First Post

I have long been sceptical of the notion of blogging.

Ranting furiously into an uncaring void seemed like a vanity project for angry egomaniacs. It probably is, and despite the following rationalisation, that's probably why I have succumbed to it's appeal.

However, over time, I have been persuaded that there is truth in the cliche that blogging - along with the whole gamut of capabilities the internet provides - is an immensely powerful tool.

It gives ordinary people extraordinary reach, and seems to be rattling both the mainstream media and authoritarian politicians. While I don't want to get carried away, it seems to have played a part in recent earth-shaking events in the Arab world. The extent of that contribution is hard to judge, especially given all the blather and hype about the power of the tinternet; but it has certainly been in the mix.

Moreover, it is very much a tool for the times; while the notorious unreliability and splenetic nature of much web content remains an issue, the (western) mainstream media is itself grossly distorting and agenda led, invariably in the service of an increasingly authoritarian 'liberal' establishment (despite the emphasis given by the same, to the odd exception such as Fox).

And while in no way being the equivalent of the tyrants brave Arabs are rising against, that establishment is nevertheless fostering a social and political context where it is extremely difficult, and even dangerous, for people to air dissenting views.

Blogging seems to offer a platform well suited to making a stand - however small - against the creeping suffocation of western societies. The consternation it provokes in the establishment has begun to persuade me that however apparently insignificant the individual blogger, an accumulation of individual efforts, can have an affect. It seems that it is possible, after all,  to land blows against an establishment otherwise well protected through it's dominance of the institutions.

And so, in the spirit of the Burkean little platoon, of the fashionable concept of the Big Society, or simply through the plain old notion of civic participation, I have decided to have a go.

If you've stuck around this long, you may well be concluding, 'so far, so internet'; this mixture of self justification and malcontented rumblings against 'the man'. Well, we'll see. The reasons for my initial scepticism remain; handed a powerful tool, it's really up to the blogger to define him or herself through content.

My aim is to undermine contemporary dogma with it's countless irrationalities and inconsistencies. In so doing, I in turn hope to undermine - in whatever tiny way - the increasingly authoritarian tendencies that proceed from those politically correct credos. And hopefully have a laugh or two along the way.

Whether this turns out to be a worthwhile exercise or one of windy self-indulgence, only time will tell.

Thanks for reading this far, and I hope subsequent posts provide an argument for returning to the site.