The joy of comments
I stumbled upon this comment posted by a neolibs fan, wolnosc. It got me thinking so I thought I'd post on it:
"OK Mochi, first contribution to your much ballyhoooed blog. Problem is that you have the same old tired comments from a bunch of misfits who have a lot to type, but not much to do about your "issues". Six days later and you have no new post. Are we on vacation, or are you at a loss for plagiarizing idiocy from other websites? Much has transpired in the last few days. If you want to be a heavyweight."
I love the word "ballyhooed". It makes me feel warm inside. WolnoSC makes some good points, we do we often discuss a bunch of shit without offering solutions and I do suffer occasionally from bloggers block. But I have a policy not to plagiarise idiocy. I strictly adhere to a policy of intelligent content plagiarism. I also prefer the phrase leftist extremist misfit to misfit. Misfit does not adequately identify the point of our displacement of normality from society (aka the degree of separation from Christian conservative NRA members).
This persons comment makes my argument. Without citing any examples the website and it's contributors are compartmentalized and discarded as having nothing of value to offer. I can go back and find posts that make concrete recommendations or offer ideas for solutions. I predicated the whole idea of this blog on the notion of a new liberal platform of fiscal conservatism, tempered with social compassion and a reduction in defense spending. Sure that a high level view but it's an opinion and whether it's good or bad it's open for discussion.
"OK Mochi, first contribution to your much ballyhoooed blog. Problem is that you have the same old tired comments from a bunch of misfits who have a lot to type, but not much to do about your "issues". Six days later and you have no new post. Are we on vacation, or are you at a loss for plagiarizing idiocy from other websites? Much has transpired in the last few days. If you want to be a heavyweight."
I love the word "ballyhooed". It makes me feel warm inside. WolnoSC makes some good points, we do we often discuss a bunch of shit without offering solutions and I do suffer occasionally from bloggers block. But I have a policy not to plagiarise idiocy. I strictly adhere to a policy of intelligent content plagiarism. I also prefer the phrase leftist extremist misfit to misfit. Misfit does not adequately identify the point of our displacement of normality from society (aka the degree of separation from Christian conservative NRA members).
This persons comment makes my argument. Without citing any examples the website and it's contributors are compartmentalized and discarded as having nothing of value to offer. I can go back and find posts that make concrete recommendations or offer ideas for solutions. I predicated the whole idea of this blog on the notion of a new liberal platform of fiscal conservatism, tempered with social compassion and a reduction in defense spending. Sure that a high level view but it's an opinion and whether it's good or bad it's open for discussion.
posted by mochi at 8:22 PM
3 Comments:
Well, I guess any of us "regulars" are included in walnosc's comments, so I'll chime in.
I'll bet that most political bloggers have been criticized for not offering solutions with every post. But that criticism is misplaced. It is unrealistic. I can write a post saying that cancer is bad, but I cannot offer a cure. That doesn't mean it isn't bad or I can't write about it. We can write posts criticizing bad things, and not have a solution readily available. Still, we write. Besides, we don't have to present solutions to problems. A blog is a journal where we write our ideas and observations, the only rule being that we try to remain relevent to the overall theme. Sometimes it's implied that the solution might be reached through discussion, but usually solutions are often included in this blog. I we write about corruption, we are saying the solution is to stop being corrupt. If we write in opposition to the war, we offer the solution: stop the war.
Now, regarding the plagiarism thing. It's not plagiarism if credit is given to the source, and certainly not if it is a link to an article referenced for discussion. The "idiocy" part is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.
I'm proud to include myself among the "bunch of misfits." 8^)
There is value in dialogue. On my blog I have gotten some very nasty comments, most of which I appreciate. I realize that many of the claims are unresearched, possibly emotional reactions, etc. but at least that someone showed up to read what was written. I would rather that people be more civil with each other, but the unfortunate thing is that this medium encourages many to be themselves, and all too often the basest in people is unleashed.
Neolibs is a favorite of mine because I can come and discuss things with you people--open communication, not always about agreement, but about discourse. When fellowship is based on agreement we will have truly ushered in the fascist state.
There is a pervasive idea in the United States that compromise is good, and everyone should agree on everything. This is the biggest danger we face today.
Like Shea said, we don't have to agree, but we should listen.
Mochi, do I detect a bit of CCNRA Memberphobia?
-Jack
Thought I would revive an old post from a long time ago. Let me know what you think.
Of Brilliant Political Foresight and Contemporary Ideological Myopia
Regards,
-Jack
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