What ‘political’ bloggers could learn from James Baldwin, and why they won’t.
It seems to me that most adult serious ‘Bloggers’ who attempt to publish posts of any merit (by this I mean writing in competent prose, addressing relevant and important subjects, and demonstrating at least some creative and imaginative thought) could learn a lesson from James Baldwin’s essay “Fifth Avenue, Uptown” published in 1960.
While Baldwin was referring to a geographic ghetto, his ideas are just as pertinent to a class and educational ghetto as well–and this is just what the ‘Blogosphere,’ to my mind has become or perhaps has always been.
But first to Baldwin’s critique of the structure of American society. In a section of his eloquent essay, Baldwin challenges the reasoning that claims that in a democracy, even the humble, poor, and oppressed can “make it”, calling this the theory of the ‘determined will.’ In other words, if you really want to succeed you can, if you want your voice heard, it will be, and so on.
Baldwin, however, provides several rebuttals to this reasoning or should we say apologetic: first, the determined will is always rare–for whatever reason. Writing in 1960, he claims “at the moment, in this country, it is unspeakably rare….” although it sounds preternaturally much like 2006 to me. Furthermore, he states, “the inequalities suffered by the many are in no way justified by the rise of the few.” I suppose today this might be seen as a criticism of liberalism or conservatism: however, I shall try to point out it is neither. He further states that in every society a few have always risen–regardless of the nature of the government. More significantly, many of those “who have risen have not always been benevolent.” It’s fair to say many have been downright evil. Finally, even using the ’self-actualizing’ person as a model to which one should attain is a very American and potentially insidious value.
Baldwin claims this to be the fact because it “reveals an awful disrespect for human life and human achievement as it is most often lived.” I would add it also creates a value among many who might develop their values independently had they truly had an independent mode of thinking.
What has this to do with political “Blogging?” Everything. Who are these bloggers?
First, they are people who are often educated and verbal. Blogging for all its technological novelty is still based on the written word. Regular bloggers have time to write their opinions (usually without remuneration). Thus, they are getting paid well-enough elsewhere, and for a work week that allows them time left over for their moonlighting. College professors and students comprise a good percentage of these folks. They are largely from the middle class; they opine on the middle-class news of the day, and rarely venture their thinking outside the confines of what what many call the Mainstream Media (MSM). When, for example, is the last time you read about a blogger’s dangerous neighborhood or observations about child poverty or the travails of the illiterate? When they editorialize about one of their favorite subjects–Iraq–when do they address the overrepresentation of minorities in the military?
The main difference from what they call the Mainstream is that they vie for position and acknowledgement within their own “sphere.” They rarely get it anywhere else. As far as I can see, they engage in little or no direct action to improve society; nor do they offer a froum for those who have no voice.
Much “politically” oriented blog seem to champion the intellectual astuteness and egocentric display of the blogger. When bloggers argue, it becomes an elitist endeavor–perpetrated by those who have time and luxury.
To truly be countercultural, they might allow guest bloggers with no access to blogging to speak, or provide literacy services to those who desire them, or ESL lessons to the many non-English speakers who would love a chance to improve English language skills, or if a blogger is bilingual to offer translation services for bloggers who write in languages other than English (not too likely in our monolingual dominant society).
Nevertheless, they argue ‘anyone’ can blog, or as some political blogger has said about the blogosphere: “every writer is a reader, and every reader is a writer.” Not if you can’t read or write.
There are some exceptions. Elementary and high school teachers empower at-risk students to blog. Some offer free education. Of course, the one who wishes to be educated must know how to retrieve and understand the lesson.
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