Why am I blogging?
I don't get paid and no one probably will ever read anything I post anyways. The entire idea of my running this blog reeks of futility and will likely result in failure. So, if I am so resigned that this will end poorly, why bother? Well, I reckon (if one can truly "reckon" anything) that is the question that has, in the past, kept me from writing anything. Recently though, events in my life led me to realize that I not only wanted to write, but I needed to. After being subjected to a slew of anti-American vitriol while traveling abroad, I came to the conclusion that it was my duty, both as a person who promotes individual liberty and as a citizen of the U.S., to start a dialogue with others about the state of affairs in our country. Hopefully, through this dialogue, we can identify the principles and ideals America has, and should, stand for and we can collectively work towards making our nation one we can all be truly proud of once again.
So, why did I name my blog "The Parlance of Our Times"?
In the Coen Brothers' classic film "The Big Lebowski", the Dude has a knack for repeating other characters' dialogue from earlier in the film. My favorite example is when he nervously smothers a remark he made about Bunny to the Big Lebowski, in which he called her a "trophy wife", by echoing Maude's statement about simply speaking in "the parlance of our times." Basically, the Dude tells the Big Lebowski to take no offense to his slur because he does not actually believe it, he is just speaking as people do in that place at that time.
I always found the "parlance of our times" quip to be one of the most delightful in the movie, though certainly the film is a veritable vault of quote-worthy material. However, I always liked the way the Dude used the term. He employed it as a sword to unabashedly inform the Big Lebowski about his theory regarding Bunny's kidnapping while simultaneously using it as a shield to protect his insult from being attributed to him. In short, he made his point about Bunny's motives clearly and concisely, but he then also avoided the consequences of his speech by tacking on that he was only speaking "in the parlance of our times."
I, like the Dude, desire to speak in the parlance of our times. By that, I mean that I want to communicate my ideas and beliefs to others in a clear and concise fashion, just like the Dude and his "whole brevity thing". Like the Dude as well, I too would like to be able to wriggle out of the consequences of my speech though if necessary. Thus, I will only say that the opinions appearing on this blog will be the product of our times and in the language of our times. What I espouse one day may alter by the next. Often, events have a way of changing the way we look at issues, and I cannot promise that the events of my life won't change my own viewpoints. This blog, if it accomplishes anything, will at least let me look back from time to time on my own philosophical development.
Regardless of its merits or lack thereof, this blog will feature authentic content about whatever it is I feel like writing. Maybe at some point I will actually write something worth reading. Maybe not though.
So, to answer the title of this blog: why not? It is time to write in the parlance of our times.
I don't get paid and no one probably will ever read anything I post anyways. The entire idea of my running this blog reeks of futility and will likely result in failure. So, if I am so resigned that this will end poorly, why bother? Well, I reckon (if one can truly "reckon" anything) that is the question that has, in the past, kept me from writing anything. Recently though, events in my life led me to realize that I not only wanted to write, but I needed to. After being subjected to a slew of anti-American vitriol while traveling abroad, I came to the conclusion that it was my duty, both as a person who promotes individual liberty and as a citizen of the U.S., to start a dialogue with others about the state of affairs in our country. Hopefully, through this dialogue, we can identify the principles and ideals America has, and should, stand for and we can collectively work towards making our nation one we can all be truly proud of once again.
So, why did I name my blog "The Parlance of Our Times"?
In the Coen Brothers' classic film "The Big Lebowski", the Dude has a knack for repeating other characters' dialogue from earlier in the film. My favorite example is when he nervously smothers a remark he made about Bunny to the Big Lebowski, in which he called her a "trophy wife", by echoing Maude's statement about simply speaking in "the parlance of our times." Basically, the Dude tells the Big Lebowski to take no offense to his slur because he does not actually believe it, he is just speaking as people do in that place at that time.
I always found the "parlance of our times" quip to be one of the most delightful in the movie, though certainly the film is a veritable vault of quote-worthy material. However, I always liked the way the Dude used the term. He employed it as a sword to unabashedly inform the Big Lebowski about his theory regarding Bunny's kidnapping while simultaneously using it as a shield to protect his insult from being attributed to him. In short, he made his point about Bunny's motives clearly and concisely, but he then also avoided the consequences of his speech by tacking on that he was only speaking "in the parlance of our times."
I, like the Dude, desire to speak in the parlance of our times. By that, I mean that I want to communicate my ideas and beliefs to others in a clear and concise fashion, just like the Dude and his "whole brevity thing". Like the Dude as well, I too would like to be able to wriggle out of the consequences of my speech though if necessary. Thus, I will only say that the opinions appearing on this blog will be the product of our times and in the language of our times. What I espouse one day may alter by the next. Often, events have a way of changing the way we look at issues, and I cannot promise that the events of my life won't change my own viewpoints. This blog, if it accomplishes anything, will at least let me look back from time to time on my own philosophical development.
Regardless of its merits or lack thereof, this blog will feature authentic content about whatever it is I feel like writing. Maybe at some point I will actually write something worth reading. Maybe not though.
So, to answer the title of this blog: why not? It is time to write in the parlance of our times.
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