The Prodigal Returns

It's been several years since I've written anything more significant than a long business email, or a product ticket or entries in a passionate and hastily-worded gchat conversation.  A lot has changed.  My opinions are more carefully developed, more easily amended, and more readily abandoned, which I take to be a positive - strong conviction often being the refuge of the narrow-minded or intellectually lazy.  My energy levels are lower, and my patience worn much thinner, but I care more intensely.  My callousness has grown, but so too my empathy.  It's hard living in the Information Age.  There's too much to know, and too much to care about, and too many people to follow.  Waaay more important, there's too much to do.

Once you know about such-and-such an issue that you nominally care about, and some kind person has told you how it can be addressed (e.g. calls to your political representative, rallies in BigCity-Square, and virulent social media campaigns), what more excuse do you have?  Other than the new hotness on Netflix, drinks at the bar on Friday, hangovers on Saturday, Church, working out, making a living, watching the children, spending quality time with your pug...sorry, its French bulldog now, and your iPhone, etc, etc...it's exhausting.  But where is the country or the community or the Earth going to be without some people caring, and a lot of people acting?

Writing is my way of assuaging the guilt of not acting when I have no valid excuse otherwise.  I research the issues, and write about it, and I pretend that putting forth a somewhat objective opinion, and collecting bibliographies of links, is good enough.  It's not.  Don't let me or anyone else say otherwise.  Afghanistan is addicted to opium; Yemen is starving; Syria is in total chaos; and Iraq is ruled by terrorists...and that's not leaving the Middle East.  There are things to be done, and problems to address that require principled, resourced, driven individuals, and we - and our government - are mired in selfish/petty #firstworldproblems.

All well.  Habits form slow.

I guess I should also mention that this time around, this blog will be quite different.  As you can probably tell from my old posts - designated by their poor-resolution Post-It-Note thumbnail pics - my old blog was ostensibly about foreign and public policy.  It bled a lot into politics and a bit into social criticism, and occasionally into book or article reviews.  It was sloppy, and I stopped posting to it years ago.

I can't guarantee this blog won't be sloppy.  I also can't say I'll post to it as regularly as I intend.  It also has no designated mission or topic to address.  I am generally interested in foreign and public policy, and in politics, and in social criticism, and book reviews.  I'm also into yoga and fitness and food and tech and philosophy and erotica and animal behavior and a bunch of other subjects which might make an appearance on this blog.  I hope to also have occasional guest writers.

I appreciate all my readers, and I appreciate comments, especially if they are well-cited and at least half-baked.  I especially appreciate those who disagree with me, and who take the time to be generous in their assessment of my arguments (if they are so worth it).  It is always better to be generous to the opposing side.  Only by truly understanding an opponent's position, and their motivations, can you truly trounce their argument...or learn anything.

First read, then go act.