Sincerely Thinking Out Loud: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

First Blog, First Post

So this is my first blog post ever. Exhilarating. From my limited understanding of how a blog works, I believe this to be a type of online journal where people post things about their life or things they find interesting. Maybe like a twitter but with slightly more intellectual content (and a place where thoughts requiring more than 140 characters can be adequately described).

I imagine that most things I will be posting about will be political. In fact, the reason I was compelled to create this blog is that I feel (or hope) that someone somewhere might benefit from my sincere thoughts about a certain political issue. I have many wonderful conversations with friends about politics and government and I thought that my musings might be of interest to someone.

My goal is to become a well-informed and rational political thinker. I will sometimes argue for points that I don't believe in because it's a good exercise to try out different perspectives. If I come off as ignorant or uninformed, set me straight with some good information (please don't insult my intelligence though, it hurts my feelings). I love to argue with my friends, so if you disagree with something I say please let me know and tell me why you disagree. I will want to try to convince you that you are wrong and I am right. I expect and encourage the same from you. I often change my mind on certain subjects when I'm presented with a particularly strong argument. Again, I expect and encourage the same from you. Please be open-minded and change your stance on an issue occasionally; otherwise arguing is useless. If there's one thing I cannot stand it is a person who steadfastly believes something simply because it's what they're supposed to believe. I strive to be convinced of all my beliefs, and that's part of the reason I've created this blog.

Sorry about all the I's; just wanted to give you a little spiel on what I think is common courtesy in political discourse. With that, I'm gonna go read some articles, formulate some opinions, and maybe then try to post about a more interesting topic than the one I ramble on about here.

About This Blog

The goal of this blog is to help me determine my stance on certain political issues and more broadly my personal philosophy towards government and society. By noting my thoughts, opinions, and feelings about a certain subject, I can more easily determine the strengths and weaknesses in my logic. I wish to adhere only to my own moral and ethical code in this logic, not the code of any other individual or group.

An unintended though greatly appreciated aspect of this blog is the political debate it has inspired. I enjoy talking about politics, especially when someone holds a position different than my own. I am exceedingly dismayed with the often hostile way in which some people will address a disagreement. There is indeed a lack of mature, intelligent, political discourse between people with opposing views in our country and it makes me sick. An adopted goal of this blog is to promote arguments, dialogue, and debates between people of different views on a mature and friendly level. Sure we'll throw jabs at each other and point out holes in their arguments, but in the end we are all on the same team, America. Let's try to keep that in mind.

Most arguments presented on this page are well thought out and quite logically sound, in my opinion. I do most of the argument's analysis in the writing of the post in order to present readers with a clear and simple presentation of my position. That being said, some other arguments on this page result from the in-head dialogue that I have with myself before I have adopted a temporary position on a certain topic. This is what led to the title of the blog, "Sincerely Thinking Out Loud." If you see something that sounds ignorant or uninformed, just let me know. I was probably just thinking out loud.