Righteous Block: Time for Reminiscing

"Righteous Block" is one of those things you get in Readers Digest, where people subvert words or sayings slightly to give them a new meaning. "Righteous Block" is when, halfway through a virtiolic tirade, you can't remember what you were banging on about. And, having spent a couple of weeks away from The Palace, I have returned to find a Righteous Block on my virtual desk. And it's a big sucker...

So, time for some navel gazing. At the end of 2005 I hit 50 posts to The Palace. When I started, it was more out of morbid curiosity than a desire to put the world to rights by venting spleen. I didn't know how long I would stick at it or if anyone would care what I had to say. So, what have I learned?

I've learned that there are three blog demographics: Sales, Poetic and Other. Sales blogs are split into two main categories: Stuff no-one wants and Religion (which, in my opinion, are the same thing, hence the grouping). Poetic blogs are usually small, arty and contain a suicidal haiku or two. Other blogs are by far the smallest demographic and are of the most interest to me, especially as this is the category into which I fall. It is hard to find a good Other blog these days...

I've learned that the main bloggers appear to be Malaysians and Americans who both post in broken English about their progeny and going out, and show us pictures of the whole rigmarole.

I've learned that, while I don't care if anyone cares what I think, I do care that people at least look. You might only blog for yourself, in the altrusitic hope that someone may take strength from your words, but at some level, you really want millions of people reading it every day.

I've learned that I had rather a lot to say, not all of it sensible, and that it needed to get out. Most are the kind of thoughts that are only vocalised in the grown-up discussions that sometimes occur after dinner parties or sit-down family meals. Others are spur-of-the-moment derisive commentary on the stories of inanity that infest the news.

Having been only a sporadic diarist in my youth, I've learned that commiting one's thoughts to (semi)permanent media, with the possiblility of a voyeuristic frisson when someone reads it, is a liberating experience. It's like moving into a smaller house and having to throw out all the junk in the attic. Having a minimalistic brain (in terms of clutter, not capacity) is as freeing as having a minimalistic lifestyle.

While I've understood for some time that the concepts of Right and Wrong depend on ones point of view, I've learned that the world is full of people who do not. People vehemently decry how others live their lives, calling it "morally corrupt" or "disgusting", while those people brandish their civil rights, complain about the persecution of minorities and generally mutter about a free world. Both are right; who is to say who is wrong?

I've learned that people are broadly either Realists or Purists. Purists have a haloed vision of a verdant nirvana populated by perfect humans, which they view as their divine birthright, and are understandably miffed when the Real World fails to measure up. Realists understand that the limitations of history and human nature mean that perfection will remain the providence of the gods, keep doing their best and try to do better.

Looking at it like that, I think that the last circumnavigation of Sol by the Earth was fruitfully spent. No dictators were toppled, no monopolies overturned, no wrongs righted. But it feels like they were.