A Few Inspiring Words

There are consistently a handful of authors that I normally read throughout a given month and year several times over. In addition to their first hand work there are also additional reading material that they, the authors have suggested in the course of my inquiries. Below I have included some notable quotations and words of advice that I have tried from the moment I was made aware, to live and think upon.

"Sometimes the first duty of the intelligent man is to restate the obvious." - George Orwell

"One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results." - Milton Friedman

"The conservative response to modernity is to embrace it, but to embrace it critically, in full consciousness that human achievements are rare and precarious, that we have no God-given right to destroy our inheritance, but must always patiently submit to the voice of order, and set an example of orderly living." - Roger Scruton

"The attack on economics sprang rather from a dislike of the application of scientific methods to the investigation of social problems. The existence of a body of reasoning which prevented people from following their first impulsive reactions, and which compelled them to balance indirect effects, which could be seen only by exercising the intellect, against intense feeling caused by the direct observation of concrete suffering, then as now, occasioned intense resentment." - F.A. Hayek

"One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how many people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people's motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans-- anything except reason." - Thomas Sowell

 "In history, one gathers clues like a detective, tries to present an honest account of what most likely happened, and writes a narrative according to what we know and, where we aren't absolutely sure, what might be most likely to have happened within the generally accepted rules of evidence and sources." - Victor Davis Hanson

"In today's impoverished dialogue, critiques of liberalism are often naively called 'conservative,' as if twenty-five hundred years of Western intellectual tradition presented no other alternatives." - Camille Paglia

"Optimism is the parent of despair, while pessimism allows the mind to accustom itself to the inevitable disappointments of human existence by degrees, just as some drugs induce a state of tolerance. Pessimists, moreover, have the better sense of humour, for they have a livelier apprehension of pretension and absurdity. In a meritocracy, furthermore, those who fail must either indulge in elaborate mental contortions to disguise reality from themselves or sink into a deep melancholy." - Theodore Dalrymple

I hope you enjoy these as much as I have and since we are always evolving in some shape with regard to mental ability and our point of view there is no doubt that in due course this list will continue to grow or change in one particular facet or another.

In history, one gathers clues like a detective, tries to present an honest account of what most likely happened, and writes a narrative according to what we know and, where we aren't absolutely sure, what might be most likely to have happened, within the generally accepted rules of evidence and sources.
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/v/victor_davis_hanson.html

The purpose, or inspiration behind this blog is twofold. First: It serves as a means or outlet to voice opinions, share them, deconstruct them and decide it they stand up to criticism or crumble under the weight of contrary evidence and opinions. Second: It serves as a record and living capsule of these opinions and thoughts that may or may not change to varying degrees throughout time.

Why did I decide to write a blog? I finally realized that despite my best intentions to engage others in matters of history, philosophy, economics and politics that many people not only did not have the capacity to due so but that they didn't want to either, at least as much as I was willing to. This is not meant as a slight at others or an attempt to inflate my ego as some may presume, the truth is many people don't want to commit the necessary time or effort to subjects they claim to enjoy as much as you or I. So taking advice from friends in or around Presidential Election of 2008 I began work on creating a blog as a means of becoming a better writer, engaging others and exchanging information. I took the time to write a rather long list of problems and solutions I saw regarding policy and marketing of a particular political organization and submitted to the said body and published it here under the name: The Daily Slob.  I was pleased with what I had finally done as opposed to constantly re-posting the opinions of others on Facebook or Twitter then hashing out arguments and opinions. Unfortunately in my case the flesh was willing but the spirit became weak and as with many things you begin or set out to do, priorities change.

After a few years on hiatus I came to the firm conclusion that despite the many attempts to do so on social media forums, the best places to engage others and learn from one another are still consistently subject periodicals. Major publications in nearly every respectable and established field of study now have daily maintained digital publications and blogs to facilitate the market of ideas. It seems today that despite all the advancements the internet has made available to the masses, the masses don't always utilize these resources to the desired ends or even for their benefit. After having first been made aware of an author who went by the pen name of Theodore Dalrymple some ten years ago, I finally made time available to read arguably his most famous and important contribution to non fiction literacy; Life At the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass. I will spare the reader my thoughts on the books accuracy as I was much more concerned with how he had come to writing the book in the first place. As it turned out Mr. Dalrymple (actual name is Anthony Daniels) was a British MD and psychiatrist for many years in a less than desirable former industrial city, working at a prison and the adjacent hospital. The content of his book drew heavily from his interviews, observations and experiences of working with an estimated 10,000 patients over the course of more than two decades. What really amazed me was that his observations and conclusions that he had reached, although admittedly anecdotal, have turned out to be substantiated by a great deal of objective research and corroborated through the experiences of others in his field and through their studies. It was Mr. Dalrymple's notes and records of these observations, conversations and conditions (in addition to a great memory) that allowed him to write with such authority and enlighten a great many readers.

That being said, I hope to maintain this blog both as a means of sustaining my appetite for discussion, debate and learning as well as maintaining a record of the direction and changes reflected in these exchanges and thoughts. Reflecting on our views in terms of what we maintain and what we jettison or evolve over time not only serves as a tangible means of demonstrating our effectiveness as communicators, but also as a means of measuring our willingness to be persuaded and persuade others. As you may have guessed the name of the blog has changed, it is no longer The Daily Slob and for the foreseeable future I will stick with the present name; Pessimism - The Morning After. If you have any interest in contributing and commenting please get in contact with me or begin commenting with suggestions, disagreements, caveats or anything you believe would appropriately improve the popularity and respectability of this forum.

NEW FORMAT AND CONTENT UNDERWAY

WE SHOULD BE UP AND RUNNING VERY SOON!