How I Try to Write and How I Encourage You to Read It
In no particular order, here are some thoughts on how I try to write for the site, and how I think it’s best consumed.
- I try to write objectively as much as humanly possible.
- When I appear critical of a political figure, unless I expressly say otherwise, I’m not expressing any opinion at all about that person, but rather providing my analysis about the impact of something related to them. It could be their views, their constraints, their history, or almost anything else – but unless I say otherwise, I’m not criticizing them, but trying to analyze the most probable impact of the facts that surround them. The same is true for things I say about other nations, non-state actors, ideologies, philosophies and even religions. I try to be very specific in my writing and my observations/analysis of a particular thing or person may seem positive, negative, or both – but if you take that to mean I support/oppose any particular person or idea, you’re likely mistaken. To steal an admonition a friend once saw online, interact with what I write, not with what you think I think.
- If you want to find partisan intentions within these pages, you certainly will. No nation, leader, or policy is perfect. My analysis recognizes that fact and does not shy away from accounting for realities that may be difficult for a hardcore partisans and ideological true believers to hear. In that situation, the diehard is prone to read the analysis as criticism, and be tempted to respond to it with the aggression typically used against a partisan political attack. (See conflict neurosis.) Don’t make the mistake of assuming that any analysis that is less than wholly supportive of your view is an attack on your ideology, your political affiliation, or your values. Likewise, you should never assume that it is supportive of the views, affiliations, or values of your political opposites or anyone else. Every time we make an assumption like that, we lose an opportunity to understand our world better – and to truly base our views on reality, rather than the false, dogma-tinted realities offered – and accepted – by much of our society.
