Celebrating the Open Free Spirit

In the eleven years of blogging, I occasionally muse about the nature of blogging. When I’m in a (self-) critical mood I refer to it as an extreme form of self-advertisement; in more benign moods I talk about its role in clarifying confused thinking….

And, of course, I’ve noticed that most serious blogs specialise in a particular topic – be it novels; economic, political or legal commentary; the EU; social policy; Marxist economics; a particular academic discipline etc 

What I haven’t paid enough attention to is how few serious blogs there are – like this one - which challenge these boundaries and choose to tramp or trespass in what I have called “NO Man’s Land”. The other image I have used is that of the butterfly which gracefully alights for a few moments on a flower and then moves on. I should perhaps be more careful in my use of that image/metaphor since the butterfly’s life is a short one   

So in closing, for the moment, this series of “posts…so far this year”, I want to try to identify those few blogs which set their face against being enclosed by boundaries and range more freely.  

1. Let me start with someone who has sadly gone silent these past couple of years – a retired Liverpool academic, Gerry of How the Light Gets In whose material  makes for great reading - with celebrations of the history and landscapes of NE Engalnd – as well as cultural and literary events all covered in loving detail. Hopefully Gerry will find his voice again…

2. Then a blog from a Bulgarian woman long resident in the US – Maria Popova - whose Brain Pickings focus on the timeless and uplifting advice of creative writers such as Ursula le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, George Orwell and Rebecca Solnit

3. Then there’s my current favourite blogger, Canadian Dave Pollard of How to Save the World whose blog exudes the integrity of someone searching for what is worthwhile in life and living  

4. Another blog which defies classification is RioWang – which is half travelogue (but of such way-out places as Iran and the Caucusus ) and half celebration of the remnants of old Jewish history in such places. This, for example, is the latest post which includes a classic Persian song

5. Brave New Europe is a leftist site with an open and creative selection process

6. The Worthy House is a blog I hesitated to include – since its over-confident, ant-leftist tone sometimes offends me but the sheer range of its reviews warrant its inclusion. See for yourself with these reviews of the important book The Geography of Thought; Banfield’s The Moral Basis of a Backward Society (to which I often refer in the posts); and Graeber’s Bullshit Jobs of which they seem none too fond.

But why can I find only a handful of blogs with such an open spirit?

Posts This Year – Part V – the last few weeks

Post Title	Inspired by	The basic message
Demons and Demos	A Polish right-wing philosopher challenges liberal democracy	Identity politics has indeed gone too far
How America Lost its Mind	A 3 year old article with that title	is puritanism and post-modernism really to blame?
The Dethroning of Reason	Remembering the debate in the 1970s about “muddling through”	Did post-modernism and behavioural economics really start the rot?
Positive Public Administration	A long-overdue Manifesto	We have become too cynical about institutions
Feelings	“Nervous States” book by William Davies	How did experts initially get their status – and then lose it so recently?
Head Hand Heart	David Goodhart’s latest book	The devaluing of manual and technical work and the overestimation of the university
Links I Liked	The accident of genius; how a 1977 report changed the UK	30 years after Thatcher’s resignation, we still don’t have the measure of her
Humankind	Rutger Bregman’s latest book is a model of clarity	His argument that humans are basically altruistic doesn’t quite convince – altho he adds the rider about “power corrupting”
How Myths take root and are difficult to shift	A reread of Bregman’s book	One of my famous tables - with 22 of Bregman’s exploded myths explained
Covid19, governments, Science and Lies	I get fed up hearing the UK PM talk about “following the science”	Governments can’t avoid choices and values. Experts have their limits
The Continuing Saga of Brexit	2 of my favourite blogs	The endgame
Whatever happened to peak oil?	Reading at last J Michael Greer’s “The Long Descent” (2008)	I realise how little I understand about energy issues
The 2020 posts …..so far	This is the time of the year when I start to think about the annual E-book of posts	It is an opportunity to reflect on the blog’s distinctiveness – and what it might be doing better
Perennials - II	I like to think that a post of several years ago can still be read with benefit	why straddling boundaries gives insights
Mapping the Common Ground	A book-length report from a fascinating new think-tank with teams in 4 countries	Gives a detailed insight into the UK of 2020 – using the work of psychologist Jonathan Haidt
Le Temps Perdu III	The third of the series	Why we should turn off the News
Between the Lines - IV	I’ve started – so I’ll finish	What I would like to be distinctive about the blog
The blog that keeps on giving	Dave Pollard’s blog which, like mine, is also one of the few generalist blogs	The importance in these times of good questions – and of not being put off by the lack of response