unable to speak, more than a little put out that his daughter in law has just whispered in his ear that she was carrying his arch enemy’s baby and consumed by one wicked case of ..well…consumption.
However rude, though, his expression may have been about the number of what he considered to be interlopers running around the highlands he considered part of his domain, their long hair and short kilts flying in the breeze, the case could be made for his basic point.
The thing about freedom is you have to let everybody in.
You can’t control freedom.
It’s like being a little bit pregnant.
Which is what young Mr. Gump would say was “just fine and dandy, thank you”.
Then again, young Mr. Gump lived in a time before there were blogs.
In the interest of fairness, let me offer, right off, that you will possibly, by the time you finish reading this piece, be of the opinion that this one belongs in the folder marked “pot calling the kettle”.
I’ll concede that the case can be made.
For whatever my disclaimers are worth, though, I promise that I’m not feeling particularly self-righteous, holier than thou or full of myself today.
No more so than any other day.
So having put the old asterisk right up front, let’s get to the heart of the matter.
This whole business of blogging is already starting to take on a decidedly Scottish air.
“the trouble with blog sites”, he observed sardonically, “is that they’re full of bloggers.”
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Well, okay, there is something wrong with that.
It’s kind of a wheat/chaff thing. Or maybe a forest for the trees thing. Or maybe even a too many cooks spoil the soup thing.
But it’s definitely a thing.
Don’t get me wrong. The underlying concept is a peach. Free access to expressing one’s opinions, regardless of social standing, professional credentials or even basic intelligence requirements and the outlet for making those opinions available, free of charge, to everyone on the planet.
And I consider myself a champion for the cause of tearing down as many walls of social classing, prejudice, tunnel vision, et al as have been, or might yet be, erected in our lives.
So, I have to confess that I’m a little conflicted.
Because as I have gotten more deeply involved in the pastime of blogging and spent a fair amount of time out and about the sites, observing, reading, pondering, contemplating, ruminating and, of course, commentating, satirizing and, occasionally, contributing, if only in some small way, to the enrichment of the precious art of the written word, it has become more and more obvious to me that this coin of expression that has been minted and put into wide circulation has two very distinctive sides.
On one side, articulate, erudite, thoughtful, talented every day folk from all walks of life, offering brilliant and engaging observations and perspectives heretofore unavailable because their authors lacked the aforementioned social standing and/or professional credentials to have their observations “published”.
On the other side of the coin, the same bongos who took MySpace and turned it from a wonderful idea for a social gathering place for new friends and/or business contacts into a soft porn, predator ridden online watering hole, a virtual reality Hooters.
The price of freedom, obviously, is that it can’t be doled out in any exclusionary fashion.
The reality that drives the anti-porn, anti-abortion, anti-anything, for that matter, people crazy. In order for all to be free, all must be free
And I have no moral of the story to share here.
No sudden burst of inspiration as to how to find a way to discriminate against certain people while maintaining an atmosphere of non-discrimination.
And I wouldn’t ever want to find that way, anyway.
I just sort of wish, wistfully I admit, that when the whole idea of blogging was originally created and turned loose, that whoever was on the design team would have found a way to take into account the lessons we learned from karaoke.
Everybody thinks they’ve got a voice.
Not everybody has a clue how to use it.
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