Today at church your faithful correspondent was reminded that he actually has a blog and that no new posts have been made for a very long time. In other words, this blog has been pretty moribund for a long time and perhaps too long.
This writer is the first to admit that he really has nothing insightful to say or write and does not have the talent to write common thought in an interesting and creative way. But some people do seem to enjoy the natterings of an old fool. Not many people enjoy them, but a few do. One can only suppose that they are the type of people who would enjoy watching an 1890s Ozark hillbilly trying to figure out what to do with a Smartphone. But the joke goes both ways. Clem can make music with a broomstick, a wash tub and a piece of rope while the Smartphone guy has to go to The Guitar Center and buy an electric bass guitar and amplifier to do the same thing.
But to get back to cases. For those who have enjoyed reading these exhibitions of mental deficiency this writer apologizes for the lack of current material. The only excuse is laziness and Facebook. Mostly Facebook.
To put it succinctly, Facebook is evil for bloggers. Actually, to be more to the point, Facebook is evil.
Facebook is evil for bloggers because it is a form of micro-blog that is really under the control of unseen forces and limits the free expression of bloggers. There is always the danger for an opinionated person being suspended from Facebook for a period of time for saying something that violates the Facebook terms of service. And these terms of service are mercurial depending upon the current liberal climate. One is left trying to anticipate the censors at Facebook and thereby censors oneself.
In a community, as was, self-censorship was not unusual. One had to live a a community in which there were various types and flavors of people, and to get through the day one had to prevent oneself from offending the man who delivered the milk despite the fact that it was known that he was a Mason and everyone knew (as far as your were concerned) that Masons were anti-democratic and perhaps anti-American. You wanted milk and if you ticked off the milk man you wouldn't be getting milk. And your doctor would probably use a dull needle to give you a shot.
The Internet, in a way, opened up the possibility for everyone to express his or her jerk opinions. One could be the biggest jerk in the world without worrying about not having milk for the Cheerios. After all, it was pretty unlikely that your milkman or doctor would read your blog.
But writing a blog is more troublesome than doing a Facebook entry. One cannot make a blog entry of one or two sentences. But one can do it on Facebook. And Facebook is controlled by a lot of people who have no knowledge or your life or life experiences. Consider this: You're a veteran of the Vietnam War. You spent your time in country fighting the Viet Cong and the NVA. You got into the habit of referring to the enemy as "gooks." Later, as an old fellow, you join a Facebook group of Viet vets. You write a post about the Viet Cong and use the word "gooks." All of a sudden the Facebook hammer comes down on you for "hate speech" and you're suspended despite the fact that you wife is Vietnamese and your kids are Eurasian. You're not racist. But you used the "wrong" word and therefore, according to Facebook you are a hater. And know for sure that the "wrong" word will change and become more numerous as time goes on.
Secondly, Facebook is evil because it pretend to be a "town square" where people of similar likes can get together and discuss and that all the people are friends of some sort. That is, in a sense, admirable. But there is a wagon attached to the thing. Whatever one writes, whatever one posts, becomes part of Facebook. It's not yours anymore. And whatever you write or post will result your name being sold to advertisers and groups that you may want nothing to do with. You become a commodity. You are no longer a person.
But that's modern life. People are willing to have their privacy taken by things like the Amazon Echo so they'll know what time it is or what the weather is. Big Brother is here and we invited him in through Facebook and Echo and all the rest. Oh happy day!
