Pax Hubris

When I was senior in college, I took an honors thesis class on European history that examined the period between the two world wars. My classmates had some spirited debates about the role of the "common people" and whether they had any influence on the big political decisions that shaped that era.

I held a fairly conservative viewpoint--the people in power write history. I agreed that democratic nations, such as Britain or France, remained highly sensitive to public will, and crafted their decisions with an eye towards future elections. I could not, however, be swayed by any argument that suggested that Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy or Stalinist Russia followed similar public impulses.

I suspect a similar debate will continue to wage about blogs and their growing impact on the world around us. When Business Week addressed the issue earlier this year, I found its enthusiasm a little breathless, similar to e-commerce seers who held a collective sway at the end of the last century. Even during my days as an Web consultant, I always felt that the Internet is foremost a decentralizing communications tool that shifts the editorial power of the media elites to a much wider group spanning from corporate marketers to angst-ridden teenagers.

Personally, I believe that blogs tap into old human impulses. Deep down most of us have an innate bit of arrogance that we let out of its cage once and awhile. We all want to feel that we have something important to say, and that our lives should be viewed with more respect than cosmic dust.

I've watched this phenomena from the sidelines, and I thought it might be fun to join the conversation without, hopefully, adding to the cacophony. My boss has a motto on his desk that make sense to any budding blog editor--never bore. That's about as fine a goal as anyone can achieve, no matter what the endeavor.