bloggedy blog: the personal weblog of a music lover and aging punk wannabe

:: Wednesday, August 11, 2004 ::

Think on these things...
One of my favorite bloggers, Gideon Strauss, writes about ten good things in the lead essay of Comment. Among Gideon's favorite things are two of my own favorites:

1. The present generation of teens

I am not wholly persuaded by the generations theory of Bill Strauss and Neil Howe, in which history is shaped by the cycle of four types of generations: an idealist or prophet generation, a reactive or nomad generation, a civic or hero generation, and an adaptive or artist generation. But I am nonetheless convinced that the present generation of teens - the generation of my two daughters - has the makings of what Strauss and Howe call a generation of heroes. ...

2. Blogging

What is good about blogging is the way in which it is revitalizing public debate. The mass media in North America - television and newspapers - provide room for a very limited range of opinion. Almost all of it is pragmatic, functionally atheistic, and philosophically liberal. Blogging provides an opportunity for anyone who has skill and perseverance to raise their voices, to make their arguments, and to gain a hearing in the public realm. This brings new riches and new life to our society's efforts to understand itself and to understand the world in which we live. Suddenly, contributing to the shape of public opinion does not cost millions of dollars or require you to ingratiate yourself with the editor of a big city newspaper by conforming to his opinions.

Strauss is writing from a Western perspective, which is fine because that's the world he lives in. (As do I.) But a few of his favorite things -- cities, for instance, or the outlook for today's teens -- might not look so great in other parts of the world. Nevertheless, he's committed some good thoughts to paper and has come up with an interesting exercise and has kindled some thoughts of my own. It's easy to come up with ten rotten things wrong with the world. But what "ten good things" could I come up with? The apostle Paul encourages us to focus on the good things -- the true, noble, pure, excellent, admirable, praiseworthy things in life. Gideon Strauss sets an example for us.

:: Andrew 07:32 + ::
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