Introduction : My Motivation

The best way to describe why I have decided to start this blog is to share with you a post I wrote on my Facebook page a while ago. It's a bit of a long read but worth sticking with if you want to fully understand my motivation:


Why do I write political posts? Well it is not because politics fascinates me. It doesn't. Most of politics is negative rhetoric, but what other way is there of calling out the injustices and evils that are perpetrated by governments, groups and individuals in our name?

Why do I care so much about these injustices? I am 41. I didn't care about any of this for at least my first 30 years, until I encountered enlightened people in my life, who guided me towards the right culture, media and literature to enable me to grasp the magnitude of the narrow mindset we as westerners are born and raised into. I did realise early on, maybe in my mid-20's, that I did not feel like I belonged to this culture or way of thinking, but I was too immature to expand my horizons without guidance. Thanks to a handful of wonderful souls I found enlightenment, wisdom and truth. That was a high.

Then it dawned on me, what on earth was I to do with these realisations? That was a low. It took me several years of cogitating, wrestling with emotions stirred up in me, tackling my own cognitive dissonance and fighting the ingrained mindset and thinking that had all my life been installed in me by bitter personal experience, a western education, the influences of the mainstream media and the attitudes of my peers. Indeed it is a process that is ongoing, but I have now learned that, though terribly uncomfortable and gruelling at times, it is to be welcomed as a blessing.

I am not a finished sculpture, in fact I am only just beginning to be modelled, but now by the hands of a sculptor with compassion, empathy, social conscience and ultimately love of humanity as his tools.

Then along came social media..

Although I trod the quagmire of inane chatter, media intrusion, advertising and the ubiquitous trolls somewhat passively for a few years, gradually I began to find that items and articles were filtering through to my newsfeed that spoke to me and the issues in the world that really matter to me; government corruption, human suffering, inequality, poverty, climate change, the evils of the monetary system, the squandering of precious resources, racism, sexism, religious persecution and dogma, homophobia, the indoctrination of our children, extremism, slavery, the failing war on drugs, the lies of the mass media, and so on.

I began posting more and more of the meme's, articles and items that were filtering towards me, a practice I intend to continue to the end. I learned about cognitive bias and its pitfalls, discovered the power of activism, and learned of amazing people in all walks of life who seem to share this mission of shedding light on these issues. I also discovered the power and influence held by politicians, media barons and hacks, and the social media companies themselves, to distort and dilute information in order to confuse, complicate and ultimately deny us the information on what is really happening.

I continue to be alarmed, angered and distressed by much of what I read, research and study. At the same time I continue to be amazed, touched and fulfilled by the process of interacting with friends, groups and strangers on social media to address the injustices of the world. A social conscience is developing within me that cannot be quelled, gradually replacing the deep sense of being lost in an unfair cruel world that I have experienced all my life. Who knows where it will lead me, but for now I know that it is a very positive energy. It satisfies my intellect and enquiring mind. It guides me in my daily life, helps me be a better human being, and goes a long way towards dampening the terrible negativity we all see playing out in the world which can depress and destroy the human soul.

There are pitfalls of course. I sometimes get stuck in defending my way of thinking, and have to take time to re-evaulate my position and study more. Cognitive bias and dissonance plague me often, but knowing of their existence I am able to combat them to the best of my ability. I have heard people say that it's easy to post stuff on social media about the government or whatever, and that it's not worth getting into debates because of trolls and other human garbage. I hear all the time that people just don't want to engage with politics. I don't blame them. It is very hard to be conscientious and thoughtful and engaged in this world. There is so much that seeks to bring us down. Ultimately most people give up or turn their backs completely, but I cannot and will not throw the baby out with the bathwater like that.

So..

I hope as my friends, family and associates you can forgive me when I seem to post too much. I hope that you can see that it all comes from a place of intense need to act on my concerns for all of us. I hope you can understand that sometimes I get it wrong, but that I will always try to make amends and always through a process of internal examination of my thinking and motivation. I am not a person who finds it easy to talk face-to-face in the moment about these many issues which concern me, so facebook is my outlet and my mouthpiece. I am sure that you can make up your own mind as to whether you want to read my posts or not.

Lastly, please never feel unable to call me out if I step over a line or post something you do not like. All I ask is that you engage with me a little so I can learn your point of view and understand it. We are blessed with a platform that encourages and enables free speech and debate in a safe, secure environment. It would be wrong not to use it, surely?


At the time of writing that I didn't realise how much my desire to converse with others would grow. Sadly only one of my nearly 250 facebook friends actually took me up and engaged with me, but I know that was kind of inevitable really. Indeed, I don't have high hopes for this blog, but remain optimistic anyway. So, expect to see plenty of entries here over the weeks and months, and please go ahead and interact!