Terror, thy name is Al. In addition; my current task involves blogging for Justin Plus One. Let’s hope the doorman in the sky has not retired the guest list for the night. And hopefully this week will go without incident, but who am I kidding? I am the crown prince of confrontation.
I don’t know where it all started; maybe it was city life that transmogrified me into such an outlier. Perhaps therapy will resolve my many issues with the human race, until then, all I can do is engage the world in discourse. Of course, the intent of this post is to construct an idea of who I am, a task that is burdensome in view of the expected truncated prose. Any naivety should be defenestrated; blogs are unique and quite different from books, magazines or newspapers. There is an attachment to the ethereal, coupled with a news feed of vapid pop culture. If anything killed objectivity in journalism, it was the proliferation of anonymous nom de nets. There isn’t a critical judgment on my part, though; an obvious qualitative difference is plain as the nose on your face (my apologies to the readers without a nose).
So, you may be asking yourself, why would someone who questions the quality of blog writing, take the time to contribute to one? Well, the answer is somewhat simple. I blame it on Socrates (like I do with most things in life) and his legendary snobbery. If you happen to read the Dialogues of Plato— you will come across a Dialogue involving the use of Rhetoric. The primary antagonist is flaunting his ability to sway audiences with what he believes to be the quickest route to influence and power. Socrates interjects and asserts that Rhetoric is the art of swindling the ignorant about the justice or injustice of an issue, without conveying any real knowledge. Moreover, it harms the world by making the worse appear the better argument and permitting the guilty to go free. Truly, this is the finest analysis of Socrates’ life. Oh, this is the only instance where Socrates and I come into agreement. He was right, but his intellect had no room for pessimism. Media are unreservedly persuasive; the function is not to reveal truths, but to frame ideas. This is unchangeable. Now, there is a glimmer of hope, that is, we can take what is considered the most insipid constructions and contrast it with real truth and art. A baseball game can be watched on its merits, but then must be placed in the context of worldly efforts. The same goes for watching a movie about shape-shifting automobiles, and then seeking great film. Content, no matter the quality, is always useful to some degree.
What does the aforementioned have to do with me? In my particular circumstance, at least, professionally, my task is to understand and edit according to standards. Here I can reveal what things are and why. Beyond doubt, a liberating experience. Anyway, my future posts will have less personal philosophy and deal with various subjects, while interacting with Justin.
Peace!
P.S. I can be abrupt.
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