Why I Write and Why You Read

"Life is a miserable truce but a happy fight."

I would like to re-introduce this newsletter to you and to others by informing you of what you can expect from my writing going forward.

I have identified some serious problems in how we are informed about our world, and how we discuss our world. Confronting these problems inspires me to write:

First of all, there is the problem of gatekeepers.

One example: I remember a penny dropping for me when I was discussing the Paris Climate agreement with a friend. They were horrified that the US had withdrawn, but when I pointed out that the Paris agreement literally bound no nation to any kind of emission control, they were stunned the media never reported this. We did not even get to discussing other important facts - such as the fact that over the last few years, the US reduced emissions more than any other time in history (whilst China burns coal on a planetary scale). This is just a small and relatively minor example, but it suggests a massive issue - the corporations who decide what they should tell you cannot be trusted as neutral agents. And you end up not even knowing what it is you do not know.

Now, that is not a catastrophe normally. I think most people have generally been a little bit sceptical of newspapers and the TV news whilst following the sports results and the weather. But now our very approach to the world is shaped by our digital experiences. The media is in our heads by means of our addiction to smartphones, and more than ever we need to know and understand that the media have their own interests. Even when they seem to be giving you hard news and basic data, there is always a framing behind what they tell you and what they leave out. Now obviously my writing is not exempt from my bias. But for me, it is out in the open. You can grapple with my perspective because I give it to you. I am a very minor gatekeeper, but at least I draw your attention to the existence of the gate and the fact I get to choose what to let in.

The second problem we face is political correctness or `wokeness`. In days gone by, you would know that media obviously had a profit motive or a patriotic or nationalistic motive. You could take that for granted and make allowances for it. People who read Chinese state media know that they are reading Chinese state media. But now you have vast media conglomerates who are basically selling you a religion. Their profits are not as important to them anymore as their faith. And they definitely do not favour any one nation. They instead want to sell you a package of beliefs that all insist on one basic underlying premise - the heritage of Christianity and traditional morality is oppressive and needs to be dismantled. Furthermore, even nature and biology can be oppressive, such as the basic sexual identities of male and female, husband and wife. All of this is often said in another way - that a concept known as `whiteness` needs to be `dismantled`.

These issues can be discussed another day. The point to be noted here is that we have reached a stage in which massive companies set the narrative for how we think we ought to discuss and experience the world. A company like Google, which has effectively become a global, public utility, only seems to offer a neutral service. In fact, they do not simply organise data - they have a specific bill of goods to sell. This is true for every company which reaches you on your smartphone and leaves its cookies there to help them sell their products and ideas.

For now, there are still spaces available to contest this mass informational warfare underway. I hope to use that space and provide a worthwhile service to you all.

For those of us who are sceptical of modern progress, there is the temptation to give up, to assume that the tides of history are unstoppable. This is not true. Societies can choose their own way outside of progressivism - but only if enough powerful people within that society are on-board. This is why the written word is so important. Ideas and art are like dynamite. Their time can come to explode even when they have seemingly failed or been forgotten.

Equally, even if it were true that traditionalist-minded people and the other sceptics of modernity did not have any power to alter or ameliorate the destructiveness of the nihilism which threatens civilization, the losing fight would still be worth it, as a kind of cross to carry. As Chesterton wrote, life is a miserable truce, but a happy fight.

Let me sum up:

In an age of corporate media and political correctness (an old Soviet term by the way), I hope to curate content and write stories that serve the best interests of my readers. I do not make any media pretence of `objectivity`, of just reporting the facts; my perspectives and interests are rather laid bare in each piece so they can be grappled with, and contested.

I do not believe you get to truth by receiving it in your mind as some private possession - you have to find yourself in it, participate in it, and I think you best do that in a kind of struggle or dance with other minds worthy of respect.

When you subscribe, you will receive one newsletter a week that lists, introduces and briefly explores some of the most important stories, ideas, and events from around the world. You will also receive one opinion piece or essay written by me that focuses on one single idea or issue.

Eventually, as the audience grows, I will introduce some paid content - these will be e-books and possibly also some online courses. (My philosophy doctorate on Nietzsche and Christianity is awaiting its popular book iteration.) I have found that there is a huge gap in modern culture and education. If I speak to people about great thinkers or books, whether it be Plato, Aquinas, Shakespeare, or Dostoevsky, I notice a sense of thirst for this seemingly lost tradition of studying `Greats`. We all sense innately that our education and our media has not given us its best. Eventually I hope to be able to help solve this issue for my readers, outside of the structures of our modern media/education complex, whose structures now only serve as shackles.

At the moment, if you appreciate and find yourself enriched by my writing, in return, all I ask is that you share it with other discerning minds, and encourage others to subscribe. The buttons just below allow you to do this. By sharing, you will eventually allow me to support this work financially, and thus continue to provide this service.