Why I write

During the whole TSA dust up that took place a few months back, I briefly touched on (one of) the reasons that I write. The one mentioned in that post is that I write to get feedback from others about what I've written. Often times, I'll also engage in Internet debates with people about issues for this very reason. I've had at least one friend of mine tell me that she'll never be convinced of anything that I have to say to her and that she would appreciate it if I would stop arguing with her and her friends on Facebook (about political issues). I tried to explain to her that I don't argue necessarily to convince her or her friends that I'm right. Rather I do it to learn. I do it to find out that I may be wrong.

That's not the whole story, though. Libertarianism forces one to look at politics and government completely differently than the way we are taught in schools or how we are told by the media. The reason that I write is because it forces me to think things through. It forces me to examine exactly what I think and believe about something, why I think and believe it, and if I can even support those positions rationally. When I sit down to write, I know that people who read it are going to disagree. So, before I publish anything, I try to critique my own work to be sure that it is internally consistent, that I've already tried to address possible rebuttals. (Despite what it may seem like, I really don't like to "argue" with people.) There have been times when I've gotten halfway through a post and abandoned it because I didn't feel that I could make a strong or coherent enough argument.

Occasionally, though a post or two does slip through which still isn't very well thought out, written, or coherent. There are a number reasons for this (any/all of which are in play for a particular bad post):

• I tend to write whatever is on my mind without thinking about the final product (post) as a whole.
• I generally write in my spare time and don't devote the amount of time really necessary to write at a higher level.
• I have a number of points I want to make about a topic, but I don't organize them ahead of time.
• I'm just not terribly well educated (yet) about a particular topic, and the writing reflects that.

The reason I write all of this is because there are a few topics that I have in my head that I want to write about, but they're very vague ideas at this point. (The "Follow the money" post/series linked above is one of these that never got fully fleshed out.) I haven't written about them, partly because I don't write "seriously" enough for me to spend a lot of time thinking about them and form a coherent post. Well, I'm going to make a run at some, if not all, of these topics in the next few weeks. I'll do my best to post a few smaller stories and some quick commentary to keep the ten or so of you that are actually still reading interested, but the longer posts will probably be fewer and further between for awhile.